f R.C.P. EDINBURGH LIBRARY CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF ANIMAL PLAGUES FROM A.D. 1S00 — 1844. WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. EDITOR OF THE “VETERINARY JOURNAL AND ANNALS OF COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY. TRAVELS ON HORSEBACK IN MANTCHU TARTARY : Being a Summer’s Ride beyond the Great Wall of China. Description of a journey to the Great Wall of China and Moukden, the capital of Manchuria, in 1861. HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE - SHOEING : THEIR ORIGIN, HISTORY, USES, AND ABUSES. 8vo. 692 pp. With a Coloured Plate and 209 Illustra- tions. ANIMAL PLAGUES : THEIR HISTORY, NATURE, AND PRE- VENTION. 1st Series. 8vo. 548pp. Vol. I. London, 1871. 2nd Volume, 1882. The First Volume of this work is a chronological history of Animal Plagues or Epizooties. occuring from B.C. 1490 to A. D. 1800, and including the contemporaneous plagues of mankind and diseases in plants. The Second Volume brings the history up from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1844. PRACTICAL HORSE-SHOEING. Prize Essay. RABIES AND HYDROPHOBIA : THEIR HISTORY, NATURE, CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, AND PREVENTION. With Two Coloured Plates and Six Illus- trations. THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. A translation of Professor Chauveau’s “ Traite . is^r'naUX D°meS' tiques,” greatly enlarged, and adapted to the requirements of English Anatomists. A MANUAL OF VETERINARY SANITARY SCIENCE AND POLICE. With 33 Illustrations. THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF ANIMALS : Their Influence on the Health and Wealth of the Nation, and how they are to be combated. A Lecture before the Society of Arts. A TEXT-BOOK OF VETERINARY OBSTETRICS : Including the Diseases and Accidents incidental to Pregnancy, Parturition, and Early Age in the Domesti- cated Animals. With 212 Illustrations. TUBERCULOSIS FROM A SANITARY AND PATHOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW. HUMAN AND ANIMAL VARIOLzE : A STUDY IN COMPARA- TIVE pathology. Variolous Disease in all the Domesticated Animals, and to 4£2K3‘,EK& 5SSCK5ES355&. A TEXT-BOOK OF OPERATIVE VETERINARY SURGER\. ^ . [I/i course of Publication . With nearly 400 Illustrations. A TEXT-BOOK OF VETERINARY PATHOLOGY AND A IhAl BUU1Y * 0 [ Preparing for Publication. PRACTICAL THERAPEUTICS. L r ANIMAL PLAGUES THEIR HISTORY, NATURE, AND PREVENTION. BY GEORGE FLEMING, F.R.C.V.S., F.R.G.S., ETC, PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF VETERINARY SURGEONS ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETE NATIONALE ET CENTRALE DE MEDECINE VKTERINAIRE OF PARIS J OF THE REALE SOCIETE NAZIONALE DI MEDICINA VETERINARIA, AND ACCADEMIA VETERINAR1A, OF ITALY ; OF THE SOCIETE vEtErINAIRE d’ALSACE LORRAINE J OF THE ASSOCIATION MfiDICALE VETERINAIRE OF ANTWERP ; OF THE SOCIETE DE MEDECINE vEtErinaire of liEge, ETC. VOLUME II. LONDON : BAILLIERE, TINDALL, AND COX, 20, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. [PARIS AND MADRID.] 1882. [All Rights Reserved.] - - 1 % TO 3§ is (Bxullztttv, (Earl Sp*tu*r, Lord-President of the Privy Council and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS INVALUABLE SERVICES IN PROMOTING VETERINARY SCIENCE, AND PARTICULARLY IN CONNECTION WITH THE VETERINARY SURGEONS ACT OF l88l. ERRATUM. Page 448, Chapter V., for * Period from A.D. 1840 to A.D. 1842,’ read ‘ Period from A.D. 1841 to A.D. 1844.’ CONTENTS. Preface TACK xi CHAPTER I. PERIOD FROM A.D. lS8o TO A.D. 1815. Malignant Yellow Fever in Mankind, in America and Spain, and a similar Disease in Animals, 1. Epizootic Ekzenia in Germany, and Anthrax in the Venetian States, 2. Hydro-rachitis in Sheep, 2. Glanders among Expeditionary Horses, 2. Cattle Plague on the Continent, 3. Sheep-pox in France, 3. Carbuncular Erysipelas in Ireland, 4. Gloss- anthrax in Switzerland, 4. Influenza in Horses in Ireland, 4. Anthrax in the Bavarian Alps, 5. Epidemic and Epizootic Influenza in England and France, 6. Distemper in Cats throughout Europe, 8. Rabies among Foxes in Switzerland, 8. Rabies among Dogs in Peru, 9. Influenza among Horses in Germany, Holland, and Northern France, 14. Rabies among Foxes in Wurtemberg and Baden, 15. Influenza among Horses in Germany, 18. Distemper in Dogs in England, 19. Spanish Foot-rot of Sheep in Switzerland and Italy, 20. Rabies in England, 20. Rabies in Foxes in Germany, 20. Anthrax in Germany, Austria, and Hungary, 2r. Glanders in France, 22. Influenza in Prussia, 22. Disease among Animals in Ceylon, 22. Cattle Plague in Austria and Prussia, 23. Canine Small- pox at Lyons, 23. Variola Canina, 24. Epizobty of Bilious Fever in Horses, 26. Rabies in Foxes in Zurich, 27. Foot-and-Mouth Disease on the Continent, 27. Cattle Plague in Siberia, 29. Contagious Pleuro- pneumonia and Anthrax in Bavaria, 29. Rabies in America, 29. Rot in Sheep in England, 29 Cattle Plague in Austria, 30. Gangrenous Erysipelas in Pigs in France, 31. Influenza among Horses in Pied mont, 31. Rot among Sheep in France, 3r. Epizootic Pleuro-pneumonia in Switzerland, 32. Influenza among Army Horses on the Continent 32. danders among Army Horses in Russia, 32. Anthrax in Portugal’ 32 First Appearance of Rabies in Mauritius, 33. Supposed Miliary Fever in 1 icardy, 33. Cattle Plague on the Rhine, 34. Carbuncular Anthrax in Contents. • • • Vlll Hungary, 34. Sheep-pox in Italy, 36. Influenza among Horses in Switzerland and France, 36. Disease among People and Reindeer in Sibeiia, 37. Cattle Plague universal on the Continent (Descriptions of), 38. CHAPTER II. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1815 TO A.D. 1 830. Glanders and Farcy in England, 55. Rabies in Norway and Austria, 55. Contagious Foot-rot of Sheep introduced into Germany, 55. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Italy, and Anthrax among Cattle and Pigeons, 56. Panzootic Dysentery in France, 56. Disease among Fish in the Baltic, 57. Mortality among Sheep in Scotland, 57. Rot in Sheep in France and Germany, 57. Cattle Plague and Animal Diseases in Ceylon, 58. Sheep- rot in Scotland, 63. Mortality among Horses in France and Piedmont, 63. Tail-paralysis in Wurtemberg, 64. Epizootic Ekzema in Austria and France, 64. Cholera in Mankind in India, and Coincident Disease in Animals, 65. Bilious Fever among Horses in Germany, 68. Anthrax in Brandenburg, and Gangrenous Sore Throat in Italy, 69. Influenza among Horses in England, 72. Distemper among Dogs at Lyons, 72. Fatal Epizooty among Goats in Cashmere, 74. Rabies among Foxes in Germany, Switzerland, and Russia, 74. Rot in Sheep in France and Germany, and Cattle Plague in Siberia, 79. Rabies in England and among Foxes in Switzerland, 79. Swine Plague in France, 80. An Epizooty among Cats in Cleve, 81. First Appearance of Distemper in Dogs in Siberia, 82. Influenza among Horses in Saxony and Prussia, 86. Rabies in Holland, 87. First Appearance of Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Ard&che, 87. In- fluenza among Horses in England, 88. Rabies in Norway, Denmark, Russia, and Germany, 89. Disease among Reindeer in Lapland, 96. Rot in England, 99. Rabies in Sweden, Russia, Norway, and England, 99. Epizooty among Cats in Dresden, 99. Epizootic Ekzema in Italy, 99. Epizooty among Dogs in India, 100. Cattle Plague in Russia and Europe, 101. Influenza among Horses in Europe, 102. Vulpine Rabies in Germany, 120. Anthrax in Russia, Galicia, Switzerland, and France, 121. Appearance of Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in the Nord Department, France, 123. Influenza on the Continent, 124. Glanders in England, 124. Catarrhal Ophthalmia among Horses in France, 124. \ellow Fever in Dogs in Germany, 125. Cholera among Dogs in India, 130. Epizootic Ekzema in Germany, Switzerland, and France, 130. Glossanthrax in Italy and Bohemia, 130. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Palis and various Districts in France, 136. Cattle Plague in Southern Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Hungary, and Austria, 136. Influenza among Hoises in England and the Austrian States, 139. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Belgium, 140. Rot in Sheep and other Animals throughout Europe, and in Egypt, 141. Epizooty among Ducks in France, 147- Difficult 1 ai- turition among Cows in Nassau, 147- Cattle Plague in Bessaiabia, Moldavia, and Hungary, 149. Contents. ix CHAPTER III. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1 830 TO A.D. 1 835. Cholera in Russia and Europe, 150. Supposed Cholera among Horses in Edinburgh, 1 5 1 . Epizooty among Horses in France, and at Stutt- gart, 1 5 1. Supposed Cholera among Animals in Russia, Poland, and Galicia, 162. Epizooty of Diabetes among Horses in France, 166. Sup- posed Outbreak of Horse-pox in Berlin, 166. Mortality among Horses on the Amazon, 168. Epidemic and Epizootic Influenza in Europe, 168. Epizooty among Horses in the Punjab, 172. Ergotism in Saxony, 172. Sheep-pox in Bavaria, 173. Cattle Plague and Cholera in Poland, 173. Diseases in Animals in the Baltic Provinces, 175. Disease in Fish, 176. Supposed Cholera in Horses and other Animals at Warsaw, and in Austria and Prussia, 178. Epizooty among Fowls in France, 183. Diseases in Saxony, Bohemia, and Germany, 183. Epizooty in Ceylon, 188. Death of Kooks in Ireland, 189- Cholera in Europe, and Disease among Animals, 189. Disease among Poultry in France, 189. Anthrax Fever in France, 195. Disease among Animals in Central Europe, 195. Abortion among Cattle in Germany, 197. Rabies in Saxony, 197. Disease among Animals in Scotland and in England, 198. Glanders epizootic in Hol- land, 203. Epizooty among Cats at Aleppo, 203. Epidemic and Epizootic I nfluenza in Europe, 203. Epizootic Diseases in Britain and Germany, 206. Rinderpest in Galicia, and Influenza in Switzerland and Germany, 209. Diseases in Saxony, 210. Fragilitas Ossium in Hesse, 212. Softening of the Bones in Belgium, 215. Cholera in Animals, 218. Disease in Sheep in Australia, 221. Disease among Cattle in Jamaica, 229. Rabies at Barbadoes, 229. Cholera on the Continent, 229. Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Switzerland, France, and Germany, 231. Cow-pox in Pom- merania, 234. Diseases among Animals in Brandenburg and Saxony ^34 Cow-pox in Saxony, 238. Anthrax on the Elbe, 238. Epizootic Disease on the Russian Steppes, 241. Epizooty amone Deer in F.nalanH muuug nsn in Ireland, 259. Rabies i Geographical Distribution of Rabies, 261. iuuig, z 54. epizooty among onong Horses at Naples, 257. in Northern Chili, 260. The CHAPTER IV. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1836 TO A.D. 1840. Invasion of Insects over Europe, 267. Epidemic fluenza in Europe, 268. Epizootic Diseases amono- Ai X Contents. 288. Rinderpest in a Goat, 288. Diseases among Animals in Dresden, 289. Rabies in Paris, 290. Mortality among Animals in India, 290. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Hasselt, 291. Disease in Pigs in Ireland 292. Mortality among Sheep in England, 292. Canine Distemper in Bengal, 292. Epidemic and Epizootic Influenza in Bengal, 293. Con- tagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Holland, 299. Cattle Plague in the Danu- bian Principalities, Turkey, Austria, and Italy, 300. Ovine Contagious Foot-rot imported into Potsdam, 303. Vulpine Rabies in Wurtemberg, 303. Canine Rabies in Prussia and Austria, 303. Contagious Pleuro- pneumonia in Lithuania, 304. Anthrax in Brandenburg, 304. Disease in Pigs in France, 305. Fragility of the Bones in Cattle in Hesse, 305. Disease among Fowls in France and Rome, 305. Mortality among Wild Ducks, 305. Horse-sickness in South Africa, 306. Influenza in Sheep, 306. Fatal Disease among Pigs in Ireland and England, 307. Panzooty in South America, 307. Venereal Disease of Horses in Germany : its History, 308. Epizootic Abortion in Lithuania and France, 318. Anthrax in Holland, Poland, and Germany, 318. Influenza in Horses in Europe, 319. Rabies in Poultry at Konigsberg, 320. The Trembling Disease of Sheep, 321. Destruction among Birds in Westmeath, 322. Epizooty among Wild Bison in the Himalayas, 322. First Appearance of Foot-and- Mouth Disease in England, 322. Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Russia, 323 ; in Pomerania, 324 ; in Brandenburg, 325 ; in Magdeburg, 328 ; in Mecklenburg, 328 ; in Hungary and Galicia, 334 ; in Styria, 334 ; in Bohemia, 334; in Prussian Saxony, 334 ; in Thuringia, 335 ; in Bavaria, 335 ; in Wurtemberg, 335 ; in Hesse, 335 ; in Switzerland, 336 ; in France, 340 ; in Italy, 353 ; in Naples, 354 ; in Great Britain and Ireland, 357. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Lithuania, France, and Switzer- land, 426. Disease among Poultry in England and Ireland, 436. Epizooty among Pigs in Ireland, 436. Anthrax among Horses in France, 436. Influenza among Horses in Germany, France, and England, 437. CHAPTER V. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1841 TO A.D. 1 844. Glanders in Algiers and India, 448. Rabies in Vienna, 448. Variola among Hogs in Germany, 448. Small-pox in Monkeys, 448. Variola in various Species of Animals, 449. Disease due to Honeydew, 454. In- fluenza among Horses in France, England, and Germany, 460. Rabies in Vienna, 482; in Wurtemberg, 484 ; and in France, 484. First Ap- pearance of Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Great Britain and Ireland, 486. Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia in Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria, 498. Cattle Plague in Egypt, Asia Minor, Russia, and Europe, 499. Appendix.— Sheep-pox in England in Early Times, 514. Chronological Synopsis of General Diseases, arranged ACCORDING TO SPECIES, FROM B.C. 2048 TO A.D. 1 844, 516. PREFACE. ■♦o This volume is a sequel to that published under the same title in 1871, and which contained a chronological history of animal plagues from B.C. 1490 to A.D. 1800. It continues the history from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1844, and is arranged on the same plan, i.e. chronologically, the record for each year being made to embrace the outbreaks of general disease among animals of different species ; the nature and symptoms of the various disorders ; their relation and dependence upon specific, telluric, or other influences ; and the coincident plagues of man- kind-all given, when possible, or necessary, in the words of those who described them. Many, if not nearly all of the notices of these outbreaks of panzootic and epizootic diseases, have never yet appeared in English medical literature, and a number of them possess great interest : for example, the outbreaks of influenza and the so-called venereal disease among horses ; anthiax, cattle-plague, and .foot-and-mouth disease in cattle ; the contagious foot disease of sheep ; the strange outbreak of rabies among foxes on the Continent, and which continued for so many years ; wide-spread mortalities among dogs and cats ; and mysteriously-originating plagues among feral creatures. The two volumes constitute a portion of a large undertaking, commenced about twenty years ago, and designed to embrace not only this history, but also to treat specially of those scourges whose invasions have caused* such serious losses among our domesticated animals, and materially injured our national prosperity. The exigencies of a military career*, however, not only XU Preface. greatly retarded the progress of the task, but altered the manner of its accomplishment. So it happened, that when the first volume was published in 1871, it was deemed advisable to print a section— that on rabies and hydrophobia — which appeared as a monograph in 1872, while the more special division was issued in two volumes in 1875, under the title of ‘Veterinary Sanitary Science and Police.’ It is only at this late period that I am enabled to offer the present continuation of the historical division, as complete as possible in details and references. It is not my intention, at present, to carry on the history, as after 1844 veterinary literature becomes largely developed, and there is no difficulty in tracing the origin and extension of the more remarkable, at least, of the animal plagues which have visited the civilized world since that date. The value of a history of contagious diseases of animals cannot be doubted. Had the history of foot-and-mouth disease and contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle on the Continent of Europe been known in this country, as it is ex- hibited in this volume, these terrible disorders would surely never have been allowed to invade our shores in 1839 and 1841, or when they did appear they must have been quickly suppressed. The dreadful havoc made by them and other preventible diseases has been largely, if not altogether, due to ignorance of their history ; and it is owing to this ignorance that England has been chiefly instrumental in disseminating contagious pleuro-pneumonia over nearly the whole world.. At the end of the volume I have appended a chronological synopsis of the panzootic and epizodtic diseases of animals, arranged chiefly according to species, which may prove not only interesting, as showing the relative frequency of these disorders, but valuable also as an index. GEORGE FLEMING, Cathcart Lodge, St. John’s, London, August , 1882. HISTORY OF ANIMAL PLAGUES. CHAPTER I. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1800 TO A.D. 1815. A.D. 1800. Epidemic malignant yellow fever prevailed in America. In the autumn, Cadiz and Seville were ravaged by a similar pestilence ; towards the middle of September the deaths amounted to two hundred a day. ‘At this period,’ writes Arejula,1 ‘the air, from its stagnant condition, became so vitiated that its noxious qualities affected even the lower order of animals : canary birds died with blood issuing from their beaks ; and in none of the neighbouring towns which were afterwards infected, did any sparrows appear during the epidemy. We saw,’ he continues, ‘ many of the domesticated animals, when dying, present some of the symptoms witnessed in people suffering from this malady. Dogs were affected by the epidemy more than the other animals ; next, the cats suffered severely, as well as the horses; then poultry and canaries. Dogs and cats were also liable to haemorrhages, but more so to the black vomit, and to dark-coloured foetid evacua- tions. The horses which I saw die had that marble-like coldness of the extremities, or the general convulsions so remarkable in this disease.’ Another writer, Fellows,2 states l AreJula‘ Succinta Exposicion de la Enfermedaden. Malaga, 1S04. B as come. A History of Epidemic Pestilences. London, 1851, p. 146. I 2 History of Aminat Plagues. that all the physicians in Cadiz and Malaga who described the disorder, and with whom he had conversed, confirmed to him the above facts. Epizootic ekzema appears to have been unusually prevalent in many provinces of Germany.1 In the Venetian States, a deadly cpizooty of malignant anthrax ( cancro maligno ) caused much loss ;2 and the same malady was very severe in some districts of Upper Italy.3 In Italy, generally, epizootic pneumonia (J pulmonera ), with dysentery ( flusso dissenterico\ was observed.4 This, in all probability, was the Cattle Plague. From the commencement of this century, it was commonly remarked that the ‘ staggers’ ( tournis ), caused by hydatids in the brain, wasbecoming much more frequent amongsheep. Another malady, new to comparative pathologists, and supposed to have been introduced by Merino sheep from Spain, was the hydro-rachitis (‘ trembling,’ or ‘ louping-ill,’ the ‘ maladie tremblante ’ of the French, the ‘ traberkrankheit ’ of the Germans) of lambs. It came as a severe, but for a long time obscure, scourge among the flocks.5 Until Tessier described it in 1810, its pathology was unknown, and since that period it has been thoroughly investigated by Girard, Stcerig, Roche- Lubin, Just, Cauvet, and others. Though its appearance coincided with the introduction of Merino sheep, Cauvet asserts that it is very certain that nowadays it is witnessed in flocks of pure-bred French sheep. Settegast has insisted that one cause for it among the Merinos is consanguinity ; the comparatively small number of these animals imported having led to their being too much bred in-and-in.6 Glanders broke out among the horses in the troop and transport ships during the expedition to Egypt, and while in Quiberon Bay. Mr. Mogford7 attributed its production to 1 Laubender. Seuchengeschichte der Landwirthschaftlichen Hausthiere. Mun- chen, 1811, vol. i. p. 261. - Bottatii. Delle Epizoozie del Veneto Dominio. Venezia, iSi9>vol. iii. p. 215. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Richthofen. Die Traberkrankheit de Schafe. Breslau, 1S27. 6Journal de Veterinaires du Midi, 1854. Annales de M£d. Veterinaire de Bruxelles, 1863. 7 Mogford. The Veterinarian, vol. xiii. p. 523- Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. O close confinement between decks during- gales of wind, the hatchways having been battened down.1 But as this very con- tagious malady was prevalent in England at that period, and particularly amongst the cavalry and artillery horses, it is more likely that some of those sent on this expedition were in- fected before embarkation. A.D. 1801. Swarms of mice caused great destruction in Germany, and Greece was invaded by locusts, which ate up all the herbage, crops, and fruit. The epidemy of Egyptian ophthalmia began in Europe. An epidemy broke out at Roettingen, which Hecker thought resembled very closely the English sweating sickness. The yellow fever still raged in Spain. Gonzalez2 is positive as to the fact of a dog at Cadiz having the black vomit, and dying lethargic and jaundiced. He also attests to the phenomena of canaries having blood issue from their bills, and the absence of sparrows over the whole country at this time. During the summer, which was very hot, anthrax broke out among cattle in the department of Dordogne, France.3 The Cattle Plague, which had been imported into Poland in 1799, and thence into Prussia, was cruelly devastating that country, Brandenburg, Illyria, Switzerland, France, and Saxony.4 This pest, carried about by the movement of troops during the wars of Napoleon I., also decimated the cattle in Hungary, the Venetian States, and the States of the Church.5 In Prance, the flocks of the Haute-Pyrenees were decimated by variola ovina. Humboldt, who was at this time travelling in Peru, alluding to earthquakes, and the fact so frequently observed of the lowci animals, particularly swine, being the first to perceive their occurrence — whether owing to their being nearer the ground than mankind, or their organs receiving the impression of some gaseous emanations given off — mentions that, in the 1 The Veterinarian, vol. xiii. p. 655. 2 Gonzalez. Disertacion Medica sobre la Calentura que regno en Cadiz, 1801. 3 Annales de 1’Agriculture Fran9ais, vol. xii. p. 69. 4 Laubender. Op. cit. vol. ii. pp. i-m. *£ottani. Op. cit. vol. viii. p. 325. Metaxa. Dele Malattie Contagiose ed Epizootiche. Roma, 1817, vol. i. p. 288. I — 2 4 History of Animal Plagues. inland country of Peru, at the termination of a violent earth- quake, the herbs covering the savannahs acquired noxious properties, an epizootic disorder broke out among the cattle, and a great number of them appeared stupefied or suffocated by the deleterious vapours exhaled from the ground.* Carbuncular erysipelas (yulgo ‘ black-leg,’ ‘ quarter-evil,’ etc.) appears to have been more than usually common in Ireland. ‘ Jt is so infectious, that if the diseased beast is suffered to remain amongst the stock for many hours after it is seized, it generally communicates the distemper to others. If they even smell the spot where the infected beast has died or where his blood has been spilled, contagion will surely follow, and is as surely fatal. Calves under two years old, highly bred or highly fed, are most subject to it ; and although it seldom oiiginates in old beasts, yet they are liable to take it from infected young cattle. Care should be taken to bury the diseased quarter, which is quite black and reduced nearly to a jelly, quite out of the reach of dogs, as, if rooted up, it might be productive of incalculable mischief to the remaining stock!’2 A great scarcity of pigs in Ireland, owing, it was reported, to the two calamitous foregoing years. Wirth states that glossanthrax prevailed extensively in Switzerland.3 A.D. 1802. A snowy winter, and hot summer, with incessant heavy rain and dense fogs in the autumn, especially in Central Germany. A caterpillar, supposed to be the larva of the Chareas Graminis , caused great damage to the sheep-farms of Tweeddale j * and Suabia was infested to an alarmingf decree o o by multitudes of field-mice.5 In November, a fatal epidemy in mankind. In Ireland ‘horses had a disorder similar to the influenza, 1 Humboldt . Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America. Bohn’s Edition, vol. i. p. 163. For striking instances of the premonitory evidence of earthquakes afforded by animals, see Fitzroy. Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. ii. pp. 402, 405. Ulloa. Relacion Hist. d. Viage a la America Meridional. Madrid, 1 74-8- Tschudi. Travels in Peru, p. 165. 2 Thompson. Meath. 3 iy ift/i' Lehrbuch der Seuchen und Ansteckenden Krankheiten der Hausthiere. Zurich, 1846, p. 363. 4 Farmer’s Magazine, vol. i. p. 124. c Faulkner's Journal. 6 Bascome. Op. cit. I 5 Period from A.D. 1S00 to A. D. 1815. in the spring- of 1802, attended with severe, hard cough, laborious, difficult respiration, fever, and great prostration of strength. It terminated favourably by a plentiful discharge from the nostrils ; with some it terminated in farcy and heart- strangles, so-called, and some it killed.’1 In the latter the lungs and heart were found to be inflamed. Cattle also suf- fered in that country. ‘ Calves were very differently reared then, and many of them died in the attempt ; the bloody murrain (carbuncular anthrax) prevailed much among horned cattle this spring and summer, and many of them have died of it.’2 The Cattle Plague continued to destroy the herds in Poland, Prussia, and Italy. In the Bavarian Alps, anthrax appears to have been frequent, according to Laubender. ‘ The disease raged solely in the Alps, and only in such places as had marshy ground, as in the valleys ; on the dry Alps it was not seen. Further, on many of the Alps the diseased animals had no tumours or boils [beiilen oder geschwiilste) ; upon others, however, all the cattle, without exception, were attacked with these. Nearly all the tumours were on the extremities. After rain the disease was less prevalent ; but when the heat followed the rain it became aggravated. At this time, also, a deer was found dead in the wood ; it was opened, and the same morbid condition of the spleen was observed as is found in the cattle which die of this malady.’3 In France, variola ovina was very destructive among the flocks in Crease. A.D. 1803. The winter was long and cold, with much snow. On the nights of the 5th and 7th of March, red snow was observed on the mountain Tolmezzo in Friuli. Red rain and snow fell at the same time in Vienna, and passed over Italy and Sicily, coming from the south-east, attended with lightning, thunder, and hail. A cinnamon-coloured dust was associated with this, which on examination was found to contain eighteen species of polygastric animalcule, one of which, the Synedra entomon, is known only in South America.4 1 Mem. Medical Society of London, vol. vi. p. 576. “ Faulkner's Journal. 3 Laubender . Op. cit. vol. Ehrenberg. l’assat-Staub und Blutregen, pp. 107, 129. ii. p. II. 6 History of Animal Plagues. On the 26th April, a wonderful shower of meteoric stones occurred at L’Aigle, in Normandy ; the largest weighed 1 72 pounds. Influenza appeared in mankind in England and France. In this country it manifested itself in January, but it was believed to have been observed at Whampoa, China, as early as 1800.1 Animals were affected before or during the epidemy. ‘ Previous to the appearance of influenza, I under- stood there was some contagious disease among the horses About January a great number of cats in Shrews- bury were seized with what is commonly called the“houst,” swelled heads, defluxion from the nose and eyes, with vomiting, sometimes purging, sometimes costiveness. Some died and others were relieved by opening medicines. At the time the human species became a prey to the influenza, the dogs and horses were evidently affected ; many dogs were killed as mad dogs, which were not hydrophobic.’2 A disease among cats and cows was observed at Gosport, four or five months before the outbreak of influenza at that place.3 ‘ I have just learnt, and I have no doubt the information is per- fectly correct, that several horses died very suddenly during the time the late influenza was at the worst with us. That during the close of the last year and the early months of this, horses were everywhere unusually diseased, that very many died (I knew a neighbouring farmer who lost three, and with difficulty saved several others), and that such were the apprehensions of the farmers for their horses at this time, it was a practice with those who thought the distemper infectious, to put large patches of tar upon the breasts of them by way of preservation ; but many attributed, however, these disorders to the horses having eaten insects, which for many weeks were innumerable, and covered the fields in the most extraordinary manner, wherever there was any length of grass, and this, from the mildness of the season, was general in almost every field. These were covered with a sort of spider’s web ; and wherever you stepped these insects flew 1 Gluge. Influenza, p. 124. 2 Mem. Medical Society of London, vol. vi. p. 426. 3 Ibid. p. 576. Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 7 off in vast numbers. I noticed them many times ; they were a long-legged, indeed a sort of winged spider, I believe of the class Diptera , named Oleracea. A respectable gentleman- farmer, living near Modbury, on whose veracity I have the most perfect reliance, assures me that toward the end of March last and beginning of April, during the prevalence of the influenza, many of his horses and those of his neighbours were very much disordered ; the disease among them was called the squinsy, and was marked with the following symptoms : running at the nostrils, cough, sudden weakness, and loss of flesh (these are his own words). None died ; abscesses frequently formed and broke externally, between the cheek-bones, about the root of the tongue, and sometimes internally about the same situation. The same intelligent person, Mr. Parsons, tells me that in November and December last, dogs were generally affected with a disease, termed the houst ; which, he observed, seems to consist of a continual effort to vomit, and that froth and slime were thrown up by these efforts in considerable quantities : many of these animals were ill several weeks, and many died. In the advanced period of this distemper they were very subject to fits, as they call it, running here and there, and into pools and ponds ; several ran off and have not since been heard off ; they never attempted to bite, and there- fore apprehensions which were at first entertained that they were mad were soon removed.’ 1 In the month of February, two months before the appearance of influenza at Garstang, Lancashire, ‘ a very fatal epidemic was predominant among the swine ; in the town and neighbourhood whole herds were swept off by it.’2 During the prevalence of the in- fluenza at Droitwich, cattle were unhealthy, especially cows and sheep, and a great many lambs died. Cats were also affected, and many perished. ‘A disease called the “black- quarter ” was more than usually prevalent this spring amongst black cattle in the neighbourhood of Whitehaven, and was always fatal. Horses also suffered a slight degree of catarrh.’3 1 Medical and Physical Journal, vol. x. p. 137. -Mem. Medical Society of London, vol. vi. p. 379. 3 Ibid. p. 316 8 History of Animal Plagues. In Dublin, ‘dogs had sore eyes;’ in Cork, ‘many horses, during the prevalence of this disorder (influenza), were attacked with ophthalmia and cough.’ 1 Blaine asserts that the distemper in cats was general throughout Europe, though unfortunately he does not quote his authorities for the state- ment. lie says : ‘ Little similarity as there is between the dog and cat, yet they partake of this disease (distemper) in common between them ; and each is capable of giving or receiving it from the other. This disease in cats puts on, now and then, a perfectly epidemic form. In 1803, it ravaged almost all Europe, and nearly one-half of the cats died of it. It pioduces cough, sneezing, running from the nose and eyes, with great wasting and weakness, and sometimes purging.’2 In the department of the Rhone, France, ovine small-pox caused much destruction among the sheep. In southern France, anthrax destroyed many cattle, and people were infected from diseased animals.3 The same malady was epizootic among cattle in Switzer- land, and men also were affected with the disease by trans- mission of the virus.4 In this year there was observed a strange and unaccount- able epizooty of rabies among foxes in Europe, which, raging to 1830 or 1833, was not quite extinct even in 1838. The following is an account of it as it manifested itself in the Canton de Vaud, Switzerland : ‘ In the months of November and December, 1803-4, this disease showed itself in many neighbourhoods in the districts of Aubonne, Cossonay, Orbe, and Yverdon, at the foot of the Jura Alps, and about twenty foxes which were attacked by, or suspected of it, were killed. Foxes, when suffering from this malady, entered the towns, villages, and houses, in broad daylight, and pursued people and animals, and even dogs. They bit a man, dogs, and swine very severely ; a circum- stance not generally noticed in rabies ( wuthkranklieit ). 1 Mem. Medical Society of London, p. 297. 2 Dclaberc Blaine. Canine Pathology, p. 176. •! Gohie?-. Mem. sur l’Epizootie de Trannois. Lyons, 1804. 4Verhandlung d. Schweiz. Arztlich. gesellsch. 1830. Period from A.D. r8oo to A.D. 1815. 9 Several dead foxes were examined ; in one, the liver and the abdominal glands were found softened and putrefied-looking ; in another, the same appearances, but to a less degree ; in a third, nothing abnormal was noticed. In many foxes which were opened by order of the Sanitary Commission, there was discovered much inflammation of the larynx, the contiguous portions of the trachea, and of the oesophagus. Nearly all were very emaciated, and had no traces of food in the stomach or alimentary canal. The abdominal viscera were healthy. It was remarked that there was the greatest similarity between this disease and that which the veterinary surgeons termed “wuth,” which is a kind of malignant quinsy. To keep the malady within bounds, a general hunt was instituted against the foxes, and from the month of February, 1804, nothing more was heard of this dangerous affection, either sporadically or epizootically, in the Canton of Waadt.’1 During the revolt of the Kandyans in Ceylon, the animals employed by the troops in their subjection, as well as the troops themselves, suffered much from the bites of leeches, which caused ‘large, ill-conditioned ulcers.’ It was also noted that where leeches abound sheep do not thrive.2 It has been regarded as a remarkable circumstance, that, for the fiist time, we have mention made in this year of vhat was supposed to be the spontaneous origin of rabies in Peru. Dr. Smith3 writes : ‘This disease appears to have been unknown on the shores of Peru, until, in the exces- sively hot summers of 1803, 1804, when, as Dr. Unanue4 informs us, it broke out in the scorched valleys along the northern part of the coast, when it proceeded, with an epi- demic course, southward to lea and Arequipa. It is stated in the work just referred to, that of forty-two individuals bitten by rabid dogs, and who died in the town of lea, the greater number died in from twelve to ninety days after being bitten. It appears that the foresight of the Viceroy, Abascal, had k tsT die in “nsern zeiten unter den F“chse" -Marshall. Historical Sketch of Ceylon. London, 1846, p. 15. li: SmitA: Diseases ila Peru- Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, 1844. Observaciones sobre el Clima de Lima. Second edition, p. 67. IO History of Animal Plagues. saved Lima from the ravages of this furious epidemic, for he ordered a general slaughter of dogs in the city. During my residence in Peru, I never witnessed a single case of declared hydrophobia, although, on several occasions, people were bitten when no bad consequences were known to result, the bite not being venomous.’ The same writer, in another work, quotes the history of the outbreak as given by the Peruvian physician, Unanue, which is particularly interesting. This goes on to say : Neither in Peru, nor in the neighbouring sections of South America, were dogs ever known to be attacked by hydrophobia prior to 1803 ; but about this time the malady bioke out, during the heat of the summer, in the valleys of the northern coast, from whence it extended southward along the maritime plains ; having arrived at the city of Arequipa in the spring of 1807, while in Lima it was observed between the summer and autumn of the same year. Having collected all the necessary data for disclosing the origin of this disorder, and consulted in writing the physicians and well-informed persons who had witnessed its symptoms, I have already learned, 1. That this disease arose spontaneously from the increased atmospherical temperature of the years 1803 and 1804. It commenced on the northern coast, commonly called Costa Abajo, where the air was so heated that Reaumur’s thermometer indicated the temperature of 30° in some of the valleys ; the calms were extreme, and without the lightest breeze that could ripple the surface of the ocean ; animals rushed into lakes and pools of still water to relieve themselves from the sensation of excessive heat, so that the season de- scribed by Horace was fully realised : ‘ Jano Procyon furit, Et Stella vesani Leonis : caretque Ripa taciturna ventis.’ 2. This disorder affected every sort of quadruped without dis- tinction ; and such was the degree of frenzy excited by it, that some animals in their fury bit and tore themselves to pieces ; and, in situations where the heat was extreme, several men fell ill with all the symptoms of hydrophobia without Period from A.D. 1S00 to A. D. 1815. 11 having been bit. 3. The malady attached itself more especially to dogs, and some of them suffered so mild an attack that their bite was not mortal ; but the greater number were severely affected, and propagated the infection to their kind, to other quadrupeds, and to man. The mean and niggardly overseer of a sugar estate had distributed among his negroes, though advised not to do so, some head of cattle that died rabid ; which he did under the impression that they were tocado , or touched with that disease, which in hot weather usually affects cattle from the mountains : and the result was that of the poor negroes who had partaken of this meat many died with symptoms of hydrophobia. 4. In the towns of lea and Arequipa the number of individuals who died, after having been bit by mad dogs, was greater, and their cases less equivocal than the preceding. In lea a single rabid bitch bit fourteen persons in one night, of whom eight were in one house, some sleeping al fresco , or in the open air, others were variously occupied, and the remaining six were among those who, on hearing the alarm, ran to assist in killing the bitch. The surgeon of the place, Don Mariano Estrada, wished to persuade them to submit to be cured, but they rejected his proposal, saying the will of God should be done : and all died with the exception of two men, the one twenty-eight and the other fifty years of age, who agreed to be placed under medical treatment. The physician cured them, happily, on the safest plan, which consists in applying a blister on the part bitten, with a view to promote suppuration from it, and in exciting salivation by means of mercurial inunction. In the city of Arequipa it was much disputed whether or not the malady was a legitimate hydrophobia, and very learned papers, pro and con , were written by the doctors Rosas and Salvani. In this paper-war much time was lost that should have been taken advantage of for resisting the progress of the malady. True it is, that in many cases those disorders, which by frightened imaginations were represented to be real examples of hydrophobia, were, in point of fact, no such thing ; and the alarming misconceptions thus induced were soothed down and removed by persuasive means. Hence, this circumstance, History of Animal Plagues. 1 2 which was the natural consequence of the general panic existing at the time, led Professor Salvani to think that it was piecisely the same in all instances, until at length a succession of melancholy results declared the real nature of the disease. Immediately upon being made acquainted that the epidemic hydrophobia approached the capital, the Viceroy of Peru, > 11 the dogs in the place to be killed,1 by means of which he liberated Lima from the impending scourge, foi though a very few hydrophobic patients entered, in this peiiod, into the hospitals, they were not inhabitants of the city, but some individuals who had come in from the neigh- bouring farms and valleys. 5. When this calamitous epi- demic commenced in the valleys of Costa Abajo, Don Jose Figueroa, Bachelor of Arts, wrote me to say, “That the dogs went about with their tails between their feet ; they slavered much ; hid themselves from human sight ; howled lustily ; and presently they fell down and moved no more : as reme- dies in these cases, cutting off the ears and giving oil were tried in vain. The cats, with their hair on end, ran about the house-tops. Horses and asses got enraged the one against the other ; they threw themselves on the ground, rolled about, and instantly on being dead they swelled and putrefied. Black cattle — roaring and lowing — bounded about, fought with each other, in the contest even broke their horns, and they died quickly.” 6. Professor Estrada confidently stated that of forty-two individuals who died in the city of lea, after having been bit by mad dogs, the greater number were cut off 1 The slaughter thus commenced has passed into a custom of annually destroy- ing these confiding companions of man, when the howl or piteous death-cry of the poor animals rings upon the ear, on fine summer mornings, as the watermen are employed in knocking them down with their iron-pointed sticks in all the streets, and even at the very doors or gates where the persecuted creatures seek protection in vain. To see them dragged along the streets, bound together by the water- man’s lazo, leaving a bloody track behind them, and then heaped up in the public squares, where they are often allowed to lie for days, is truly one of the most painful and disgusting sights which Lima presents, and to which the bloody scenes of the bull-ring are comparatively nothing. — Translator. The same dismal proceeding used to be enacted at Kertch, according to Prince Demidoff. — Travels in the Crimea. According to Tennant, Ceylon witnesses a similar brutal mode of dog-extermi- nation. Period from A.D. 1S00 to A.D. 1815. from twelve to ninety days after the accident. The symptoms which followed the engraftment of the poison disclosed them- selves in the form of convulsions, oppression at the breast, sighs, sadness, laborious breathing, horror at liquids and shining objects, fury, vomiting of dark bilious matter, and an incessant urgent call on the part of the patients that the assistants should depart from them, because they felt them- selves impelled to attack, bite, and tear them to pieces : none in this state survived beyond the term of five days. Since the year 1808, this terrible epidemic has been disappearing, brom time to time, however, a dog may be seen running violently hither and thither, and biting all whom he may happen to meet, in the same way as is done by the really mad dog. But, in the instances in which no bad results arise from the bite, they may be considered of the same character with the disorder observed by Mr. Colombier, which attacks dogs, renders them furious, and excites them to bite, but has, never- theless, nothing at all of hydrophobia in it. Still, however, the safest way is to kill the dogs thus affected, and to implore the Father of Mercies that these regions may never again • experience so severe a visitation.’ While referring in this work to the outbreak of rabies in various kinds of animals, it may not be out of place to allude here to the strange European disease— the ‘ Plica Polonica ’— which more particularly manifests itself by attacking the human hair, but also affects the lower animals — horses, cows, sheep, dogs, wolves, foxes, and other creatures being liable to its peculiar effects. The malady is known from the source of the Vistula to the Carpathian Mountains, but prevails more especially in Lithuania, White and Red Russia, and in Tartary. Those animals which have very long hair are most susceptible to its visitations ; fowls are exempt. In the Milanese, the tails of some horses show signs of the malady, which in this form is designated foletto. According to Lafontaine, a -reat number of dogs are destroyed, because the ‘plica’ induces in them nearly all the symptoms of rabies. ‘Indeed,’ he re- marks, ‘ they drag their tails between their legs, they foam at the mouth, they scarcely ever bark, and they bite at every- H History of Animal Plagues. body, even their masters, whom they appear to forget ; they lose their appetite, go about as if they were blind, and run against the walls ; but they drink much more at this stage of the disease than they are wont to do in health, and their bite is not followed by hydrophobia. The same symptoms are witnessed in foxes, wolves, sheep, etc. Horses, when affected, become emaciated, feeble, lose all their spirit, scarcely cat anything, but drink a great deal ; the £ plica ’ with them only attacks the mane and tail.’ 1 A.D. 1804. The year was exceedingly unfavourable for the crops, and wheat was greatly damaged by rust. During the winter of 1804-5 there was an epizooty among horses in Holland, Germany, and the North of France. It was designated a ‘ comatose fever,’ and also encephalitis ; but from the description it appears to have been only a particular form of the protean malady, influenza.2 In April, anthrax was epizootic in the March of Branden- burg, on the banks of the Spree. By the Council of Health it was believed to be due to the deleterious influence of the Columbacz flies ( Rhagio Cohnnbacensis ).3 1 Lafontaine. Traite de la Plique Polonaise. Paris, 1808. 2 Collaine. Sur le Fievre Adynamique Comateuse qui a ete Epizootique dans la Plolland. 3 Laubender. Op. cit. vol. ii. pp. 169, 173. In the former volume on ‘ Animal Plagues’ (year 1790, p. 531), mention was made of a malady resembling, in its local manifestations, a particular form of anthrax, and which was ascribed to the attacks of this insect. We have only now to remark that the creature is known as the ‘ fly of Columbacz it belongs to the family of Culicida and is identified by entomologists as the Simulia maculatci ; it frequently causes the death of the animals it attacks. It is most frequently met with in the southern parts of Hungary and in Servia, and on several occasions it has been seen in Austria, Moravia, and in the regions adjoining Hungary, along the March, after more or less extensive inundations. It makes its appearance during the first half of April and the commencement of May, and sometimes in such numbers that seen from a distance the swarms look like clouds, and it is scarcely possible to respire without swallowing them. They prefer to attack the eyes, nostrils, mouth, anus, and the genital organs of horses, cattle, and sheep, introducing themselves in great numbers by the natural orifices. Every sting causes the development of a hard and painful tumour, which does not disappear until after from eight to ten days. If, as not unusually happens, herds are attacked by a swarm of these insects, very many sometimes die, in consequence of the extensive and painful lesions, as well as of the inflammation of the pharynx and larynx, and the obliteration of the bronchi from the entrance of the creatuies. They derive their popular name from the supposition that they were bred in the I5 Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. In this and the following year, ovine variola was general in Saxony.1 At the end of the summer, in Haute-Garonne and the environs of Saint-Gaudens, in France, an epizooty of inflammation of the vascular membrane of the horns of cattle ( catarrhe des comes ) appeared. At Crema, in Italy, a mad wolf descended from the moun- tains in November, and bit thirteen people, nine of whom died of hydrophobia.2 In Wurtemberg and Baden, the rabies in foxes was attract- ing much attention, and the Government of the former country had, with much care and solicitude, investigated and published its history. It is as follows: ‘Since 1804, there has appeared on the northern side of Lake Constance and the neighbourhood, a disease which had not been previously seen among foxes. Contrary to their usual shy disposition, they followed men, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and other animals, and sought to injure them, and fell at last into an exhausted and very much emaciated condition. At the end of the year 1808, this disease appeared in the then king- dom of Wurtemberg, and in Hornberg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Not only cattle, but also dogs were injured by them, and died from rabies. The same accident occurred to an ox in Oberamt Blaubeuren, and to four head of cattle of various ages at Shuppach, Oberamt Oehringen, in the same year. Since then a great number of cases, more or less frequently, have happened, where diseased foxes have infected with rabies, by their bites, cattle, sheep, dogs, and cats, and this not only in the greater part of Suabia, but also in the middle Rhine, and in several cantons of Switzerland It was especially frequent at the end of 1827, and since then in the upper portion of Wurtemberg. Many men were bitten by these diseased foxes, but usually, by being at once attended °’ thcy escaped danger. Not a few animals which were caves of the limestone mountains in the vicinity of the old castle nfTvu ~\ but the fact is, as remarked by Roll, that they, like the other CuL S J the.r various transformations in the water, and they only tal e refun “nderB° during unfavourable weather, when they have beenTnl^ “ folbtrg. Erfahr. ueber die Pocken d. Schafe. Magdeburg, 1805 ' Brera- Prospetto del Clinica Med. di Padova. 1819,1820.’ 1 6 History of Animal Plagues. bitten, and left without treatment, yet remained unaffected. These exemptions lead those connected with hunting pur- suits into the fallacious reasoning that the malady was not contagious ; but these cases of insusceptibility have been observed when animals were wounded by others violently rabid. The differences in the results depend upon the character of the wound inflicted, the susceptibility for the reception of the poison, and the poison itself. Apart from the painful position in which the people were placed who were bitten by these rabid foxes, it is partially proven, and in part highly probable, that three persons became the victims of hydrophobia. At the end of April, in 1815, a cat at Seehaushof, Leonberger Oberamt, had a scuffle with a fox that was attacking the poultry. On the 21st of May follow- ing, a servant-maid, who had hitherto been remarkable for her hale and hearty appearance, observed the cat to have staring and fixed eyes, whereupon it was killed the next morning. The servant was injured by this animal, and medical treatment was delayed for four-and-twenty hours. On the 25th of August, after feeling slightly indisposed, the symptoms of hydrophobia appeared, of which affection she shortly died. In March, 1825, two sick foxes came to the stable of Captain Weber, in Rettstall, in the Canton of Glarus, where there were a bitch and two pups. The mother had a struggle with these foxes, and was attacked with rabies early in April, and bit her master, her own pups, and several other dogs. Weber was opposed to medical treatment, and on the 9th of August the first symptoms of the terrible disease manifested themselves in him ; these were followed in a few days by the active and full development of the malady, and in a short time he died. According to a communication from the Duchy of Baden, rabies showed itself in a child which had been bitten by a strange cat in the fields, notwithstanding all precautions and medical treatment. This cat had in all probability been bitten by a diseased fox. As rabies is transmitted to man from foxes through the medium of dogs and cats, so is it also conveyed to cattle The diiect transmission of the disease to dogs has frequently been Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. 17 observed, especially since last year. In Seissen, a sporting hound belonging to the forester of that place, sickened after an encounter with a fox, and bit two men and a dog. The men, who were carefully treated, escaped, but the dog died from rabies. According to a report made to an official at Blaubeuren, the hound of an assistant forester at that place had a scuffle with a fox about the end of December in 1827, and four weeks after it was attacked with rabies and died. In Waldsee a fox and a dog fought, and the former was killed ; on examination of its body not the slightest lesion was apparent, either externally or internally; but the dog after five weeks became mad and died. In the neighbourhood of Geisslingen, a fox attacked the miller’s dog. This animal remained healthy for six weeks, sickened in the seventh, and soon thereafter died raging mad. Since the general appearance of this fox disease, it has been suspected that the semi-domesticated cats which frequent the fields have suffered much from this malady. As the infection has not always had the same results, and also from the absence of the usual symptoms of rabies in the sick foxes, the erroneous impression has gained ground that it is an entirely distinct disease, and which has been called the beiss-sucht (desire to bite). At the commencement of the disease there is, beyond the endeavour to injure men and the larger animals, nothing whatever to be seen, either externally or internally, inconsistent with a perfectly healthy state, although such creatures have the power of communicating the malady. Later, without being able to name a certain period, they appear to have rough coats, and are much emaciated. On opening their bowels, thcic were found along with the ordinary contents substances altogether foreign — such as stones, sand, straw, etc. When the disease does not kill them so quickly, they become greatly debilitated, yet retain the desire to bite, and succumb with slight convulsions. In various stages of the disease, the mucous membrane of the air-passages and digestive organs is inflamed and congested, but never shows any signs of sup- puration ; the spleen is enlarged ; the liver altered in colour ; the gall-bladder varies in size in almost every animal ; the hair comes easily from the skin, which is here and there 1 8 History of Animal Plagues . covered with a peculiar kind of eruption, quite distinct from the scabies of foxes.’1 A.D. 1805. The year was generally cold, but especially in the spring. During this and the preceding year, catarrhal affections were rife in mankind. An epizooty of influenza appeared among horses in Germany, which was particularly remarkable for the regular manner in which it travelled from one place to another. It was often complicated by pleuritis and pneumonia, and resembled the influenza of man in being of a benignant type in some regions, and malignant in others. Its course, as it extended from north to south, was rapid. In the winter it was present at Copenhagen ; at the commencement of the spring it was observed at Hamburg and in Holstein ;2 in the beginning of March it was in Hanover,3 at Osnabruck,4 and at Munster, near Cologne ;5 * on the 18th of March it manifested itself at Aschersleben, in Madgeburg ; in April it was on the banks of the Lahn, in Nassau, and in Upper Hesse f in May it appeared at Dresden and Berlin ;7 and in the South of Germany the malady was noticed in Franconia, in Wurtemberg, and in Oberpfalz.8 In the latter countries it was designated the ‘Hanoverian Horse-Plague’ {Hannover sche pferdseucke), and in other places the ‘Spanish head-disease of horses’ (, Spanischen Kopfkrankheit d. pferde). As before stated, this influenza did not in all places assume the same character, nor were its complications everywhere alike. To its special and most marked characteristic it owed the different denominations it received. In the Duchy of Holstein it appeared as an adynamic fever, and the accompanying catarrh of the mucous membranes was complicated with pleuro-pneumonia, hepatitis, 1 Sammlung d. d. Veterinarpolizei in Wiirtumb. betreffenden Verordnungen, p. 218. 2 Fiedler. 3 Havemann and Sander. 4 Giesker. 5 Fehr. Ausfiirliche Beschreibung d. Brustseuche d. Pferde. Gottingen, 1S06. 6 Franque. Thierseuchen, p. 25. Pilger. Darstellung des Verlaufs d. Sogenannten Spanischen Hopfkrankheit d. Pferde. Hanau, 1805. Aopp. Topographie von Hanau, p. 166. 7 Reuter. Neumann. Ueber d. Heerschende Pferdeseuche, in den Berlinischen Nachricht. d. Staats-und Gelehrtensacheh. 1805. 8 Plank. Veterinartopographie von Baiern, p. 138. 19 Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. and cedcmatous swellings containing blood-coloured serum ; a sanguineous and purulent discharge also escaped from the eyes and nose. After death the lungs were found gorged with blood ; they were also sometimes hepatized, and con- tained vomicae filled with pus ; at other times there were adhesions of the pleurae, with intra-thoracic effusions. The liver and spleen were, according to Viborg, in the same con- dition as the lungs. The mucous membrane of the intestines was marked by brown spots ; and from this peculiar appear- ance, the veterinary professor at Copenhagen defined the disease as a complicated putrid fever. In Austria, which it also visited, it offered somewhat the same characters, and was named by Wollstein (Director of the Veterinary School at Vienna) a malignant putrid fever, complicated with inflam- mation of the lungs and liver. The malady was also termed a nervous fever, and an acute typhoid catarrhal fever. It was less severe in Hesse, where Pilger named it a benign nervous fever. At Berlin it was very mild in its attacks ; and the Director of the Veterinary School there reports, that out of four hundred horses admitted into that institution not one died, and that the symptoms were those of bronchial catarrh, attended by a slight fever. Nevertheless, he also styled it a nervous fever. Neumann was the only one who perceived the relation of this epizooty in horses to epidemic catarrh in man, and consequently thought it should be distinguished by the same general appellation ; so that from this period, according to some writers, dates the introduction of the term ‘ influenza ’ into veterinary nosology. In England, ‘distemper’ in the dog must have assumed an epizootic and a severe form, for Blaine,1 speaking of this malady, observes : ‘ When it shows itself as an epidemic, its versatility of character in different seasons is often remark- able. In the summer of 1805, many of the distempered sub- jects were attacked with a peculiar and painful spasmodic colic, which neither constipated nor relaxed the bowels but after continuing acute two or three days, usually terminated fatally. 1 Blaine. Op. cit. fifth edition, p. 51. 2 — 2 20 History of Animal Plagues. In November, cattle plague, or a malady believed to be that pest, broke out in the village of Stretton, in Warwick- shire, and necessitated the enforcement of severe sanitary measures. In Italy there was an cpizooty among pigs in the district of Panaro.1 In the department of the Seine-et-Marne, France, much loss was sustained through the presence of small-pox among the sheep. In this year the ‘ Spanish foot-rot,’ a contagious disease of sheep, mentioned for 17912, appeared for the first time in Switzerland, Piedmont, and some other countries.3 Dr. Rommer had the opportunity of observing an epizooty of ‘ rot,’ accompanied by flukes in the liver, amongst the ruminant animals of Glatthale, Canton Zurich, in this and the next year.4 A.D. 1806. In England, rabies in the dog was unusually frequent. Blaine remarks: ‘In 1806 rabies among dogs became very common in England, and abounded in the vicinity of London. In the two succeeding years it also con- tinued to rage ; after which, for several subsequent years, it was less prevalent ; but it never became apparently extinct or rare as before.’5 In the month of February, rabies in foxes began in the country around Bodensee and in the Duchy of Baden ; and Griiter6 of Weingarten describes it. It appears that as yet its transmissibility had not been fully established, though all the foxes were dying. ‘ From what has been said, it is clear that the disease resembling madness which has been raging among the foxes is not communicable to other animals by their bite, and that, consequently, it is not hydrophobia. Whatever it has been, and where it has come from, I leave others to judge ; but it seems to me important, with regard to the natural history of the fox, and the interest taken in the sub- ject by sportsmen, to make this communication. Up to the 1 Mis ley. Descr. della Malattie Serp. su i Majali nel Dipartim. del Fanaro. Modena, 1S05. 2 See Vol. I. of this work, p. 532. 3 Heusinger. Op. cit. p. 123. 4 Wirth. Op. cit. p. 123. 5 Op. cit. fifth edition, p. 99. 6 Journal fur das Forst, 1S07. Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 21 commencement of the month of March, 1807, a mad fox had been occasionally seen ; since that time we hear nothing of these animals — no doubt owing to all the foxes in the neigh- bourhood having been destroyed by the disease. In those districts in which, in other years, the huntsman knew of ten or more litters of young foxes, there is now not a single fox to be seen ; neither do we find any traces of old foxes ; so that it maybe taken for granted that in a district of about ten square miles all have perished.’ A.D. 1807. The spring was cold and damp, but the summer very hot. Anthracoid diseases were exceedingly prevalent in every part of Europe. In Bavaria a severe outbreak of anthrax is reported : ‘ Although the anthrax ( milzseuche — splenic apoplexy) has appeared since 1807, it has never attained the virulence, nor spread so widely, as in that year. .... It was severe and extensive in the district of Lands- berg, where it began on the 17th June, and by the 24th of that month it had already invaded more than twenty places. It lasted 1 15 days, and was most fatal to horses, though cattle suffered considerably. Swine and sheep were also attacked, and in the woods were found stags, roes, hares, foxes, and badgers which had evidently died from the disease. .... The malady was also particularly dangerous to man- kind, for of thirty people who were infected fifteen died.’ The writer of this notice — Schwab — believed, nevertheless, that the disease was not contagious, and adds : ‘ The chief reason for supposing the affection to be contagious is the presence of the so-called “malignant pustule,” or “black pock ” (schivarze blatter), which can be transmitted to mankind by inoculation with the virus. But this evil result arises, even when it terminates fatally, not as in the anthrax, but as in those other diseases which are communicated by the introduction of animal poisons. Such a poison is present in the blood and serum in this malady, and in some particular fluids ; but it is not a pure contagium, or as some people prefer to term it, a germ disease (krankheitssa me) . ’ 1 1 Schwab. Beitrag. zur Theor. u. Pract. Veterinar-Wissenschaft. Munchen, 1832. 22 History of Animal Plagues. This malady was also present during the summer in the Tyrol,1 in Prussia, Nassau, Sosscnhcim, Weilbach, Konigstein, Idstein, Usingen, and at Hamburg, in August and September;2 also in Austria and Hungary.3 In many villages in Friuli, but chiefly in the vicinity of Portogruaro and Latisana, there appeared a disease among cattle which was commonly named the ‘ piscia sangue ’ (asthenic haematuria ?). It began in July and terminated in August.4 A mad wolf appeared in the department of Isere, in France.5 In Ireland, canine rabies was prevalent in the spring.0 Catarrhal fever, influenza, or, as it was designated, brain-typhus {gehirn typhus) , was epizootic in East Prussia. It has been described by Ammon, and appears to have shown itself first among the highly-fed, well-bred horses on the domains situated near the high-roads.7 In 1807 and 1808, glanders was epizootic in France. Wirth writes : ‘ In the latter year (1808) it was most destructive in and around Boulogne, and was believed to owe its appearance there to a knavish horse-dealer, who brought about twenty diseased horses to be sold in that town. These were purchased by various individuals dwelling in different places ; and in this way the healthy horses became infected.’ s In the departments of Aube and Gers, France, the sheep- flocks were nearly exterminated by small-pox. In 1806-7, during a fatal epidemy in Ceylon, elephants, wild-boars, deer, and other animals, died in immense numbers.9 The malady was in all likelihood of an anthracoid nature, the disease in mankind being due to malarious influences. It has been repeatedly observed in other parts of the world, that the epidemic intermittent fever of man often coincides with the outbreak of anthrax in the lower animals. (See also the year 1816.) 1 Justiz und Polizey Fama, 1807. - Franque. Op. cit. 3 Waldinger. Therap. d. Fieberh. Krankheit. vol. i. p. 21. 4 Bottani. Op. cit. vol. viii. p. 331. 5 Pier quin. De la Folie des Animaux, vol. ii. p. 83. GiFaulkner>s Journal. 7 Wirth. Op. cit. p. 419. 8 Ibid. p. 419. 9 Marshall. Medical Topography of Ceylon, p. 16. Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 23 During the operations of war on the continent between the years 1805 and 1809, the Cattle Plague ravaged Austria and Prussia. This year it appeared in the principality of Dantzic, the events of war bringing Russian armies with their droves of Steppe cattle into that locality. Wherever the Russian or Austrian troops penetrated, there this pestilence manifested itself, and by these movements Prussia, the whole of Central Germany, and the German States in the south, suffered fear- fully even until 1814.1 ‘ Whilst the operations of war were in a great measure confined to the west, the plague returned to the Russian Steppes; and in 1806, when the Cossacks of the Don, in obedience to an urgent appeal of Alexander, mustered on the Vistula, the malady spread from the desert- lands into the agricultural districts of Lithuania, Prussia, Silesia, and Kurland. Napoleon’s retreat after the battle of Eylau (1807) favoured the spread of the Contagious Typhus, and it prevailed in the above and adjoining provinces for two entire years, almost exterminating the cattle. When the Grand Army advanced to Moscow, and penetrated the heart of Russia to meet with defeat and famine, all conditions favoured the extension of disease and the spread of pesti- lence.’ 2 A.D. 1808. An epizooty appeared among the horses in North America.3 A.D. 1809. Small-pox in the dog ( variola canina ) was ob- served among those in the kennels of the Veterinary School of Lyons. ‘ In 1809 there was observed an eruptive malady among the dogs, to which they gave the name of small-pox. It appeared to be propagated from dog to dog by contagion. It was not difficult to cure, and quickly disappeared when no other remedies were employed than mild aperients and diaphoretics. A sheep was inoculated from one of these dogs. There followed a slight eruption of pustules around the place of inoculation, but nowhere else, nor was there the 1 Renault. Memoire sur le Typhus Contagieuse des Betes a Cornes. 2 Gamgee. The Cattle Plague. London, 1866, p. 310. See also Salts Rlarschlins. Streifereyen in den Franzosichen Jura. Winterthur, 1805, 3 Drayton , p. 97. 24 History of Animal Plagues. slightest fever.’1 It may be observed that this is not the first mention of this contagion in the dog, as M. Barricre,2 veterinary-surgeon of Chartres, in 1791, accurately describes it as he witnessed it on three occasions. He also remarks that in the ‘Ephcmerides d’Allemagne’ mention is made of a dog that caught the infection from a person with whom it slept, and who had small-pox ; and M. Huzard relates the following fact apropos of the transmissibility of this disease to different species : Some sheep died of the small-pox ( clavette ), and were left in a ditch. A pack of hounds passing began to devour the carcases, and seventeen of them became ill. It was at first thought they had ‘ distemper,’ as they lost their usual gaiety, grew weak, paralytic in the loins, and discharged a viscid green matter from the nostrils ; but a plentiful crop of inflammatory pustules soon appeared, and proved the sickness to be malignant small-pox. Eleven of them died, and the helper at the kennel was seized with illness, and had his hands and face covered with pustules. Barriere also speaks of a monkey that caught the small -pox from some children with whom it was accustomed to play ; and likewise of another who received the measles from a child on whose bed it was accustomed to lie. It had all the symptoms of measles except the cough ; and instead of that, there was a violent heaving at the flanks. The same medicine was given to it as to the children, and the eruption and its disappearance were precisely like those of the human being. The monkey was a very small one, and its pulse could scarcely be counted because of its extreme rapidity ; but when, at length, it was examined at the axillary artery, it was found to number about 400 per minute ! Leblanc, of Paris, has contributed an excellent monograph on this canine variola, in which the symptoms, peculiarities, and the treatment of the malady, together with his attempts at inoculation, are lucidly described.3 He arrived at the follow- ing conclusions : 1. That the disease is very frequent in the dog; 1 Hurtrcl cfArboval. Dictionn. de Med. Veterinaire. 2 Barriere . Instructions Veterinaires, 1 791 * 3 Leblanc. Journal du Haras, 1S41. Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 25 2. That it is contagious in this creature, as it is in other animals ; 3. That inoculation gives it a milder character, and that this operation should undoubtedly be practised when variola is prevailing among dogs in any district ; 4. That very simple treatment is required when the disease runs its regular course ; 5. It results from what has been stated, that the vaccine disease cannot be communicated to the dog by inoculation. It is to be observed that Gohier and Numan experienced great difficulty in successfully inoculating dogs with vaccine ; perhaps owing, as Heusingcr suggests, to their experimenting on old animals. Sacco and Viborg, on the contrary, found this inoculation comparatively easy.1 Some years ago, a sheep died of small-pox at the Lyons Veterinary School. A portion of the skin was attached for twenty-four hours to a healthy sheep, and another part to a dog, likewise in apparent good health. No effect was produced on the dog, but the sheep died of confluent small-pox. The results of various experiments in inoculation are singularly contradictory. Many were carried out by MM. Campe and Voison ; others were instituted at the Ecole de Medecine, of Paris, and else- where, chiefly with a view to test the transmissibility of human variola and that of sheep. The results of these certainly demonstrated that no benefit was to be derived from inoculating the animals with small-pox virus of the human subject, or vice versa ; for sheep which had apparently been successfully inoculated, nevertheless took their particular variola by simple cohabitation with infected individuals. Thus vaccination, believed to be a preservative from variola in man, does not prove at all efficacious in that of sheep. It has been imagined that the sheep small-pox might, if judiciously inoculated, turn out to be a new preventive of human small-pox ; and to this end, children of different ages have been submitted to the test ; but the punctures were only followed by a little superficial irritation, without any pustular development or suppuration. After these experiments had been repeated several times with the same results, these 1 Sammlung, Band iii. p. 169. 26 History of Animal Plagues. children were successfully vaccinated. To make certain of the lymph employed in these trials being of undoubted quality, several sheep were inoculated at the same time with the same virus, which promptly produced the usual effect on them. Other experiments have been resorted to, and birds of different species, neat cattle, horses, rabbits, dogs, and monkeys, have been inoculated, but with no success. There is certainly something strange and inexplicable in the fact, that vaccination only protects mankind from variola, and that in all other creatures it should be impotent to render their bodies insusceptible to the influence of the variolous affections to which they are liable. ‘ Rot ’ ( cachexia aquosa :) in ruminants was extremely pre- valent in France and Germany.1 2 Sander3 observed the typhoid or bilious fever (leber typhus') of horses in the harvest of 1809, at Bahrdorf, in Switzerland. Papenrode3 also reported it in Brunswick. It followed the overflowing of the pastures ; and appears to have been a kind of influenza, chiefly marked by serious complications of the biliary apparatus.4 1 Hurtrel d'Arboval. Op. cit. Wirth. Op. cit. p. 123. 2 Sander . Vermischte Beitrage zur Praktisclien und Gerichtlichen Thierheil- kunde. Berlin, 1810. 3 Wirth. Op. cit. p. 137. 4 The epizooty designated in popular phraseology ‘influenza,’ and which we have already referred to so frequently in this history, is the epizooty, par excellence , of the horse in western, and perhaps even in eastern and northern countries. Its mutability as it appears year after year — its chameleon-like invasions, when it shows itself as a disease not only of varying intensity and fatality, but as one which, though marked by special characteristics, yet offers the widest diversity in its manifestations — has obtained for it an extensive list of designations, according to the type and the complications it may assume at different invasions. Thus it has been named, in addition to its world-wide ‘ influenza’ title, typhose by Lafosse (1868), epizootic gastro-enteritis, gastro-entero-nephro-hepatitis , gasiro-hepato-spinal- ineningitis , entero- pneuvio-carchtis , epizootic pleuro -pneumonia, gangrenous pleuro- pneumonia, typhoid pleuro-pneumonia, general spontaneous phlegmasia, complicated peripneumonic fever (Nobis), gastric fever, gastro-catarrhal fever , mucous fever, typhoid fever, epizootic catarrhal fever, epizootic nervous fever (Anker), complicated rheumatismal fever (Spinola), cocotte (German, gallichter typhus, typhus biliousus), lebertyphus, abdominal or gang lion typhus, gehirntyphus, seuchenarliges hatari hal- fieber, typhose lungenseuche, sumpfficber , nervenfieber, ansteckendes nervenfiebi > , akutcr rotz, pferde influenza, Russische krankheit, blitzkatarrh, typhose seuchc , Spanische feuer, etc. These numerous, and generally sufficiently expiessive, names may suffice to convey an idea of the multiform characters the disease, at different periods and in different countries, assumes. 2 7 Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1S15. From this year until 1812, the madness of foxes had been observed in the Canton of Zurich. ‘ In the protocols of the Sanitary Commission of Zurich, no notice was given of a disease among foxes until the year 1809. Under date of the 1st November of this year, the Sanitary Commission of the Canton Aargau reports that in the neighbourhood of Baden, for some days, the foxes had shown strange symptoms, which were quite unnatural to them. They had approached the dwellings of men without fear, and very soon after a herdsman and a cow were injured by them. According to an official account of the 23rd June, 1812, several infected foxes had shown themselves in the vicinity of Neftenbach. On the 27th March, a man met a fox in a wood ; this animal offered battle and was killed by the man. The same individual found a fox at the door of a dwelling ; this creature likewise manifested a like inclination to do injury, and was also destroyed. A fox came into a yard, bit a dog, and both were killed. On the 30th April, another man discovered a fox before his house as he was driving his goats to pasture ; the fox attacked one of the goats and wounded its head ; where- upon the owner slew it. On the 4th May, a woman of Neftenbach was attacked in the neighbouring vineyard by a fox, and bitten in the leg. From 1812 to 1819, we find no trace of a disease among foxes in the records of the Sanitary College.’1 An epizooty of ekzematous fever (foot-and-mouth disease) appeared in many countries of Europe, but more particularly in Germany. In some places it only attacked cattle, but in others cattle and sheep were affected. It showed itself in Nassau, where it was reported upon by Franque;2 and in the month of June in Wurtemberg.3 An outbreak of glossanthrax is stated to have taken place among the cattle and horses in the Canton Zurich4 in that month, but this may possibly have been the ekzematous or aphthongular malady. At any rate, the epizooty was very prevalent in France and Italy, in which countries it appears to have remained until 1810 and 1811. 2 Op. cit. p. 165. 4 Laubender. Op. cit. vol. ii, p. 317. 1 Kochlin. Op. cit. p. 6. 3 Sammlung v. Verordnungen, p. 70. 28 History of Animal Plagues. D Arboval1 notices its continuance and spread. 1 The disease which in 1809 extended over different countries of France, and which was particularly observed in the capital and the vicinity of the Alfort College, continued, in 1810, in the dcpaitmcnt of Calvados to the environs of Lyons and else- where, and attacked cattle and sheep ; it reigned also at the same time in Italy. Generally but little redoubtable in its effects, it announced its presence in a similar manner in all animals : it offered the same characters, exhibited no varieties, and passed through its phases without producing much derangement, usually terminating in the period of from ten to twenty days. In the two species of ruminants attacked by it, there appeared in the interdigital space an ulcer which pro- duced acute pain, and prevented the animal from putting its weight on the limb. In 1810, in the neighbourhood of Lyons( besides the large number of cattle affected, it was remarked that sometimes monodactyles were attacked by it, as well as goats and pigs. At the same time it broke out in many other countries : in Switzerland, in the departments of Leman, in Arriege, Tarn, and other places.’2 1 Dictionnaire, vol. i. p. 116. 2 For the epizooty in the valley of the Auge, see the description b y Hazard, senr. Precis sur l’Epizoolie des Boeufs de la Vallee d’Auge. Paris, 1810. In the neighbourhood of Paris, Girard, senr. Recueil de Med Veter., vol. iv. p. 350. In the department of the Rhone, the Comptes-Rendus de l’Ecole de Lyon for 1811, 1812. In the Ardennes, De/iain, Gohier. Mem. sur la Chirurgie Veter., vol. ii. p. 127. In the Eastern Pyrenees, Barrere. Journal Generate de Med., vol. xliii. p. 196. In the Upper Rhine, Berbier. Mem. de la Soc. Roy. d’Agricul. du Depart, de la Seine, vol. xvi. p. 116. In the department of Correze, Neilhan. Mem. de la Soc. d’Agricul., 1813, p. 48. In the department of the Vosges, Matthieu. Recueil de Med. Veter., vol. xii. p. 65. And for other parts of France, Sainton. Correspondence de Fromage de Feugre, vol. iv. p. 263. Leschevin. Annales de l’Agricul. Frai^aise, vol. xlix. p. 25. For Switzerland, see Saloz. Comptes-Rendu de l’Ecole de Lyon, 1812. For Germany, see Sander. Vermischte Beitrage zur Gericht. und Practischen Thierheilkunde. Berlin, 1810. For Italy, see Leroy. Mem. publies par la Soc. d’Agricul., vol. xv. p. 60. In Plolland, the epizooty was studied by IGraff. Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 29 The Cattle Plague was extremely prevalent and destructive in Siberia during this and the two subsequent years.1 It made many irruptions into Europe.2 A.D. 1810. Immense swarms of insects appeared in Germany. The larvce of the May-bug destroyed the pastures, and those of caterpillars and coleopterous insects greatly damaged the pine trees in the forests.'5 Locusts devastated Asia.4 In Bavaria, epizootic or contagious pleuro-pneumonia pre- vailed throughout the year, and anthrax (milzbrand) during the summer.0 The latter disease committed great ravages among the horses and cattle. It was discovered that the best way of averting it was to send the cattle and other animals to the highlands of the Alps. In the previous year, in this, and also in the following year, many animals died during the severe epidemy at Coimbatore and other places in Ilindostan.6 Rabies in the dog was epizootic in North America; at Ohio, not only were dogs affected, but wolves and foxes were mad in great numbers.7 It is also stated that an epizooty among dogs was observed in England, in which it was observed that the bladder was, in almost every instance, very much inflamed, and in many cases exclusively so.8 Rot caused much destruction of sheep throughout England, but more particularly on the Lammermoors.9 P amine in Iceland during the winter, when, to preserve the cattle and horses, on which they chiefly depend, these animals were fed with chopped fish not only in the country, but even in the towns.10 siidlichen Russland, i&K. n. 9/2 r 1 Naupi Ueber einige Seuchenkrankheit der Hausthiere i: sthiere in Sibirien und dem *> r r r j Volcanoes, etc, p. *5j. Cape,. £*£ fed on fish History of Animal Plagues. 30 A.D. 1811. In Austria, Salzburg, and Silesia, the Cattle Plague was causing much loss.1 It was also ravaging Siberia according to Jessen.2 ‘Besides other, and, in part, special maladies of the bovine species, the Cattle Plague ( Rinderpest ) has several times raged throughout the length and breadth of Siberia between the years 1810 and 1811, and in the middle of 1820, when it became so destructive throughout Europe, not even sparing this most remote region. The restrictive measures that were immediately adopted in Siberia were unsatisfactory, because of the great extent of country and the small population. On the first alarm, a veterinary surgeon was sent to investigate the nature of the disease in a herd — a third of which had already succumbed ; but no satisfactory intelligence could be obtained, as the owner was prevailed upon to slaughter the remaining animals. The skins being tanned, the tallow melted, and the other portions of the bodies buried, the plague was stayed, until, at a later period, the infection broke out again by being imported from a distance. About the same time, the malady showed itself in a much larger herd at a distance of a few hundred versts, and to this the same veterinary surgeon was sent. ... In this instance, also, time was lost ; many head of cattle had been driven away from the herd, and this, as well as nearly all the neigh- bouring herds, perished, while the malady spread everywhere. The enormous number of cattle destroyed in these two periods alone, is shown by the lists.’ In Switzerland, in many cantons, but especially on the Saladier mountain, hundreds of young cattle died from the presence of filaria in the bronchial tubes of the lungs. in Norway. The little hay gathered in the mountains is boiled up with the entrails and heads of the cod caught during the fishing season andcarefunypre- served for this purpose. Of this the cattle are amazingly fond. W hen the hay is exhausted, sea-weed is used. The branches of the birch and other trees are also cut and stored as fodder (Travels in Norway, p. 239). Forbes conoborates statement (Norway and its Glaciers, p. 54)- _ . T w ,q,t Memora- 1 ICausch. Geschichte der Rinderpest in Schlesien in Herbst, 1S1 . Men bilien der Heilkunde. Zullichau, 1813, vol. 1. P- 45- See a so Ft • Anleitung zur Heilung der Rinderpest mit der eisenhaitigen Salzame lenna, 1812. Hildenbrand. Ueber den Anstekenden Typhus. Vienna lSl2> 2 \ jaw. Die Rinderpest mit besonderer Beziehung auf Russland dargestel t. Berlin, 1834, p. 7 7* Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 31 Gangrenous erysipelas ( erysipelas carbunculosum') was epizootic in the porcine tribe in 1811, and also in 1821, in the agricultural district of Allost, in France ; it was so deadly that nine out of every ten animals perished. It reappeared in the same district in June and July, 1844, and killed all its victims with an extreme rapidity — sometimes in eight or ten hours.1 Toggia describes an influenza or ‘ brain-typhus ’ prevailing epizootically among horses in Piedmont.2 A.D. 1812. Locusts destroying all vegetation in Asia.3 In Halle, the subterraneous larvae of a kind of beetle destroyed all t la c seed-corn. A great flood of the Parana in South America drowned immense numbers of cattle and other animals, domesticated and savage. When the waters subsided, their rotting carcases polluted the air. Parish4 writes : ‘When the inundation exceeds these, its ordinary limits, the conse- quences are very serious to the inhabitants of the adjacent lands. The effects of a remarkable flood which took place in 1812 will long be remembered. Vast quantities of cattle were carried away by it ; and when the waters began to subside, and the islands which they had covered became again visible, the atmosphere for a time was poisoned by the effluvia from the innumerable carcases of skunks, capiguaras, jaguars, and other animals which had been drowned on them.’ In the early part of the year there were also serious inun- dations in Southern France, and afterwards intensely hot weather set in ; on which rot ( pourriture ) appeared among sheep in a most formidable manner. In the marshy country of Arles 100,000 perished ; and in Nismes, Montpellier, and other districts, an immense quantity— as many as 90,000 according to some reports — died. Horses, mules, hares, rabbits and other animals were attacked at the same time by malig- nant anthrax, and mankind by an obstinate intermittent fever.5 1 Nouveau Dictionn. de Med. etc. Veterinaires, vol. vi n -20 nVirth. Op. cit. p. 157. P'J ■ Rilier. Op. cit. p. 794- 'Parish. Buenos Ayres p 2.1 pa ^Th^zzi °:;£ qui a History of Animal Plagues. o 2 Epizootic ekzematous fever in Genevais,1 and a severe outbreak of epizootic pleuro-pncumonia in Switzerland.2 Malignant anthrax attacked all kinds of domestic animals and poultry in the neighbourhood of Augsburg. Wild creatures in the woods were not spared, and the contagion was trans- mitted to man in several instances.3 Ovine small-pox was very destructive in the province of Vicenza, Italy.4 Schnurrcr speaks of the Cattle Plague as present in Prussia and Silesia.5 Wirth6 states that in 1812, 1813, and 1814, that form of influenza he designates as brain-typhus (gehirnty pins), attacked the horses belonging to the armies then operating on the Continent. In 1812 and 1813, it prevailed in Switzerland. In 1812, while the French army was in Russia, the soldiers suffered much from dysentery ; at the same time, this disease, accompanied by scorbutic symptoms — sponginess of the gums, soft sloughing ulcers on the skin and. in the intestinal canal — reigned among the horses.7 It must be noted, however, that Kirchner8 asserts that glanders appeared in an epizootic form among the horses of the French and German armies in Russia. This may be the disease of which Dillenius — who was a medical man, and probably knew little of comparative pathology — speaks. At Ciudad Rodrigo, dry gangrene manifested itself with great severity among the British troops, and was supposed to be due, besides extraordinary privationsand marching along heavy wet roads, to a disease among the cattle in the previous year. ‘ Besides the causes already mentioned as likely to have pro- duced this dry gangrene, I ought not to omit that during thepre- ceding very sultry and unhealthy summer, nearly all the bul- locks for feeding the army had been driven up from the province of Tras Os Montes, Portugal— and on reaching the banks of the 1 Recueil de Med. Veter., vol. xv. p. 653- 2 Teuffel's Magazine, vol. i. p. 3. 3 Wirth. Op. cit. p. 85. ' 4 Bottam. Vol. viii. p. 333. 5 Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 508. 6 Op. cit. p. 157. 7 Dillenius. Beobachtungen iiber die Ruhr in dem Kussischen Feldzuge, 1S12. Ludwigsburg, 1819. 8 Kirchner. Magaz. fiir Thierheilkunde, 1865. 33 Period from A.D. 1S00 to A. D. 1S15. river Aguada in Spain, which crosses an extensive savannah (at the end of which stands Ciudad Rodrigo impending on a rock over the river), many of these cattle were found affected with a murrain and died in great numbers. The surviving cattle were driven on to the army, but, I believe, many of these were far from being sound when slaughtered — but necessity, under such circumstances, required that their flesh should be issued out to the troops ; and perhaps this, too, contributed to throw the troops into the very sickly state in which they were found to be after the retreat from Burgos. That year I had many opportunities of inspecting the carcases of the slaughtered cattle, and besides enlarged livers and spleens , and aphthous tongues and enlarged absorbent glands , I found in several of the most unhealthy great affections of the cellular tissue, which was either melted down into a gelatinous consistence, or approached suppuration. In our auxiliaries, the Spaniards, whose privations and fatigue were excessive, I saw some few cases which approached very near to plague, if they were not really that disease itself.’1 The cattle disease was evidently — from its origin and its symptoms — a dangerous form of anthrax fever. A.D. 1813. Epidemic yellow fever at Gibraltar, and plague at Malta, Gozzo, Corfu, and other places. A rabid wolf was seen at Bar-sur-Ornain, which did much damage.-2 Rabies canina appeared for the first time in the island of Mauritius, according to Unienville.3 In Switzerland, epizootic or contagious pleuro-pneumonia was very widely spread from 1812 to 1815. 4 In Picardy an epizooty manifested itself among horses, which Rayerp who reports it, imagined had some points of resemblance to the miliary fever in man. It may be men- tioned that Picardy was, and perhaps now is, notorious for the last-named disease. ‘ There showed itself in August, in a 1 A. Neale, M.D. Researches to Establish the Truth of Animate Contagions London, 1831, p. 91. s Pari^isTf”' Relati°n H'St' des Acci!,cns par une Loup Enragcc. I Statist, de l’lle Maurice. * Beitrage Schweiz. Thierartze. Aayer. Hist, de 1 Epidemie de Suette Miliare, etc. Paris, 1822. 3 34 History of Animal Plagues. great number of working horses in the district of Beauvais, a cutaneous disease which, although generally benignant, became sometimes mortal, by the conflicting and contra- indicated treatment resorted to by the farmers and pretending amateurs, these having erroneously confounded it with an- other malady named “ enchaubouleres,” “ ebullition ” ( yulgo — “heat of the blood,” “surfeit” in England). This disease, named erysipelas, is characterized by a violent inflammation of the skin, accompanied by pruritis or itching, which causes the horse to rub himself against everything near. There are seen on the skin small miliary pimples — so small as scarcely to be perceptible. I have seen one of these animals in the course of a few days, in consequence of the friction to which he had subjected his skin, entirely denuded of hair. At the commencement of this disease, the animal is dull and nauseated ; the pulse is full and accelerated, and betokens a strong reactionary fever. Bleeding, which is one of the efficacious measures to be adopted in order to moderate the early symptoms of this disease, ought only to be resorted to by a veterinary surgeon, as it is a deadly measure when improperly employed.’ The Cattle Plague was introduced to the provinces on the banks of the Rhine by the Russian troops.1 Nebel, who gives us the earliest and -most circumstantial account of the impor- tation, states: ‘In the autumn of 1813, when the Russian army was marching towards the Rhine, on its way to France, one of the Hungarian oxen, which we admired for their beauty, became affected with the plague festem intulere). The con- sequent mortality ( strages ) was not great, neither did it last long, so that most of the cattle had survived the disease, or they may have been bred from those which had been pre- viously attacked and recovered.’2 The production of carbuncular anthrax from the supposed bites of flies has been more than once alluded to in this 1 Franquc. Op. cit. p. 103. 2 Frilscliler. Hist. Pestis Bovillae. Giessaea, 1821, p. 12. This author gi\esa good list of the writers who had, up to that period, published treatises on the Cattle Plague. Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. 35 history, and must furnish an interesting and important feature in the etiology of the malady. We have referred to an outbreak of this nature in Hungary, in 1790. We find that in the present year there was another in that country, in the palatinates of Arad, in Hungary, and in the Bannat of Temeswar. In Boulak not fewer than two hundred horned cattle perished from it, and in Versetz at least five hundred. Like the former irruption, it was supposed to have arisen from the attacks of the Snnilium of Latreille ; and the insect is described as making its appearance towards the latter end of April or beginning of May, in such indescribable swarms as to resemble clouds, proceeding, as some think, from the region of Mehadia, but according to others, from Turkey. Its approach is the signal for universal alarm. The cattle fly from their pastures, and the herdsman hastens to shut up his cows in the house ■ or when at a distance from home, to kindle fires, the smoke of which is found to drive off this terrible assailant. Of this the cattle are sensible, and as soon as attacked, run towards the smoke, and are generally pre- served by it. 1 ‘ Such attacks are frequent in the hot dry seasons, when insects are most numerous. The symptoms are described to be a swelling of the throat, hanging down and tumefaction of the head, rattling in the windpipe, difficulty in respiration, palpitation of the heart, staggering, breathing very quick and short, tongue shining, swollen, and often aphthous ; mucopurulent discharge from the eyes and nostrils, and pro- fuse diarrhoea2— m fact all the symptoms of this particular form of anthrax. A irby and Spence. Entomology, vol. I. p. 151 2 Town son. Travels in Hungary. Bruce informs us that in Nubia the wood and plains are full of poisonous insects. At Senaar, men and women anoint themselves once a day with camel’s grease mixed with civet, to drive away these off m ^ Vn ShirtSi‘Pped m grease with the same object, as well as to keep off malaria Horses suffer extremely, and perish in great numbers ; indeed no horses can be kept there. The cause of the mortality is owing to the existence of prodigious swarms of a poisonous fly called the Tsaltsalya, litLlly the ‘ dog fly ’ the zimb. The insect is about the size of n hnmminn 1 , y . S ny, noise, and i„Hiets a severe and poisonous wound, ofhl anpr mAu “i , 'T™® and cattle rush madly towards any water that may be near Th™ 7 S“ eoveredNWi,h carbunc.es, which appear a, theseat ^^“Sr^ 3—2 3^ History of Animal Plagues. A.D. 1814. The harvest was unfavourable over the whole of Europe. A great scarcity of provisions happened in Naples. At Noya, in Italy, an epidemic resembling the plague broke out in mankind, and soon afterwards it showed itself at Cagliari. It was preceded by famine. Sheep small-pox was epizootic at Belluno, in Italy.1 Epizootic influenza prevailed among the horses in the Canton of Aargau, in Switzerland.2 At Rouen, in France, what was termed an epizooty of gastric fever, but which was no doubt the multiform disease ‘ influenza,’ broke out among the horses of the 4th Chasseurs a Cheval. According to Rodet, jun., the commencement of the attack was very sudden, and was announced by apathy, prostration, heaviness of the head, and feebleness in movement. Then the eyes became tearful, and were almost covered by the infiltrated eyelids ; the pulse, until now full, strong, and rather quick, soon became very small, always rapid, but feeble, and not unfrequently inter- mittent ; a dry hacking cough was present ; the visible mucous membrane showed a well-marked yellow tint , the respiration was anxious ; the fasces hard and covered with mucus. In some cases the pulmonary organs were more or less gravely affected, although always consecutively. Then the movements of the animals became inegulai and stagger- ing 5 a dark yellow liquid flowed from the nostiils, cedematous swellings formed under the abdomen and chest. In some instances, besides these symptoms, there were others, as follows : Cutaneous eruptions, ptyalism, spasmodic move- ments and other more remarkable nervous phenomena, and black spots or stains on the conjunctiva and pituitary mem- brane. On examining the dead bodies, the essential, lesions were found to consist in a more or less peculiar and distinct yellow colour of all the tissues, in inflammation of the mucous mem- brane of the stomach and intestines— this tissue presenting large patches of ecchymoses and gangrene, some of a violet and others of a black colour, while others again were green, 2 Beitriige Schweiz. Thierarzt. p. 9. 1 Bottani. Op. cit. vol. vii. p. 34°- 3Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, Vol. IX. 37 Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. yellow, and lardaccous or gelatinous in consistence. The mesentery and omentum were also spotted with dark gan- grenous patches; the lungs were inflamed to a greater ex- tent, and at times were even gangrenous ; the pleurae were extremely inflamed, and contained a variable quantity of a reddish coloured fluid. In Siberia, a very deadly epidemy broke out, and at the same time an epizooty showed itself among the reindeer. Wrangell,1 who witnessed this event, alludes to it when speak- ing of the Tchuktches : ‘ Every tribe and every caravan is accompanied by one or more Shamans (priests), who are consulted on all important occasions, and their decisions are rarely controverted. The extent of their power was shown, amongst othei instances, by a terrible one which occurred at Ostrownie fair in 1 8 14. A sudden and violent disease had broken out amongst the assembled Tchuktches, and had carried off not only many men, but also a large number of reindeer, which form their chief wealth.’ This celebrated explorer gives an excellent illustration of the change effected in the condition of a people by losing its domestic animals through disease, and also informs us that the reindeer is liable to exterminating maladies ; and that disease among these hardy creatures is very general and deadly at times. ‘The Jukahirs, who were once a numerous nomade race, have much diminished. Most of them have lost their reindeer by sick- ness, and now live poorly as fishermen along the banks of rivers. Some few have preserved their reindeer, and have withdrawn with them into the tundras near the sea.’ Of the tribes on the Aniui river he remarks : ‘ Most of these tribes were formerly nomads, who ranged with their tame reindeer far and wide through the tundras in search of the best pasture. After the conquest of Siberia, they were subject to tribute, and were restricted to a limited circle, within which they were often unable to find sufficient food for their reindeer. The consequence of this restriction has been the gradual loss of those animals, partly from want of pasture and partly from sickness, which, when it broke out in a single 1 Wrangell. Le Nord de la Siberie. Paris 18*3, vol. i. p. 265. 3$ History of Animal Plagues . herd, spread rapidly among the rest, as they could no longer be withdrawn at once to escape the contagion. . . . The population on the banks of the Aniui has increased latterly, but this cannot be regarded as any sign of an improvement in the condition of the people. It is caused by the influx of the nomad tribes, who having lost their reindeer by sickness or other accidents, are forced to seek their subsistence, like the rest of their countrymen, in the neighbourhood of the rivers. .... Formerly, all the Tchuktches lived on the produce of their reindeer ; but those among them who lost their herds by sickness or other causes, settled by degrees along the coast, where they kill whales, seals, and walruses.’ This is a remarkable example of a people being compelled to change their mode of life through the loss of their domestic animals ; and we also find Mr. Kennan1 mentioning a similar instance. He says that the settled Koraks of the Penzhinsk Gulf are the most brutal and degraded of the natives of North-Eastern Siberia. Having lost all their reindeer from disease, they built houses of drift-wood along the sea-coast, and gained a sub- sistence as fishermen. The events of war in this year had greatly disseminated the Cattle Plague over the continent of Europe. The allied armies under Schwarzenberg had already, in the previous year, on their way to invade France, imported the pestilence into the Rhine provinces. Wherever they appeared bringing with them their droves of commissariat cattle, as certainly did the contagion extend to the herds in their vicinity, and from these to districts even distant from the infected centies. By this means it was carried into Switzerland,2 into Austria,-’ Silesia,4 into Upper Italy,6 and into France.6 In the latter country it raged around Paris, and still moie extensively and 1 Kennan. Tent Life in Siberia. London, 1870, p. 232. 2 Beitrage Schweitz. Thier'arzt, pp. 26, 42, et seq. 3 J. Lidl. De Epizootiis in Variis Austria nec non German. Sept, partibus. Yiennse, 1815. 4 G. D. Namsler. Uber die Rinderpest und deren Behandlung. Breslau, 1S16. 5 Botlani. Op. cit. vol. vii. pp. 270, 291, 339. e The French have, as usual, given numerous accounts of this terrible epizooty, some of them marked by great ability and erudition. Ihe following are the pirn cipal treatises : 39 Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. disastrously over the whole empire, until 1816, during which period the whole of Italy was infected and her herds ravaged.1 The many treatises on this visitation of the bovine scourge would, in a special work on the Cattle Plague, well merit attention ; but as hitherto, in consequence of the comprehen- sive character of this history, it has been impossible to do more than briefly allude to the descriptions given by some of the most prominent writers, so now we will only refer in a snmmary manner to the observations of a few of the principal veterinary authorities who witnessed the disease in Prance, giving the titles of the books published at this time, below. M. Grognier writes as follows : ‘About the middle of April 1814, a serious epizootic broke out in Ville Franche, in the department of the Rhone. Four cows died, evidently of the same disease. They seemed to be simultaneously attacked after they had eaten of the remains of the fodder which had been given to a herd of Austrian cattle that had traversed that road. M. Boin, a veterinary surgeon, recognized in this disease a bilious inflammatory fever in the highest degree contagious, and setting all medical treatment at defiance. Without characterizing the malady otherwise than by the general term of an epizooty, M. Rativet, veterinary surgeon at Anse, had witnessed the condition of the cattle as they passed. M. Gayot, veterinary surgeon, informed me that, although situated on the high-road, his commune had been exempted from the disease ; for every proprietor on the road, alarmed by the reports that had reached him of the danger, J. B. Gohicr. Mem. sur la Maladie des Betes a Cornes dans le Depart, du Rhone. Lyons, 1814. Leroy. De la Contagion regnante sur les Vaches, sur les Boeufs, et sur I’homme. Paris, 1814. J. B. Huzard. Compte-Rendu sur l’Epizootie. Paris, 1815. Mauclerc. Mem. sur la Maladie Epizootique, etc. Coulommiers, 1815. Hurtrel d' Arboval. Instructions Somm. sur l’Epizootie Contagieuse, etc. Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1816. Dupuy. Traite sur les Maladies Epizootiques. Paris, 1836. Girard and Dupuy. Notice sur l’Epizodtie qui regne sur le Gros Betail. Paris, 1816. Gucrsent and Dupuy. Dictionn. des Sciences Med. vol. xiii. 4 Melaxa. Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 292. 40 History of Animal Plagues. had closed his stables. In one village, however, a farmer lost the whole of his cattle, from having permitted two of these animals to rest for a few days on his premises. A farmer at Amas lost twenty-two cows out of twenty-seven, in conse- quence of his having opened his cow-shed to these animals as they passed. The epizootic penetrated into Marance in the following manner : A man named Pomerel bought at Anse some rags to fumigate his vines. They consisted of pieces of coverlets. They were drawn home by two cows attached to a cart. The rags were deposited under a waggon-house by which his cattle passed in their way to and from the pasturage. They appeared to scent the heap of rags, lowing and running backwards, as if they were afraid to pass. A few days after- wards, all his cows, including those which had drawn the cart, were seized with the epidemic, and died. M. Privat, a cattle- merchant at Onlius, received into his house some of the butchers of the Austrian army. While they were there they slaughtered an Hungarian ox, and left the skin in a corner of the stable. He had at that time five healthy cows, but they were all destroyed by the epizootic in six days. At the time when, in conformity with the orders of the administration, I inspected the markets of Ville Franche, four oxen that had been concealed from inspection were brought to the premises of M. Damiron. Two days afterwards, the only two cows that M. Damiron had previously possessed became ill, and, in process of time, died. M. Collet, veterinary surgeon at Savigny, informed me that some Hungarian cattle were turned into one of the fields of the mayor. All his cattle, which, on the departure of the others, occupied the same fields, were infected with the disease, and every one of them died. ‘ M. Tonnerieux, veterinary surgeon at Givors, attended many cattle that were attacked by the disease; and he affirmed that, generally speaking, they became ill, one after the other, in the order of proximity to the door in which they stood in the stable. After being possessed of these facts and many others, I could not deny that the epizootic which pre- vailed was c highly contagious ’ among cattle. Two facts proved that it was not entirely limited to cattle. A large dog, four 4i Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. years old, drank some of the milk of a cow labouring under this disease. He was soon afterwards attacked by a foetid dysentery, which lasted eight days ; he, however, ultimately recovered. A horse ate a small bundle of hay that had been refused by some of the Hungarian cattle, and which had been contaminated by their saliva. The horse soon exhibited symp- toms of typhoid disease, and died. On opening him, very great gastro-intestinal inflammation presented itself. No fact, how- ever, has proved the transmission of the poison to the human being. I have known several veterinary surgeons who were wounded in opening cattle labouring under this disease ; but I have net seen or heard of any inconvenience resulting from it, beyond that of a simple wound. On the other hand, I have known or heard of numerous examples of the fatal conse- quence resulting from the inoculation of the human being by matter discharged in the inflammatory contagious diseases of cattle. This is not one of the least differences by which these diseases are distinguished from each other. It has been asked, whether it is prudent to eat the flesh of animals that are labouring under or have died of this disease ? The troops of the enemy, before they reached our unhappy country, ate with impunity the flesh of such of their cattle as were affected with typhus. They did so with impunity in the districts that were most devastated by the diseases which they introduced. Even their sick used this food when they were laid up in the hospital. Our people did not scruple after this to have recourse to it, and they did so with impunity. It was cheap enough, for they purchased it at two sous per pound. I ate it myself many times, and without inconvenience. It was as good as the meat from the inferior joints of cattle. I gener- ally had it stewed. The bouillon acquired somewhat of the taste of fat poik, and did not yield that rich odour which good meat thus treated acquires. That this food is not of a good quality, that it may injure weak and sickly individuals, and that it, consequently, ought to be excluded from the market, is perfectly true ; but that it is essentially unwholesome, and| more especially, that it can introduce a tendency to typhus in those who eat it, I cannot believe. 42 History of Animal Plagues. Was it the Austrian, or, more properly, the Hungarian cattle that, in 1814, introduced this disease into France? or was this malady the inevitable consequence of the excessive fatigue, the multiplied excesses, the insufficient and unwhole- some food, the inevitable crowding into small and ill-venti- lated places, and other causes of disease inseparable from the movements of large armies ? This is a question which, at present, I will not undertake to solve ; but Buniva was so convinced of the origin of the malady, that he called it “ the Hungarian epizootic.” Huzard maintained that it had the same origin ; but he accounted for it in a singular way. It does not, according to him, exist in Hungary ; but the cattle of that country, from which the supply for the troops was almost entirely composed, contracted it in their route, in consequence of the numerous sources of insalubrity to which they were exposed, and, once being infected, they communi- cated the disease with frightful rapidity. My attention was, of course, much occupied in comparing the various modes of treatment adopted in order to restrain the ravages of this disease, for it was an evident fact that not more than one out of ten attacked by the disease survived. The result was the same whether I had recourse to bleeding or tonics, acids, mucilages, or cordials. Many recipes were much in vogue, and, with some difficulty, I obtained an account of the com- position of several of them. At their head was one introduced by the Vicomte de Bussy, and which he had seen a thousand times used successfully in Germany, even when the animal was so reduced that all hope cf recovery was abandoned. It was as follows : — “Take of yeast one ounce, and of ordinary beer a quart. Give half a pint of this three times in twenty- four hours, diminishing the dose as the animal gets better.” A half-pint of ale with a little yeast, or a cup of coffee, or a cup of water, would have done as much good. Another empiric added a quart of vinegar to ten quarts of barley- water. A quart of this harmless mixture was ordered to be given every two hours. This was certainly an improvement on the prescription of the Vicomte, but both of them would be perfectly useless. They were much of the same character Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 43 with the six grains of tartar emetic ordered for each beast in the epizootic of 1757 by Surgeon Chaigncbrun — or the thcriaca of Dr. Dufot — or the nitre and lily of the valley of Hartman. These medicines must be truly ridiculous and powerless when given in such minute doses. If a cure is ever effected appar- ently by these nostrums, it must in reality be accomplished by the efforts of nature. I should with more hope of success have recourse to quinine ; but in what dose should it be administered ? Twenty times as much as is given to the human being. Half a drachm or a drachm should be adminis- tered twice in the day, and its efficacy assisted by those useful adjuncts gentian and ginger. Some have recommended the chestnut, the willow, the tamarind, and the gentian ; but with the exception of the last, they are comparatively worthless, and the gentian is a mere adjuvant to the quinine. After all, the remedy for a disease does not consist in the administration of any particular drug, but in the general mode of treatment. This must be directed by a person of real talent and skill, who can detect every change, and avail himself of every indication. There never will exist a sufficient number of veterinary surgeons thus to treat methodically and carefully one of these contagions, coming upon us like a vast and rapid inundation, and spreading itself suddenly over whole districts. When an expanse of country is infected — when every village and every stable is filled with patients, where shall be found sufficient power to grapple with the evil ? The veterinary surgeon hastens through the infected villages and hamlets. As he pursues his rapid course, he prescribes the medicine that is to be given and the course that is to be pursued, and on he hurries to other patients. The owner of the diseased cattle — does he faithfully obey the directions that have been given, or does he clumsily blunder through them ? Or does he employ them not merely on the case in hand, but on many other ailments, real or suspected, of other animals ? For when the epizootic rages, every little illness is supposed to be connected with it, or caused by it. Is the same specific applied to laminitis or to apoplexy ; and, failing with regard to them, does the owner immediately apply to the “cunning man”? 44 History of Animal Plagues. The public authorities interfere. Are they not endeavouring to repress a contagion, the control of which is beyond their power ? Their task is a laborious one ; it is expensive ; it cripples the commerce of the country ; it interferes with agriculture ; it is injurious to a multitude of individual interests ; it is difficult to establish, and that difficulty increases in proportion to the false notions that prevail of the nature and treatment of the epidemic. The very interference of the veterinary surgeon is often an evil. One.animal in the process of treatment may infect a whole stable. While the attention of the veterinarian is engrossed by a certain number of patients, a whole community may be empoisoned, and the medical man himself may be the very vehicle of the infection. The pest may be more rapidly diffused than the antidote. Many may be cured, but a great many more will succumb before the remedy can arrive. “ All other things being equal,” says M. de Berg, “ it is in the country which is best supplied with veterinary aid that the progress of the disease is most rapid. The reason is simple. The surgeon often enters an infected cow-house without his being at all aware of it. The contagious malady has not yet displayed its usual and fatal symptoms. He attends^to the case before him, and then he goes to assist an animal suffering from difficult parturition, or labouring under some of the numerous diseases to which neat cattle are subject, and he, unaware of the mischief, carries with him the contagion, and spreads the evil far and wide. He carries the poison in everything that he has about him, and especially in the woollen clothes that he wears.” ‘The infected animals are likewise capable of communicating the disease before there is anything about them by which its presence is indicated. How often has the passage of one infected beast through a certain district spread the disease far and wide ! The poison is conveyed by the hair with which they are covered, the effluvia from their evacuations, and the emanations from the pores of their skin. ... I have seen many oxen die when surrounded by chlorine gas, and I have likewise had forced upon me the certainty that the cowhouse remained as fully infected as at first, although twenty dis- Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. 45 infectant fumigations had been applied. . . . Have we any means of thoroughly purifying an infected stable ? or are we sometimes compelled, as is done in Switzerland and Germany, to raze to the ground the buildings that have been con- taminated by the poison ? I am unwilling to advise the extreme measure, but I will mention one fact. There was a stable at Saint-Laurent de Chemaisset, which for many years, and notwithstanding innumerable fumigations, and although the walls had been whitewashed several times, and the mangers and the racks had been scraped, and the beams had been planed, and the pavement had been renewed, and every utensil was carefully scoured — was yet a source of infection, until the cattle were removed, and it was employed for another purpose.’ Speaking of preventive measures, he adds : ‘ The practitioner need not be ashamed when he is thus employed ; for next, or equal, to the rescuing from destruction those that are already attacked, is the preservation of the remainder of the dairy. He will have enough to do in the early recognition of the epizootic disease ; its origin, its pro- gress, its fearful modes of propagation, its character, the probable time of its continuance, the method of distinguishing it from other diseases with which it may be confounded, the means of cure, the preventive measures which it may be necessary to adopt, and which absolute necessity can alone justify — here will be sufficient room for the display of talent and the exercise of sound discretion. Among these measures, the most efficacious and the most imperative will occasionally be the sacrifice, I will not say of the diseased only, nor of those that are suspected, but of others that, to the inexperienced eye, continue to exhibit symptoms of health. Who can better determine the cases in which the disease will be almost necessarily fatal from those in which there is yet hope, than the veterinary surgeon ? Who will be able earliest to recognize the changing character of the disease, and to seize the oppor- tunities when decisive measures must be adopted, or nature left to itself? Who, if I may be permitted to draw such a comparison, when an immense conflagration has broken out, and the play of the pump has become powerless, and the 46 History of Animal Plagues. flames are increasing every moment, will not regard with admiration those who are actively employed in cutting off all communication with the neighbouring buildings, and removing all combustible matter, and sacrificing everything that would tend to increase the violence of the flames ? Such is the duty of the veterinary surgeon. It is an arduous but an honourable one.’ Hurtrel d’Arboval informs us that the disease broke out in many villages in the department of the Pas-de-Calais, at Baurains, Douchy, Marconnelle, and other places ; and that it was brought thither by cattle which had been imported to supply the commissariat of the British army, a portion of which was then returning to Britain. About the second week in December, 1815, thirty horned beasts belonging to M. Moulins, a butcher and army contractor, were lodged in an inn at Marconnelle ; these animals came from Chateau- Cambresis. Many of them appeared to be ill. The hay which they had left was given to the landlord’s cows, and these became sick and soon all died. At the same time, another lot of cattle belonging to this butcher were located at Aubin. They ate little. About fifteen days afterwards, eleven more arrived at this place, and these fed no better than the former lot. On the evening of their arrival, Mr. Carpentier, of Marconnelle, brought a very fine cow which he had just purchased. It refused all kinds of food. It was ordered by the man who sold it to be kept separate. In a few days after this the disease broke out at Aubin. Numerous other similar examples are given to show that the contagion was imported into these places, and how it spread. The symptoms he enumerates do not differ in any essential features from those described by preceding writers. The second stage lasts two days, when the animal often dies ; usually, however, diarrhoea commences on the third day. When the disease is about to terminate fatally, the dejections have an odour moie and more foetid, and are very putrid and abundant \ the eyes aic sunk and fixed ; the head is turned towards the sides ; pro- gression becomes impossible ; the pulse is obliterated ; the animal gives utterance to plaintive signs, and scarcely moves, 47 Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. until all at once it falls in a heap, its voice is lost, and death soon takes place. The phenomena are observed from the fifth to the seventh day of the disease. It is also during this period that pregnant cows abort. Many calves which are dropped at their full time have exhibited all the symptoms of this fearful disease, and have died. When the termination is to be favourable, the disease is less rapid in its progress ; the animal does not entirely refuse its food; the matters evacuated are not very abundant, fluid, or discoloured ; sometimes an aphthous eruption in the mouth is noticeable. If the disease does not become serious between the third and the fifth day there is hope ; and if it gets over the seventh day, it is very lare that death takes place. The animal which survives the ninth day may be considered as saved. The changes observed in the alimentary canal were of an inflammatory charactei , the mucous membrane of the small intestines was in a state of gangrene. They contained much foul gas, and matters resembling muddy water, or white or slightly yellow- coloured fluid. The liver was softened and pale, and the gall- bladder full of yellow liquid bile. The heart was shrunken, softened, and flaccid, and the little blood it contained was black and fluid. The most characteristic signs of the epizooty were slight nervous twitchmgs, adynamia, dysentery, phlogosis of the mucous membranes, and inflammation of the small intestine. The phenomena of the malady were varied. In some localities internal anthrax ( charbon interne ) was most conspicuous The dysentery manifesting itself only on the fifth day, instead of the third, was a certain indication of death. At other places Villiers, for example, the inflammatory character of the malady was so marked that antiphlogistic treatment was indicated at the commencement of the attack. The most remarkable feature, however, was the presence of a continued fever, sometimes accompanied by brief remissions, ataxia and D'Arboval was of opinion that medical treatment of the feease was to be commended, as many animals would recover with judicious management ; but if they were abandoned to 48 History of Animal Plagues. nature, or badly treated, there would be nearly as many deaths as there would be sick. Bleeding, drastic purgatives, stimu- lating or heating remedies, were all dangerous. Setons and fumigations he relied chiefly on, with the administration of emollient drinks, and quinine, gentian, and other tonics. In the second stage of the malady he recommended friction to the spine and the members with volatile liniment, and rice or flour gruel drinks acidulated with vinegar or sulphuric acid. After the fifth day, if the disease became aggravated, he thought it was time to abandon all treatment, as the animal might be considered lost. When recovery was taking place the strength was to be maintained by beef-tea and bread steeped in water, and bitters in beer was to be given fre- quently. The animal was only to be allowed its ordinary food by slow degrees. But adopting wise preventive measures and the exercise of great care, of the nine hundred and twenty-eight communes which formed the department of the Pas-de-Calais, fourteen only were allowed to suffer from the epizootic. In these stricken communes it was reckoned there were four thousand eight hundred and twenty-three head of cattle, and of this number four hundred and eighty- two only were attacked, of which three hundred and twenty- eight died, and a hundred and fifty-two were cured. The value of the animals before they died was reckoned at 48,664 francs, a large sum if the small proportion of com- munes attacked is considered. Every praise is given to the effective measures which saved the whole of the farmers from inevitable ruin. At Lyons and in its environs the disease ravaged the country long and widely, because the presence of a foreign army prevented these measures being enforced. ‘ Professor Gohier, who witnessed the epizootic in the depart- ment of the Rhone, was much confused in tracing its origin. He regarded it as an acute catarrhal inflammation of nearly all the mucous membranes of the body, but especially of that lining the alimentary canal. There was diarrhoea and dysen- tery, and he thought it was a grave mistake to look on the malady as at all related to anthrax. There could be no doubt as to its highly contagious character, but fortunately it did not Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. 49 attack horses, asses, sheep , or dogs. The professor successfully- attempted to communicate it by cohabitation, and also by introducing the matter from the nostrils of the diseased beasts into the nasal cavities of healthy ones. He quite believed that goats would contract the malady , and says that many have taken it through staying but a short time in the same sheds with diseased cozus. When the animals were dead putrefaction set in rapidly, and an examination of their bodies exhibited always the same pathological changes. The organs in the thorax were not so much affected ; in the abdomen the mucous membrane of the intestines was inflamed, of a brownish hue, with collections of dissolved blood in their interior; the same was observed in the uterus and the bladder. The gall-bladder was filled with a thick black bile. The fourth stomach was inflamed and gan- grenous in many places. The food enclosed in the third stomach was black and dried, and the epithelial membrane was detached and remained adherent to the food. The symptoms enumerated by Gohier do not vary much from those already given. There were rigors and a slight tumefaction of the eyelids ; the mem- brane lining the nose became red, and the discharge was abundant. The vessels of the conjunctiva were congested, and the caruncula lachrymalis and membrana nictitans were gorged with blood. The horns were hot, as well as the super- ficies of the body ; the excrements were dry, and showed streaks of blood. This state lasted for two days, rarely for three. Then these symptoms became augmented. Profuse diarrhoea set in, with prostration of vital power, grinding of the teeth, and sometimes tetanic rigidity of the muscles ; the respiration was jerking and interrupted as in ‘ broken wind ’ in the horse. The third stage was announced by coldness of the horns and the skin ; dryness and excoriation of the skin of nose ; a foamy saliva running from the mouth, and a most foetid diarrhoea often enough mixed with blood ; the pulse imper- ceptible ; tremblings ; great difficulty in respiring, and fre- quently lepeated sighs or moans. Many animals, when they lay down, turned their heads round on their shoulders and kept their necks curved in this way for a long time— a sign of 4 50 History of Animal Plagues. approaching death. The question was asked if the epizootic has been caused by the Hungarian cattle, and if it had been developed in these animals by the particular influences of climate, nourishment, fatigue, etc. The author was at that time unable to decide this difficult problem. Of its very con- tagious nature there could be no doubt, and there was no occasion for wondering that in so brief a time it should have made such great progress, as the nearly continual march of troops prevented the having recourse to those great measures of safety used in such cases. Scarcely was it possible to save one animal out of twelve or fifteen. The cows which calved were preserved ; and those animals which were cured had eruptions, which always denoted a favourable termination. The non-success of medical treat- ment he attributed to the peculiar nature of the inflammation, which had a great tendency to pass into gangrene. All kinds of treatment were tried, but without avail ; bleeding and purga- tives were hurtful ; setons scarcely caused any swelling, much less suppuration. Out of twenty-seven animals, of which twenty-two were oxen, three cows, and two goats treated by the professor, he was only able to save two cows. He came to the conclusion that regime and medicaments were illusory, but he believed in the utility of preservative measures. ‘ Has there not at different times been numbers of remedies proposed for the cure of glanders, rabies, and sheep small-pox, and is there one of them effectual ? The same may be said for those held up as specifics for the cure of this disease, which is a kind of plague. Is there any remedy which is really preservative against the plague in mankind ? The best physicians say theie is not. When we are told that a certain number of animals have been cured or preserved by some kind of treatment, we must not take this expression to the letter, because it can never be proved that all these have been, or would have been, attacked by the epizootic.’ A synoptical table is given of the various ways by which the contagion of epizootic diseases may be communicated. It appeared to Gohier that, in the public interest, all the affected cattle, when they had reached the second stage of the Period from A.D. 1800 to A. D. 1815. 51 disease, should be destroyed, because experience had demon- strated that their recovery then was always impossible. At least for one that was cured twenty perished, and these before their death communicated the malady to numbers of others. By timcously killing them the contagious centres were diminished. The veterinarian Huzard, in a report laid before the Society of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, on the 28th of April, 1814, informs us that a deadly epizooty had been raging for some time among the cows and oxen. The disease, which appeared to have been brought from Hungary by the Allied armies, was regarded as a bilious putrid fever, very contagious, and which often carried off those attacked by it in thirty-six hours. The cows were never seized until after they had been in com- munication with the Hungarian oxen, or the cattle captured by the Cossacks, and which had herded with the sick animals. That which was most singular was, that the disease did not exist in Hungary, according to the information given by those Austrian officers well versed in rural economy. It seemed that it was the fatigues of the journey, the bad food, and the vicissitudes of the weather, which excited the appearance of the malady. The constant phenomena attending its appearance were loss of appetite, suspension of rumination, and suppression of the secretion of milk from five to six hours before the commence- ment of the more palpable symptoms. The disease lasted at the most five days. Towards the end there was a very foetid putiid dysentery. When the animals died, the intestines were found inflamed, the gall-bladder extremely distended, and filled with bile more or less thick. No kind of treatment was successful, and only some beasts here and there were saved. It was necessary to isolate, as completely as possible, the diseased from the healthy beasts. As soon as a proprietor saw his cows ill, he hastened them to the butchers, who converted them into beef. This was not unhealthy, for the troops which were fed on it experienced no ill effects ; not- withstanding this, however, it had less flavour than healthy flesh. y 4—2 52 History of Animal Plagues. In general, in diseases, it was considered preferable to sell the animals in this way than to treat them, because the price of the drugs and the doses which it was necessary to give to produce any effect, surpassed the abilities of the proprietors, and often exceeded the value of the animals. And after all, experience had demonstrated that drugs are always useless against con- tagious epizootics. Against these, says M. Huzard, there is only needed men and money. Men to prevent communi- cation between the healthy and diseased animals, and to execute the necessary sanitary measures, and money to defray the expenses of these and the cost of isolation. Some useful tables are given of the estimated losses in the arrondissements of Paris, Saint-Denis and Sceaux. The whole department of the Seine was calculated to contain, in the beginning of 1814, eight thousand cows ; and of this number, at the maximum, two thousand had died or been sold in consequence of the epizooty. The number had only been reduced by one-fourth, and it was reckoned that about one-eighth had actually perished from the disease, which was more disastrous in the country than in the city, where the loss only amounted to about one-tenth. It was conclusively shown that all those which had been isolated were preserved, and that the malady only manifested itself where it had been carried. There is much complaint made, and with reason, of the carelessness of the cattle-owners and of the little importance they attached to the employment of police measures, in which they had no confidence ; while they pinned their faith on the nonsense of charlatans, on all the pretending curers of the malady, and in old-fashioned preservative and curative recipes. The local authorities only too often ignored the laws relative to epizootics, and were far from strict in enforcing their execu- tion. A great number, in fact the majority of them, did nothing — a circumstance which may be attributed to the events of war. Yet, this able veterinarian asserts, against an epizooty of this kind the administrative police is the only power which can be brought efficaciously into play. Lastly, it was to the negligence or the misconduct of proprietors that might assuredly be attributed the ravages of epizooties, and not Period from A.D. 1800 to A.D. 1815. 53 to the disease itself, which it is easy to arrest or prevent. In a rtsumt of his observations, it is advanced that this disease had always been imported into France by contagion alone. This contagion had always been due to expatriated animals in which fatigue, overheating, and bad nourishment had developed the malady spontaneously. The distinctive characteristic of the epizooty was the inflammation of the abdominal viscera, principally of the stomachs, the intestines, and the liver — whence resulted a dysenteric, bilious, or putrid flux. It was generally mortal, as were all the intense inflammations of the herbivorous ruminants, which terminated promptly by asthenia. The flesh of the diseased animals was largely consumed by the Allied armies, and by the inhabitants of Paris and its environs, without any accident. The only measure which was most generally neg- lected, was the isolation of the diseased and the healthy. This isolation was all the more indispensable as the epizooty was very contagious. The contagion was only communicable to animals of the same species. It had no effect on man, nor on animals of a different species. The destruction of the diseased or con- taminated beasts could only be practised effectually where there was unity of action and of administration; and above all in the commencement of the disease, when it had only shown itself at a few points, or among a small number of animals which were easy to circumscribe. There was some complaint made of the insufficiency of the resources which veterinary medicine afforded in this disease ; but was human medicine any more successful in the curative treatment of the plague, yellow fever, or of typhus ? And was it not something to be already able to indicate, in a certain manner, preservative and preventive measures ? Guersent, assisted by the veterinary professor Dupuy, in an able essay on epizooties, devotes a considerable portion to the discussion of this particular disease. This work is well worthy of the attention of the veterinary student, and I only regret that I am not able here to give even a very brief analysis of some of the more particular passages. This author is the hrst in France, I think, who designates the epizooty as 54 History of Animal Plagues. 1 contagious typhus/ and he says he has borrowed the name from the Germans, in preference to that of ‘ cattle plague,’ ‘ malignant fever/ ‘pestilential fever,’ ‘ the variolous pest,’ and even the ‘ cattle small-pox.’ He regarded it as contagious, and as comporting itself like the human plague or typhus of the East, and the typhus of the armies in Europe. The con- tagious emanations from diseased cattle could easily be trans- mitted by the air. He asserts positively that the epizooty was not transferable either to goats, sheep, horses, cats, dogs, etc. The incubation of the contagious miasma is some days before the development of the malady. Dupuy’s observations are very valuable, as they are exact in the details of all the symptoms of the malady during life, and in the changes found after death. This talented veterinarian, however, made a grave mistake in maintaining that the disease was variola — indeed, in many epizooties of a different kind he saw nothing but this affection, and this blunder led him to erroneous con- clusions. The experiments with regard to the production of the disease by cohabitation and inoculation are interesting, and most conclusive. The incidental consecutive eruption was observed by him in a fair proportion of cases, and especially as occurring on the mammae. Altogether his treatise is most instructive, and recent observers have added but little to the descriptions he affords. 55 CHAPTER II. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1815 TO A.D. 1830. A.D. 1815. An awful volcanic eruption took place in the island of Sumbawa, near Java. Out of 12,000 people only twenty-six escaped. At the same time, violent whirlwinds carried up men, horses, cattle, and whatever else came within their scope.1 A very severe epidemy prevailed at Corfu. A serious epizooty among horses is casually mentioned by Youatt as occurring in this year. ‘ So lately as the year 1815, an epidemic of a malignant character reigned among horses. Three out of five which were attacked died. It re-appeared in 1823, but was not so fatal. It was said that the horses that died were ultimately farcied ; the truth was, that swellings and ulcerations, with foetid discharges, appeared in various parts, or almost all over them.’2 Hydrophobia appeared in an epizootic form in dogs at Copenhagen and throughout Norway.3 In Austria this malady was also remarkably frequent.4 It is generally believed that in this year the specific foot disease of sheep ( contagious ovine paronychia ), known by the designation of ‘pedero5 in Spain, ‘ pietin,’ ‘limace,’ ‘ fourchet,’ ‘ pesogne,5 ‘ pourriture du pied,5 ‘ crapaud contagieuse,5 ‘ cuidite pustuleuse/ etc., in France, was introduced into Germany by Spanish Merino sheep imported from the latter country.5 In 1 Ly ell. Op. cit. - 2 Youatt. The Veterinarian, vol. vi. p. 122. 3 Viborg. Conspect. Praecip. comm, de Enzootica Canina atque Hydrophobia, 1817. 4 Waldinger. CEsterr. Jahrbuch, 1816. Also Abhandlung iiber die Krank- heiten der Hunde. Vienna and Trieste, 1818. 8 Wurtemberger Verordn. p. 156. Heusinger. Op. cit. p. 291. 56 History of Animal Plagues. Germany it has been named the ‘bosartige Spanische Klauen- seuche,5 ‘ Franzosische Klauenseuche,’ ‘ Klauenkrankheit/ ‘ chronische Klauenkrankeit dcr Schafe,’ ‘ Kriimme,’ ‘ Kriimpe,’ ‘ Klauenkrebs,’ etc. Since the year 1791, when Chabert1 exactly described it by the name of ‘ crapaud ’ — though he overlooked its epizootic and contagious character— it had been known in the Pyrdndes, on the banks of the Gironde, in Vivrais, and in Bas-Medoc. At various periods, but only subsequent to the introduction of Merino sheep into that country, it has prevailed very extensively as an epizooty. It is only since 1805 that it has appeared in Piedmont and Switzerland.2 In the province of Belluno, Italy, contagious pleuro- pneumonia appeared in an epizootic form.3 In the States of the Church, anthrax prevailed among cattle ;4 and at Rome a similar epizooty manifested itself among pigeons. Metaxa5 thus alludes to this extraordinary outbreak : ‘ About this time there broke out at Rome a mortality among pigeons, more particularly young ones. It began with the formation of small encysted tumours, of a steatomatous or atheromatous appearance, and which soon degenerated into veritable car- buncles ( che dalla condizione di steatomi, ed ateromi degenera- vano in veri carboni). The occurrence of the malady was attributed to the collecting and keeping a great number of these creatures in small, narrow, ill-ventilated dwellings, and feeding them on damaged mouldy Indian corn {dal grano d'India alterato e mucido). It was suppressed by changing their food and habitations, and much immediate benefit was derived from the use of water in which lime had been dis- solved.’ At Maubege, France, dysentery was panzootic ; people, cattle, horses, dogs and cats being affected.6 1 Chabert. Instructions Veterinaires. Paris, 1791, p. 213. 2 Pictet. Bibliotheque Britannique, art. ‘Agriculture,’ vol. x. p. 371. See also Tessier. Instructions sur les Betes a Laine, pp. 223, 230. Hazard. Nouv. Diet. d’Histoire Naturel, second edition, vol. xix. p. 523. 3 Bottani. Op. cit. vol. vii. pp. 345, 348. 4 Metaxa. Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 297. 5 Ibid. loc. cit. 6 Mehmann. Huf eland' s Journal, Oct. 1821. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 57 A.D. 1816. The weather in Central Europe was most un- favourable, being cold and damp. The crops suffered to an excessive degree, and scarcity and famine followed. Probably in consequence of the low temperature, maladies of a parti- cular type were rare. Schnurrer1 writes for Germany : ‘ Owing to the strange weather, there was observed in the northern districts a great quantity of fish. At Kronburg there was such an extraordinary number of horn-fish, that the fishermen could almost shovel them into their boats ; the lobsters and herrings also appeared to be in great plenty.’ . In Ireland ‘ cutaneous diseases and vermin committed great ravages at that time.’ 2 Owing to the cold weather in the Highlands of Scotland, there was a most serious mortality among sheep and lambs, but more particularly the latter. The districts bordering on the Atlantic suffered the most severely ; and an observer states that in .a walk through the Braes of Glenorchy, he counted upwards of a hundred lambs by the way, that all appeared as if newly dead, and nearly as many more that had quietly lain down to perish without further exertion. And in fishing for about two hours on another day along the river Lyon, in the finest pasture glen in the Highlands, he saw no fewer than sixty-three carcases of old sheep by the side of the stream, all apparently dead of hunger.3 Rot in sheep {cachexia aquosa) caused great losses in France. ‘ Humidity has an injurious influence on all kinds of animals that have a weak and lymphatic temperament. Sheep are in the unfavourable situation of most quickly receiving this im- pression. What took place in 1816 affords a lamentable example. The rain continued to pour during the whole of the summer ; and, as a consequence, almost every flock, even those that were best cared for, became a prey to dropsy, which prevailed epizootically from the commencement of autumn.’4 The disease continued until the next year, and the Minister of 1 Schnurrer . Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 531. 2 Kidd‘ 0n Typhus Fever. Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal. 3 The Edinburgh Farmers’ Magazine, May, 1817. 4 Iiurtrel d' Arboval. Op. cit. art. * Pourriture.’ 5 8 History of Animal Plagues. the Interior deputed veterinary surgeons Huzard and Tessier to draw up a report on it. It also prevailed in Germany. In the kingdom of Nassau, according to Franque, splenic apoplexy (anthrax) was epizootic. In India, the seasons appear to have been no more propitious than they were in Europe, and blights and disease in grain were common. So heavy and continuous were the rains, that the great rivers overflowed their banks and destroyed much property. During the whole of this and the following year, damp thick fogs prevailed, and sickness was general. In Ceylon, during this period, an epizooty resembling that of 1806 was reported. An observer states : ‘Black cattle are sometimes subject to an extensive and devastating murrain ; there was one in 1806 and 1807, and another in 1815 and 1816. The latter was more severely felt towards the northern than the southern extremity of the island. The origin of the disease is involved in great obscurity; whether it be contagious or not, my information does not enable me to decide. The symptoms were : a drooping and unhealthy appearance of the animal, hanging down of the head, swelling about the eyes, mouth, and throat, quick respiration, rattling of the throat, unsteadiness in walking, great discharge of fluid from the eyes, ulcers about the mouth and nose, and impaired appetite ; towards the advanced period of the disease, purging super- vened. I inspected one body after death, and did not discover any remarkable structural derangement. At the same time, when the murrain was destroying great numbers of black cattle, a dreadfully fatal disease prevailed among the wild elephants, hogs, deer, and elks. In some places of the Barticaloe district, where wild hogs abound, the bodies of several hundreds of these animals were occasionally found collected within a very limited space.’1 Ceylon has often attracted attention on account of the great epizooties which have from time to time swept away both feral and domesticated animals. Perhaps it was the frequent occurrence of deadly disorders in man and beast that caused 1 Marshall. Op. cit. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 59 medicine to be made a branch of royal education among the early kings of Ceylon, and induced such anxious solicitude for its careful study everywhere among the Singhalese. One of the edicts of Asoca, engraved on the second table at Girnar, relates to the establishment of a system of medical adminis- tration throughout his dominions, ‘ as well as in the parts occupied by the faithful race as far as Tampaparni (Ceylon), both medical aid for men, and medical aid for animals, together with medicaments of all sorts suitable for animals and men.’1 Bujas Rajah, King of Ceylon (A.D. 339), was the author of a work on surgery ; he built hospitals for the sick and asylums for the maimed, and the benefit of his science and skill was not confined to his subjects alone, but was equally extended to the relief of the lower animals — elephants, horses, and other suffering creatures.2 In the second century before the Christian era, the capital city (Anarajapoora), among other conveniences, contained hospitals in which animals, as well as men, were tenderly cared for. The ‘corn of a thousand fields’ was appropriated by one king for their use; another set aside rice to feed the squirrels which frequented his garden ; and a third displayed his skill as a surgeon, in treating the diseases of horses, elephants, and snakes.3 With regard to the causes of these widespread and fatal diseases among animals in Ceylon, we are left somewhat in doubt ; but it is pretty certain that climate and the geological and topographical features of the country had much to do with their occurrence. The north of Ceylon is low and level, and constituted mainly of swampy or irrigated land ; there are no mountains, and owing to the winds of both monsoons passing across the island without leaving behind them an adequate supply of moisture, droughts are periodical visitations, and are frequently of long continuance. Vegetation in the low- lying and scarcely undulating plains is mainly dependent on dews, and whatever damp is distributed by the steady sea- breeze ; and in places the sandy soil rests upon beds of madrepore and coral rock, which permit the moisture to journal Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, vol. vii. p. 159. 2 7'etinenl. Ceylon, vol. i. pp. 504, 505. 3 Ibid. Op. cit. 493. 6o History of Animal Plagues. escape before the earth has been thoroughly saturated. In the plains, the larger rivers are sluggish and have but few tributaries — these even being exhausted in the dry season. At the change of each monsoon, however, torrents of rain descend, which cause them to overflow their banks, and widely inundate the level country. On the subsidence of these waters, the intense heat of the sun, acting on the surface left exposed, produced a noxious and fatal malaria. So deadly is the pestilence in some seasons, that the Malabar coolies, as well as the native peasantry, betake themselves to precipitate flight.1 It can scarcely be a matter for surprise, then, that the animals subjected to these unfavourable influences should experience their evil effects ; indeed, it has more than once been observed that the outbreak of pestilential malarious fevers in mankind has been coincident with epizooties of anthrax and kindred plagues in the lower creatures. From their constant exposure at all seasons, the cattle in Ceylon, both those employed in agriculture and on the roads, are subject, according to Mr. Tennent, to the most devastating murrains, which sweep them away by thousands. So frequent is the recurrence of these calamities, and so extended their ravages, that they exercise a serious influence over the com- mercial interests of the colony, by reducing the facilities of agriculture, and augmenting the cost of carriage during the most critical periods of the coffee season. What the nature of the bovine malady may be has not yet, to my knowledge, been determined by any competent authority. One would be inclined to pronounce it an anthracoid disease, or the Cattle 1 A curious remark has been made with regard to one of these rivers — the Mahawelliganga, a few miles from Kandy. During the deadly season, after the subsidence of the rains, the jungle fever generally attacks one face of the hills through which it winds, leaving the opposite side entirely exempted, as if the poisonous vapour, being carried by the current of air, affected only those aspects against which it directly impinged ( Tennent , op. cit. ). A similar fact has been noted by Mr. Bates, with regard to the tributaries of the Amazons in South America : ‘ In certain places on the banks of these, intermittent fevers prevail, as they do on all those affluents of the Amazons which have clear, dark waters and slow currents. The incidence of this endemic is somewhat remarkable, for it exists on one side of the Andirdmirim, where the land is high and rocky, and not on the other, which is low and swampy.’ — ‘The Naturalist on the Amazons,’ vol. i. p. 2S4. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 61 Plague ; but the same distinguished writer informs us that a similar disorder, which he thinks is probably * peripneumonia,’ frequently carries off the cattle in Assam and other hill countries on the continent of India ; ‘and,’ he adds, ‘ there, as in Ceylon, the inflammatory symptoms in the lungs and throat, and the internal derangement and external eruptive appear- ances, seem to indicate that the disease is a feverish influenza, attributable to neglect and exposure in a moist and variable climate, and that its prevention might be hoped for, and the cattle preserved, by the simple expedient of more humane and considerate treatment, especially by affording them cover at night.’ It also appears that cows from England do not thrive in Ceylon, but soon droop and become sickly. Horses are more liable to disease than in England, particularly to inflammation of the bowels ; and their power of sustaining fatigue is much less than in cold countries — indeed, they are not deemed capable of enduring above one half the labour that horses usually perform in high latitudes. Neither do dogs, particu- larly greyhounds, bear removal from England to Ceylon, as they soon sicken and die ; many expire during the first year after they arrive, and few outlive the second. The lungs and liver are reported to be the organs which chiefly suffer in the dog. The progeny of imported dogs are likewise extremely liable to disease, and difficult to rear ; but dogs of the native breed are hardy and very prolific. Poultry, including turkeys, geese, ducks, and common fowls, are occasionally liable to disease, which carries off great numbers of them. The disease is sometimes confined to turkeys and common fowls ; at other times geese and ducks are also affected. Nothing is known respecting the nature of this malady ; the animals which are seized generally die suddenly. ‘Dissection has hitherto thrown no light upon the proximate cause of the disease ; we are equally ignorant of the remote cause, and how far certain states of the air occasion the mortality. The disease prevails in hot dry weather, as well as during the existence of a moist cool atmosphere.’ 1 The same writer, when alluding to the 1 Tennent. Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 152. 62 History of Animal Plagues. peculiar malady designated ‘beriberi,’ which attacks the human species, says that horses and dogs are sometimes liable to a paralytic affection of the extremities, and that he never knew of any recovering.1 And it would appear that that country is no more favourable to camels than it is to the other domestic animals, as attempts to domesticate them have hitherto failed, owing to their dying of ulcers in the feet, ‘ attributed to the too great moisture of the roads at certain seasons.’ Mr. Baker,2 in describing his farming operations at Newera Elba — a district in Ceylon — tells us how, at the commence- ment, ‘ an epidemic appeared among the cattle, and twenty-six fine bullocks died within a few days ; five Australian horses died during the first year. . . Even the natives are decimated at certain seasons by the most virulent fevers and dysentery. These diseases generally prevail to the greatest extent during the dry season . . . months pass away without a drop of rain or a cloud upon the sky. Every pool and tank is dried up ; the rivers forsake their banks, and a trifling stream trickles over the sandy bed. Thus all the rotten wood, dead leaves, and putrid vegetation brought down by the torrent during the wet season are left upon the dried bed to infect the air with miasma. ... In a jungle-covered country like Ceylon, diseases of the most malignant character are harboured in these dense and undisturbed tracts, which year after year reap a pestilen- tial harvest from the thinly-scattered population. Choleia, dysentery, fever, and small-pox all appear in theii tuin, and annually sweep away whole villages. And anothei author, when stating that Ceylon produces but few domestic animals, adds that the horse and sheep are not natives of the island, and can scarcely be made to thrive there when impoited. ‘ As the expense of importation must be added to the pi ice of sheep and horses, and as a great proportion, particularly of the former, die on being landed in the island, these animals are in consequence much dearer here than in any other part of India. Sheep sometimes fetch ten and even twenty times the price they do on the opposite coast of Coromandel.’3 i Tennent, p. 184. 2 Eight Years’ Wanderings in Ceylon. 3 Percival. The Island of Ceylon. London, 1S02, p. 2S3. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 63 A.D. 1817. Diseases among men and animals were more than usually prevalent during a long and damp winter, partly in consequence of the weather, but more so, perhaps, because of the scarcity and bad quality of the food. Marasmus and dropsy, as well as what is designated ‘ rot,’ affected animals in many countries, as in the preceding year. In Scotland ‘ sheep-rot ’ was wide-spread and fatal. ‘The year 1817 was again very wet, rather more so than the pre- ceding one, and the average temperature of the season was several degrees higher than the other, which produced a very abundant growth of grass in the months of September and October ; the ultimate consequence of which was, that one of the greatest fatalities of rot followed to which the memory of man bears evidence.’1 ‘ In Ireland, during the early part of the year, there was, in many places, a great mortality among horses ; but it was to be attributed rather to starvation than to disease.’2 In the department of the Moselle, France, a very destruc- tive epizooty, caused by bad forage, broke out. Those animals which recovered suffered much from debility and emaciation, and seeing the great scarcity of good provender, the veterinary surgeon of the department, M. Collaine, had recourse to an expedient which was attended with great success, as it was the means of saving many herds and flocks. He recom- mended that all the old, worn-out, or useless animals should be killed, and their flesh cut up into thin slices, salted or smoked, to preserve it, and afterwards to be made into soup, which was to be mixed with herbs or roots of various kinds, and thickened with flour or meal. This was to be given to the debilitated ruminants in small but often repeated quantities.3 A similar malady to the above caused much anxiety in Piedmont.4 An epizooty among pigs appeared in Germany. It was 1 Fairbairn. Treatise on the Cheviot and Black-faced Sheep. 2 Harty. Sketch of Contagious Fever. 3 Collaine. Du Marasme Epizootique, etc., et de 1’emploi des Matieres Animal pour restaurer les Herbivores. Metz, 1817. 4 Luciano. Osservazioni relative alle Infermita de’Bovini, etc. Turin, 1819. 64 History of Animal Plagues. described as epizootic gastritis ( magenseuche ).1 In the month of November an epizooty of malignant bronchitis raged among horses at Versailles.2 At Wurtemberg, in the month of May, a curious outbreak of rheumatic paralysis of the tail ( stcrzseuche ) occurred among cattle. ‘ There has recently shown itself among cattle a somewhat general, but not dangerous disease, which has been named the ‘ tail-worm ; ’ from which disease three, four, or five joints of the tail appear paralyzed. If you hold up the other portion of the tail horizontally, the paralyzed end falls by its own weight into a perpendicular position. The skin is at the same time swollen, and feels like soft tanned leather. This disease of the tail is cured by applying a counter-irritant to the diseased portion ; for instance, by making an incision through the skin, and introducing some irritant as pepper, or burning the place with a red-hot iron, or dressing it with muriate of antimony, and covering it afterwards with a resinous plaster.’3 Epizootic ekzema reigned during this year in Austria, from the spring-time until the autumn ; in low damp localities the feet were much affected, and in many places it was complicated with contagious pleuro-pneumonia. Anthrax was very pre- valent on the mountains at the same time.4 At a later period it (ekzema) appeared in Bavaria, and in the next year it seems to have been pretty general in many provinces of Germany.5 In 1819 it was in France. D Arboval says : ‘In 1819, in the department of the Oise, this disease presented some remark- able peculiarities. Besides the symptoms which are common to it and other affections of the same nature, there was mani- fested at the same time as these a violent inflammation of nearly all the parts of the head ; the tongue became extremely swollen, and was protruded sometimes three or four inches from the mouth ; the glands placed under the tongue were enlarged, and swelled until they were not unfrequently the 1 Busch. Zeitschr. fur Thierheilkunde, vol. ii. 2 Journal Pratique de Med. Vetermaire, vol. iii. 3 Wurtemberg. Verordn. p. 1x2. _ . . 4 Korber. Handbuch der Seuclien, etc., der Hausthiere. Leipzig, 1635, p. 195- 3 Franque. Op. cit. p. 165. Brosche. Die Maul-und-Klauenseuche der Idausthiere. Dresden, 1820. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 65 size of an apple ; the submaxillary space itself became tumefied and often finished by having an abscess ; the disease, how- ever, was but slight in many beasts. Pouchet and Potelle, who have observed it, do not speak of lesions of the feet, and it appears that this symptom has not been present. Finally, this malady qualified as epizootic, and which has affected horses and other monodactyles in the departments of the Eure, Pas-de-Calais, the Somme, the Oise, the Seine-et- Marne, the Seine, and the Seine-et-Oise, with the blackened membrane of the tongue, the purple-red patches at its tip and on its sides, the phlyctenia, and the ulcerations on its inferior surface was, perhaps, only aphtha ; it was certainly an in- dex of irritation of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane.’1 This epizooty, as will be seen, travelled from east to west. This year is notable from the great outbreak of cholera at Jessore, which destroyed so many human lives. It was pre- ceded by excessively bad seasons, which did much injury to the grain crops. To comparative pathologists this epidemy will be interesting, as during its prevalence the lower animals were much affected by disease. With regard to the weather, Annes- leysays: ‘There can be no doubt that very unusually disturbed seasons pievailed at Madras and its dependencies for several years previous to the appearance of cholera. I shall merely observe, in general terms, and in a few words, that the years 1815-16 were extremely hot. Strong southerly and westerly winds prevailed, and very little rain fell. The year 1817 was extremely hot, with variable winds, chiefly from the south and west, and a very great fall of rain, with thunder and lightning. The year 1818 was similar to the preceding one. There were excessively heavy falls of rain, continuing from July to January, a great deal of thunder and lightning, and a severe hurricane in October.’2 In Bengal Jameson reports : ‘ The changes which have taken place in the course and suc- cession of the seasons within the last few years, in every part of Bengal and its dependencies, have been so striking, as to have not only attracted the notice of attentive observers, but * Hurtrel , « ts. of July, the autho , j Linnaeus” in the open travelling-waggon as he Hehadbeenreadmgthe UtertU n ^ ^ to his companion of the proceeded on his ro , ~ g naturalist had nearly lost his life in marvellous said to have fallen from the air, the consequence of being c ^ f ^ tirne, his incredulity as to the existence furm tnfernahs e p J> fiis disbelief of the fact. At this moment he of such an animal, an , same extraordinary manner, and perhaps by the same was himself attache ed b slight irritation, took place in his left wrist, creature. A sharp pa n, P d hardly visible, and which he sup- It was confined at first to Presently it became so severe that the posed ,0 proceed from benumbed. Tbe conseque„ce might Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 97 no hesitation in asserting that such a creature exists, I will here transcribe Mr. de Buke’s account, though we need not believe altogether in the presence of this insect, and for several reasons which shall appear : ‘In 1823, the Laplanders are stated to have suffered so greatly in their herds, that five thousand head died from the sting of this creature ; and that even the wolves and other animals that preyed upon the dead carcases, caught the in- fection, and died with the same symptoms. A Laplander, who possessed five hundred deer, on perceiving the destruc- tion among them, thought it best to kill the whole herd ; but so quickly did its ravages spread, that before he could accom- plish his purpose they all died. Great numbers of cattle and sheep were likewise destroyed by its attacks, and it fell in some degree upon the human species, a few having become victims to it. A young girl, who was shearing some sheep that had died from the attack of the furict , felt, while thus employed, a sudden pain in one of her fingers, which rapidly increased, and on examining the part, she found a small puncture, like the prick of a needle 5 her master, who was by, have been more serious, if he had not resorted to a mode of cure pointed out by the inhabitants, namely, a poultice of curd, to which he added the well-known Goulard lotion, prepared from the acetate of lead.’— ‘ Travels in Various Countries of Scandinavia,’ etc. London, 1838, vol. i. p. 208. Mr. Inglis refers to an occurrence of this nature when in Norway : ‘ Sitting one day along with a peasant, who had been my guide to a trouting stream, upon a trunk of a tree in some boggy ground, covered with coarse grass, and here and there a few cranberry bushes, I saw a very small fly of a grey colour suddenly light upon the back of my companion’s hand, and as suddenly fall off. Immediately after he 1 ted up his hand, complaining of acute pain, and there appeared a small blackish speck where I had seen the insect alight. He immediately said he was bitten by a worm, and made the utmost speed to reach a house where he might have a curd- poultice applied. The hand and arm swelled, and were much inflamed, and the man cried out with the excessive pain. The moment I saw the hand, and heard the man complain of acute pain, and say he was stung by a worm, I called to mind the circumstance related of Dr. Clarke, and from the subsequent symptoms application and cure, I could have little doubt that both were stung by the same creature. I am no naturalist, but I have thought it right to relate a fact that came within my own observation, the value of which I leave to be estimated by others I would only add that neither Dr. Clarke nor anyone who has had a pouldce applied for the purpose of extracting the worm, have said that they saw the worm Lndon, "I ™l7' PerS°nal NarratiVC °f a J°Urney thr°Ugh N°rW^’ etC- 7 98 History of Animal Plagues. had the presence of mind to cut the finger off on the spot, and it was the means of saving her life. . . . The pest is stated to have been confined to Russian and Swedish Lapland, and did not spread higher than Muonioniska, Norwegian Lap- land fortunately was not visited with this calamity ; and, in order to prevent it from being introduced, all furs, during the year of its prevalence, were forbidden to be pui chased. (I have since ascertained that, in consequence of the alarm excited by the reported ravages of the furia , an edict was actually issued from the Amtmand of Finmark, prohibiting the introduction of all furs into the country that year.) As these accounts were unsatisfactory, and I could not hope to obtain better information from such remote quarters, I was induced also on this occasion to apply to Mr. Retzius, who, having examined the reports of health of the northern pro- vinces of Sweden, transmitted annually for the information of the Government, has forwarded to me the result of his in- quiries, by which it appears that during the summer of 1823, and the year following, there was a great mortality among the reindeer in Norbotten and Lapland, which was attributed to some unwholesome quality in the moss ; but that he, as well as others of the faculty at Stockholm, had been led to consider the disorder by which they were attacked as a par- ticular variety of hydrophobia. It appears, likewise, that the deer are not unfrequently subject to another complaint-an inflammation of the brain ; and that, upon opening the part affected, a small vesicular worm (the tamia cerebrahs ) is found. The most remarkable symptoms of this disorder, which comes on with great suddenness, are an extraordinary degree of fury, during which the animal attacks, and even kills, its owners, and frightful convulsions, terminating in death. 1 . In considering the nature of this epizooty, and its suppose origin from the bites of insects, it may be noted that the forests of Lapland and Siberia abound with swarms of these creatures, which cause the reindeer the most mteise ^annoy- ance, and compel their owners to move them to the se coast or open districts at certain seasons. Not the 1 Dc Capell Brooke. Travels in Lapland. London, 1S27. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 99 harassing- of these creatures is the Qdstnis Tarandi , or gadfly, of the reindeer, which, not content with wounding the deer, deposits its ova in the wound, and another variety performs the same operation in the mouth and nostrils.1 A.D. 1824. Locusts caused immense devastation in India, and the myriads of these insects which, in the preceding years, had invaded Europe, in this year occupied Galicia, Silesia, and Brandenburg.2 In England, rot was more than usually destructive among sheep ; it ruined many farmers, and in some agricultural districts gave rise to very great depression. One farmer alone lost sheep valued at more than £ 3,000 in three months. The same malady was very common in France and Germany according to Wirth. Canine rabies was epizootic in Sweden ; and rabies was also widely prevalent among wolves, foxes, cats, and reindeer in that country.3 It was also present in a general manner in Russia, Norway, and England,4 and, it appears, even ex- tended to Ireland. f In Ireland, in August, many cases of hydrophobia occurred, owing to the number of mad dogs running about the metropolis/5 An epizooty is reported as prevailing among the reindeer in Sweden but it was probably the same that has been com- mented upon for the preceding year. A deadly exanthematous fever destroyed large numbers of cats in Dresden.7 Epizootic ekzema prevailed generally throughout Italy. It affected cattle, sheep, pigs, and even fowls, and spread from Upper to Central Italy, as if it had come from Switzerland ; but, according to some accounts, without manifesting itself in or interesting details concerning the CEstrus Tarandi and its effect on the rein- deer, as well as the means by which the Laplanders and other people avert its persecutions, see Mr. Brooke’s excellent description in the above-mentioned work ; also his Travels in Norway, Sweden,’ etc., pp. 41, 198. Clarke. Travels in \ anous Countries of Scandinavia, etc. Lloyd. Scandinavian Adventures, vol. ii. pp. 225, 226. Erman. Travels in Siberia, vol. ii. pp. 375 c0o coo frier. Die Erdkunde von Asien, vol. vi. pp. 794, fl] 5 ’ 5 9' Suenska Liik. Sellsk. arb, 1824. *« S’ Magazi"’ vo1' viii- p- 273' , n 5 Bel6st Neww*- ’ Dresdener Zeitschrift. 7 — 2 100 History of Animal Plagues. any other countries.1 Mctaxap however, asserts that the epizooty showed itself as early as 1823, and lasted until this year, and that it came from Hungary. Haupt states that it was observed in Southern Russia in this and the following year,3 as well as in France4 and Germany ' during the two succeeding years. In Russia, Cattle Plague was epizootic at the same time as this ekzematous fever. In India, the rainy season commenced earlier than usual, and the atmosphere was particularly luminous. Malignant cholera broke out not far from Calcutta, and in. that city a typhoid and exanthematous fever raged. Twining6 informs us that at this time an epizooty of a most fatal character was present among dogs. ‘During the existence of widely- spreading epidemics, unusual mortality among animals has been considered a collateral proof of a contaminated atmo- sphere. Although I have not been able to ascertain that any o-eneral mortality occurred among animals, like the epizootics that have occasionally accompanied epidemic diseases in t e north of Europe, it may be worthy of record, that the year 1824 was remarkably fatal to dogs in the vicinity of Calcutta, the sickness among these animals commencing m August. They were seized with loss of appetite, excessive thirst, violent action of the heart, that could be seen at a consider- able distance ; and in some cases there was yellowness of the eves and skin, with distension of the belly, though the dog had taken no food for several days. These symptoms were followed by a purging, which carried off the. animal in a day or two after its commencement. On dissection the stomach was found empty, the spleen unnaturally turgid with blood and the liver streaked with dark purple and black patches. 1 r„.Mi Della Malattia Contagiosa delle Bestie Bovine e degli altri Animali, M 1 n ,8 T Fault Della Zoppina e Cancro Volante, ossia Cenn. Teor sTETn«tma ^sootico regnanL Milan, .8zS. Lattice, a. Cenn. Teor Brat, sail’ Essantema Epizootico ricomparso in Romagna, impropnan calerizzato pe, Cancro Volante o Glossantraee. Pesaro, r8z6. 3 u'eber einige Seuclrenlrankheiten der Haasthier^n SMrien B«di„, n,. 4 Recueii de Med. Veter, vol. xxn. p. So. franque. up Minins on the Fever in Calcutta. Trans. Med. Soc. of Calcutta, vol. ii. p. 9- Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 101 Various modes of treatment were tried, but found of no service. In one kennel, ten couple out of twelve died. One gentleman lost fifteen out of sixteen dogs, another lost eleven out of twelve. In one pack of forty-seven couples, forty- three couples died in two months ; in these last the disease commenced in the beginning of October.’ A.D. 1825. Yellow fever was epidemic in South America, and very deadly at Rio de Janeiro, where the drought had been excessive, and was succeeded by heavy rains. At one settlement alone, Aracaty, the mortality in a short time was estimated at 30,000 people. Great numbers died during their efforts to reach the coast for water, and wild as well as domestic animals perished. Small-pox was epidemic at Hamburg, and plague at Cairo.1 At Langenaufach, in Bavaria, a badger, supposed to have been bitten by a rabid fox, wounded two children, and a horse and a cow. Count Sponek, who had been investigating the subject of rabies, thinks that ‘ had it not been mad, the great dread of mankind, peculiar to these animals, would have prevented its attacking people in broad daylight.’2 What was designated a ‘ gastro-bilious fever,’ appeared among cattle in the commune of Barbania, Piedmont.3 The Cattle Plague commenced to spread again from its supposed home, towards the North, South, and West. In this year it was extending in the governments of Pskov, Novgorod, and Siberia. In 1826, it was imported into Esthonia, Livonia, and Sweden ; in the following year it was in Kuronia ; and in 1828-29, it had reached the government of St. Petersburg, had ravaged the whole of Southern Russia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Hungary, Silesia, and Bohemia, even to the very frontiers of Saxony. In 1826, it was pre- ceded in Russia, according to Professor Jessen of Dorpat, by epizootic ophthalmia, ekzema, and anthrax. ‘ In the summer 1 Bascome. Op. cit. p. 156. -Sammlung Naturhist. Jagerbeob. Heidelberg, 1826. 3 Lessona. Storia della Mortifera Malattia fra le Bestie Bovine di Barbania. Turin, 1827. 102 History of Animal Plagues. of 1826, there raged such a terrible heat and drought as had not been seen before by the oldest people. 1 he woods were scorched everywhere, and the air was so filled with smoke, that for several weeks the sun was scarcely visible for a single day ; in the evening, when it did appear, it looked like a blood-red disc without rays, so that one could look at it direct without inconvenience. At the beginning of June, there broke out an epizootic inflammation of the eyes among the horses belonging to the regiments Graf Araktschejef ; this ophthalmia was of such a virulent character, that it com- pletely destroyed these organs. At the same time many cattle suffered from the foot disease ( Klauenseuclie ). At the end of June, and in July and August, anthrax appeared among the horses, and even many fishes caught in the river Wolchow were covered with tumours and foul sores, ciabs were found dead on the banks. The Cattle Plague ( Loser - diirre ) soon followed.’1 Anthrax fever was epizootic in Nassau.2 For several years horses had been suffering from an epizootic fever over nearly the whole of Europe, the nature, causes, pro- gress, and the contagious or non-contagious properties of which, gave rise to much discussion. It had been more paiticularly observed between the years 1824 and 1828 ; and from the facts furnished in the numerous descriptions published concern- ing it, Heusingerwas of opinion that it was a ‘nervous catarrhal fever,’ which might perhaps be compared with the spotted typhus in man. From its appearing at many distant places during the autumn of 1824, it was conjectured that its origin was due to some special miasmatic influence, and that it may also have generated a virus by which it could be transmitted from the diseased to the healthy. Nordling gives an ex- cellent description of the epizooty as it appeared in Sweden ; though it is to be remembered that it was in Denmark before it was in Sweden-probably in 1823-and that in all hkeli- 1 Jcssen. Die Rinderpest mit besonderer Beziehung auf Russknd dargestellt. Berlin, 1834. Also see Lorinser. Untersuchungen liber die Rinderpest Berlin, 1831. Veith. Handbuch der Veterinarkunde, 1831. 2 Franquc. Op. cit. Period from A.D. 1815 io A.D. 1830. 103 hood it was prevalent in Saxony and Prussia from 1820 until 1822. Nordling writes: ‘The malady, the history of which I am about to describe in a few words, is common among the horses in the province of Scania, and also among those of the Royal Guard at the Capital. At the commencement of October of the past year (1824), it was observed for the first time in the squadrons of the Prince Royal’s Hussars, stationed at Malmoe, and thence it spread into the town and the neighbouring country. In the month of January, the disease had so diminished that it was hoped it would completely disappear ; when, all at once, it again showed itself among the horses of the Scanian regiments of cavalry — the officers of these regi- ments having been collected in readiness for the manoeuvres in April. In the beginning of February, three horses belong- ing to the Royal Guard were attacked by the disease ; two of these had just returned from Scania, where during the autumn and the past year they had been depastured with the horses belonging to the regiment of Hussars of the Prince Royal. The disease had spread itself progressively among all the horses of the squadrons of this regiment ; but beyond these, it had not yet attacked more than two horses in the capital, one of which was found in the vicinity of the diseased horses of the Royal Guard. There could scarcely be a doubt as to the epizootic nature of the malady, nor yet of the necessity for providing against its ravages. It is neither a new complaint, nor yet is it a rare one. From what I have been able to observe of it, I am led to believe that it has a great analogy to the malignant putrid fever of the horse described by Viborg, or perhaps his epizootic malignant fever — it, in my opinion, being nothing else ; or the pulmonary inflammation of Veith, with its accompanying putrid and bilious fever ; or one of those modifications of malignant anthrax mentioned by French authors, and whose principal characteristic consists in disease of the lungs and liver. All the phenomena observed during the progress of the disease, as well as the lesions dis- covered after death, testify to the existence of an inflammatory state, the most intense degree of asthenia, and a great tendency 104 History of Animal Plagues. to pass into a condition of gangrene and putridity. There is also to be noted exudation of lymph as one of the features of the disease. The organs which principally suffer are the lungs and the liver ; it is for this reason that the malady is known among the people by the name of “ putrefaction of the lungs.” The disease generally manifests itself suddenly and without any premonitory symptoms. The sick animal does not possess the slightest appetite^ and has the greatest loathing for corn ; he hangs his head, and altogether shows a great degree of prostration. His pace is very slow, and when forced to move, the anterior extremities are stiff and extended, while the posterior part of the body is unsteady and sways about. When allowed to stand, the two extremities on each side are always in the same position ; sometimes symptoms of vertigo have been remarked from the onset of the attack. A sharp hacking cough is not a very rare symptom ; the nostrils are dilated, and often there flow's from them a feetid, orange-coloured fluid ; the respiration is shallow and hurried, and the movements of the flanks are accelerated ; the con- junctive and the mucous membrane of the mouth are yellow. The eyes are dull and fixed, and often tearful, particularly when the malady is most severe ; a febrile condition is mani- fested at the very commencement, with erethismus, which sooner or later changes into a torpid state — a circumstance observed sometimes from the beginning of the disease ; cold and hot stages succeed each other alternately, and the latter are denoted by a burning heat about the eyes, the upper lids of which are often drooping. The pulse is sometimes diminished — slow and weak — at other times accelerated and strong ; the impulse of the heart can be very distinctly seen on the left side of the chest ; the tongue is foul, hot, and covered with mucosities ; the excretion of the urine and fasces is slowly performed ; the urine is at the beginning clear and ammoniacal, but later it is muddy, and the excrements are hard and covered with mucus. Diarrhoea is not unfrequently present, and the discharges may be even mixed with blood, while the animal exhibits a most marked degree of debility. With horses the penis hangs pendulous from the sheath, and Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 105 with mares the lips of the vulva are seen in motion. The throat as well as the skin is in motion, even when the cough is not present. At the beginning of the disease, the horse manifests a great desire to lie down, and he gets up but slowly ; more advanced, he lies almost continually. When the malady has attained its highest degree, the respiration is most troubled, and the animal even twists himself about as if to obtain relief from his sufferings ; it is at this period that wc often observe convulsive movements ; the breath is sometimes foetid, and the same odour is perceptible in the suppuration set up by setons ; oedematous tumours show themselves on different parts of the body, oftenest about the thighs and under the abdomen. Some horses have had their head tumefied, but only with one of these has the inflammation extended to the interior of the mouth. The skin is clammy and difficult to clean, and the hair is rough. The disease lasts five, nine, and sometimes even twenty-one days or more ; the salutary crisis is brought about by diarrhoea or general sweats, and muddy sedimentous urine. After death, an examination of the bodies presents the following changes : the hair is easily pulled out ; the muscles are relaxed, and are softer and paler than usual ; in the cellular tissue are found many deposits of a yellowish fluid. An acrid heat remains for a long time after death, and the mass of the blood is found in a greater or less state of dissolution ; the lungs are gangrenous, their colour is like that of goose excrement, and they are frequently dis- organized to such a degree that we can scarcely recognise them because of their state of putrefaction. This latter is moie or less extensive ; not unfrequently it invades the whole mass of the lungs, at other times it only occupies certain parts of these organs ; while again the air-cells are found dilated to the size of a nut, or collapsed and impermeable to the air. Abscesses in the substance of the lungs are not very rare. In the thoracic cavity is always discovered much fluid, variable as to quantity and quality, being sometimes clear, yellow, and without any marked smell ; at other times thick, dark or grumous-coloured, foetid, and mixed with blood ; the lungs are often covered by an exudation of plastic lymph which 106 History of Animal Plagues. forms yellow false membranes resembling cheese. The pleura and its prolongations are always noticed to be in a state of inflammation or even gangrenous ; the pericardium externally is the same ; the heart is usually normal, although at times it is larger and softer than in health, and speckled with ecchymosed patches ; the presence of fibrinous concretions in the auricles and ventricles is often remarked ; the veins of the stomach and intestines are distended with blood ; blueish stains of different dimensions, and at times aphthae, are found in these organs, but they are rare, and in the majority of cases all these viscera are in a healthy state. ‘ The etiology of the disease is not yet determined ; but it seems reasonable to suppose that the affected horses had acquired a particular predisposition, which, through debili- tating influences — such as great fatigue, musty hay, bad water, marshy localities ; cold, damp, draughty stables ; poor pas- ture ; cold, foggy weather, etc. — became changed into actual disease capable of propagating itself by contagion. One thing is at any rate certain, and that is, that many of these conditions were in existence at Malmoe, where the malady first manifested itself. The whole of Scania, without even excepting Malmoe and its environs, is low ; and this is why we observe scrofulous diseases in man to be almost endemic there. The summer of 1824 was remarkable for sudden transi- tions from heat to cold, and for humidity. During the autumn the sky was always cloudy, and, as a consequence, the weather was misty and cold. It must also be mentioned that many malignant maladies attacked the human species, as well as animals, during the preceding and current year. Typhus fevers and small-pox were rife among men, and hydrophobia among the domestic animals ; inflammation, fol- lowed by gangrene of the spleen, committed great ravages among cattle in the island of Gottland and some other pro- vinces ; and even the reindeer in Lapland have been attacked by diseases. It seems to be beyond doubt that violent volcanic influences have been the cause of the phenomena I have indicated ; yet there is another source from whence the disease may probably have been derived : the contagion came Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 107 hither from Denmark, where the disease manifested itself before it was observed with us. Our neighbours (the Danes) had not ceased to sell their horses here until prohibited.’1 In France the disease appeared at Rouen at the commence- ment of the winter. In April it was very prevalent in the departments of Calvados, La Manche, Mayenne, Maine-et- Loire, the Loire Inferieure, Sarthe, Loire-et-Cher, Eure-et- Loire, Loiret, Marne, and other places. The mortality was more considerable in the Lower Seine and at Paris than anywhere else, and it was not generally characterised as a contagious malady. Girard’s description is perhaps the best of those published in France for illustrating the character of this epizooty as it showed itself in that country: ‘According to the investigations collected and communicated by MM. Prevost, senior and junior, veterinary surgeons at Rouen, the first horses affected were observed at the commencement of the winter in the valley of Fleury, distant about two myria- metres from the principal town of the Lower Seine. This valley, at the bottom of which runs a stream, and which is encircled by high wooded hills to the north-west, appears to have been not only the centre from whence the disease sprung, but the theatre of its greatest ravages. ... It did not re- semble any affection so much as that described by Chabert in the “Veterinary Instructions,” under the somewhat vague name of anthracoid fever ( fiivre chcirbonneiise). That which occurred here, nevertheless, ought to be rather considered as gastro-enteritis, nearly always complicated with angina, in- flammation of the omentum, carditis, and pericarditis, and sometimes also with pleurisy, pneumonia, and hepatitis. It began with a sudden loss of appetite, hanging head, rigidity of the dorso-lumbar region, and stiffness of the posterior extremities. The movements of these parts became very re- stricted, and progression embarrassed ; the animal dragged his abdominal members, and reeled about much. The pulse from the beginning began to augment in quickness, and numbered from sixty to eighty beats a minute; it was as full as it was hard, and at other times it was weak and 1 Nordling. Recueil. de Med. Veter, vol. ii. p. 444. ioS History of Animal Plagues. almost imperceptible. The abdomen became tense without being tympanitic ; the respiration laborious ; the mouth dry and pasty; and progression more and more difficult. The majority of the horses could only maintain the recumbent position , othcis could scarcely stand ; and some never moved fiom a fixed attitude from fear of falling. In proportion as the disease piogressed, so did the vital powers appear to con- centiate in the interior ; the skin lost nearly all its sensibility to such an extent, indeed, that there arrived a period during which the hoise exhibited no pain, and when, to establish points of deiivation and bring about an advantageous revul- sion towards the surface, incisions were made in the skin. The alvine evacuations became rare and difficult; the dry pellets weie covered with a glairy mucus. The urine was sometimes laden with salts, and red-coloured, sometimes limpid and crude ; it accumulated in the bladder, and the animal was unable to expel it, notwithstanding continual efforts. Nearly all were heard, when the disease was at its height, to grind their teeth at certain intervals, and all had a marked elevation of temperature at the root of the mane and overthewholeparietal region. These pathognomonic symptoms were constant, though variable in their intensity, and nearly always accompanied by other particular phenomena. Thus, lachrymation often, announced the invasion of the disease ; the conjunctive were infiltrated, assumed a purple tint on a yellowish ground (if we may so speak), and were marked by vesicles ; the humours of the eye looked hazy, and the lucid cornea lost its transparency. Commonly enough the sheath or the udder were cedematous ; the penis was extruded and remained pendent, as if paralyzed ; and the scrotum, instead of being moistened with an unctuous matter, was covered with a dried substance. In many subjects the posterior members became swollen, which rendered walking all the more difficult. The beating of the flanks, which was frequently remarked, was never constant, but continued for a certain time, then disappeared, and was renewed again at irregular intervals. Generally the tongue became foul, was covered with a black epidermoid layer, increasing in volume and density; its sides Period fro7ii A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 109 and its point more particularly were marked by reddish- purple blotches, and its inferior face covered with vesicles and ulcerations more or less deep and extensive. This condition of the tongue constantly denoted a subacute inflammation of the posterior parts of the mouth, and always betokened a troublesome complication. Many of the sick, pressed by thirst, sought to drink continually ; while others refused all kinds of fluids. Lastly, in a small number, tetanic symptoms declared themselves, and gave to the malady a degree of gravity which scarcely permitted us to hope for a cure. A particular feature which has been witnessed by many veterinary surgeons, and which I myself have had occasion to verify, is, that in general the epizooty exercised its ravages much more severely in low localities— particularly those which were damp and situated on the banks of rivers — than in places which were dry and elevated. Not only was the number of sick much greater in the valleys, but there the mortality was more considerable. According to the Messrs. Prevost, the late colds have had the most marked effect in causing the disease to become more general and fatal. In the last fifteen days of March our calculations and those of M. Prevost, senior, fixed the number of deaths among the horses in the Valley of Rouen to be one in every twenty to twenty-five attacked (Moniteur, April 2, 1825). Since the 1st of April the stables of the Royal Veterinary College at Alfort had been almost full of sick, and we daily reckoned one or two deaths out of from ten to twelve animals seized. It appeared equally certain that the affected became daily more numerous in Paris, and that the mortality was actually found to be from fifteen to twenty a day, according to the information received from Montfaucon (extensive knackeries) and from veterinary surgeons in the capital. In the districts which are open and exposed, the deaths were extremely rare, and there were cantons where not one fatal case occurred in fifty sick horses. Inspection of the dead demonstrated that the principal lesions resided in the digestive organs ; and that the heart, pericardium, omentum, and liver, as well as the lungs, participated more or less, 1 1 o History of A nimal Plagues. though in different ways, in the derangements caused by the epizooty. What is more, it was remarked that there was con- stantly one of these organs most seriously involved, and that this organ always presented appearances as grave as the others were less affected. This last observation, which we have had to make as often as we saw horses opened, ex- plains why it is so difficult, during the progress of the disease, to draw well-founded inductions in order to establish our diagnosis and prognosis. An inflammation more or less in- tense was constantly noticed in the mucous membrane of the pharynx, but above all in the stomach and intestines ; though in variable degrees and complications. The lateral portions of the tongue were covered with ulcers, similar to aphtha?. The back parts of the mouth were of a more or less intense red, and sometimes perforated by small holes like so many ulcers ; and not unfrequently these follicles were of a con- siderable size, and their apertures were wide. The surface of the stomach presented a redness more or less intense and extensive, particularly in the right sac ; it was sometimes seen throughout the whole extent of this organ. We had occasion to notice, in various parts of the mucous membrane, ulcerating petechia and gangrenous abrasions. In the majority of examinations, the external surface of the small intestine ex- hibited on many parts numerous small punctures ( piquetures ) more or less distant from each other. The internal face of the same intestine, always covered with a tenacious thick mucus, was frequently covered with petechial patches. In some cases, the matters enclosed in the small intestine were solid and dried up. The caecum was nearly always the portion of the intestinal tube in which the mucous membrane was most affected. Not only was the redness the most marked in this part, but it exhibited small ulcers and black effusions like gangrene ; this alteration was continued to the duplicature of the colon, though always less conspicuous. The omentum, red and inflamed, was frequently found torn in many of its involutions. After the digestive tract, the heart was the organ most frequently much involved. The pericardium, whose external surface is commonly infiltrated by a yellow Period f rom A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 111 humour, contained a more or less abundant quantity of serum, at times tinged with blood, and showed traces of intense inflammation. In many subjects the heart was more than double its ordinary volume ; its substance, pale and dis- coloured, offered little consistency and was easily torn ; its external surface was inflamed and exhibited petechim — the result of ecchymoses or gangrene. The internal cavities always contained very dark blood, which was thick and looked as if coagulated; concretions of an albuminous or fibrinous character were often found. The internal surfaces of this organ presented traces of subacute inflammation ; the redness was especially remarkable in the tricuspid and mitral valves, and it extended into all the arterial and venous trunks : but this kind of alteration, when it existed, was not present to the same degree in all the cavities of the heart, nor yet in the vascular conduits ; and undoubtedly this goes far to explain the anomalies which were witnessed in the circulatory system during the course of the malady. The liver was sometimes of an extraordinary volume, and its substance pale and with- out consistence ; in some cases its external surface exhibited ecchymoses and recent adhesions — evidently the consequences of inflammation. The lungs were at times simply congested ; at others, hepatized in many places, or much inflamed at their borders. In very many instances the kidneys had attained a considerable volume ; and their texture, gorged with blood, was easily torn. The bladder, most frequently distended with urine, shared more or less in the inflammation of the other viscera. As a general rule the brain did not show much alteration, and only in one instance have I met with decided inflammation on the external surface of the right lobe of that organ. Notwithstanding this, however, it has always been observed that the spinal canal, about the middle of the dorsal region, had a reddish-coloured serous infiltration in the texture of the meninges. Nothing is known as to the primary causes which have given rise to and developed this malady ; we have not sought to decide whether bad forage or atmos- pherical derangement— such as the constant north winds succeeding the long rains— have had most to do in generating I I 2 History of Animal Plagues. it ; or whether the cause ought not to be exclusively attributed to faulty hygiene, to the water given to drink, to insalubrious habitations, etc. It is very presumable that some of these ao-cnts have exercised a morbid influence on the organization of animals ; and if we bear in mind that in the Lower Seine the epizooty first appeared in a deep valley, where the air is charged with moisture, and where the hay and other forage was badly harvested this year, we may be convinced that the humidity, the marshy exhalations, and the defective aliment have not been foreign to the development of this prevalent disease. Notwithstanding the information collected from all sides, and the observations made by ourselves and many other veterinary surgeons, we are not in a position to give a definite opinion on so important a question, which, like that pertaining to so many other epizooties whose history we possess, remains insoluble. The chief point to discuss is whether the causes which gave rise to this affection in the Valley of Fleury have been the same as those which have developed it at Rouen, Gournay, Bolbec, Beauvais, etc. ; or, in other words, if the pro- pagation of the epizooty ought not to be as much owing to the existence of a contagium as to a peculiar atmospherical constitution, to the use of damaged food, or to any other occult cause ? Without pretending to decide on the merits of the question, we may say that the presumptions are in favour of contagion. ‘ The only doubt in such a case, although there may be little foundation for it, should urgently indicate the necessity for taking proper measures to arrest the progress of the epizooty, and to carefully remove the healthy horses from the centres of infection.’1 M. Durand, veterinary surgeon to the 6th regiment o Dragoons, then in garrison at Haguenau, near Strasburg, reports the epizooty as having existed among the horses in his charge during the first four months of the year. He 1 Girard. Notice sur la Maladie qui a regne Epizobtiquement sur les Chevaux l paris paris 1825* Also Beschreibung der gegenwartig in * rankreich lierrsch u laris, cans, mit Anmerkungen von Teuffel. den Pferdekrankheit, ausdera Franzosischen Karlsruhe, 1825. Period from A.D. 1815 io A.D. 1830. 113 named it ‘ inflammatory fever/ and says it was first observed among the remount horses brought from Germany ; it after- vards attacked the other horses of the corps. The symptoms which, he says, characterized the malady were, at first: absolute refusal of food— solid or liquid ; accelerated movement of the flanks ; fits of shivering ; small, hard, and quick pulse ; eyes dull and lachrymose ; the visible mucous membranes of a more or less deep yellow colour, sometimes almost black ; frequent yawning ; the mouth dry and pasty ; urine scanty and oily-lookmg. The vertebral column rigid ; gait stagger- ing ; and the walls of the chest and abdomen very sensitive on percussion. About twenty-four hours afterwards, the respiration was more laboured and hurried ; a foetid diarrhoea set in, the anus remaining relaxed; the tongue black; pulse very quick and extremely weak ; a dark-coloured glutinous discharge from the nostrils ; the expired air had a foetid and gangrenous odour. The animal gradually became weaker, and expired on the third or fourth day. The cadaveric lesions were : the cerebral viscera covered with black spots, more or less extensive; the lining membrane of the trachea, oesophagus and stomach very dark-coloured ; lungs gangrenous ; the viscera in the abdomen marked in places with the same kind softened701^0 ^ the cerebrum> and sometimes so ened , the liver and kidneys three or four times more bladder ofS V" m..heaIth; the lininS membrane of the adder of a deep yellow colour. The bodies of the animals anTexhaT f SWollen> PUtrefied rapidly, and exhaled an insupportable gangrenous odour/ e malady attracted much attention at Paris, from its affecting so many horses simultaneously and ^th such on U V0L "I V97* ^ the <*ove writer noted : Llanl laC are to be particularly regnante. Paris, 1828. Raynard. Mdiu ' piZ0°Vque\. Maladie des Chevaux regnee et qui regne encore en France t ’ 1 ^ Lpizootie fles Chevaux qui a Lyons. 1825. Huzard. Note sur H M 1 r™l P‘lyS de Europe. Precis de l’^pizootie, ou Fievre Muqueuse^uf ,pizootique de Paris- Paris, 1825. nombre de Ddparte.ents de h ^ g™de la Maladie ^pizootique regnante. Paris 1821:’ r 5* a,,wiscau- Rapport sur Mesenterite. Recueil de Med. Vt'ter. vol’. ii. 5 *“*** hUr la Gastr°-Entero- 8 1 1 4 History of A nimal Plagues. severity, and its pathological anatomy appears to have received more than ordinary attention from distinguished investigators. Among these was Professor Andral, who says : ‘ In the year 1825 a violent distemper prevailed among the horses at Paris, and in some of the provinces. The most general symptoms were those of gastro-intestinal irritation ; but, with very few exceptions, the thoracic viscera were likewise implicated, the breathing being greatly affected, although there was not much cough. During this epidemic, M. Dupuy and I dissected many horses at the slaughter-houses at Montfaucon. The animals were scarcely slaughtered when we proceeded to examine them, and, in many cases, the internal membrane of the heart and aorta presented a bright-red coloui. At the same time M. Bouley, junior, one of our most distinguished veterinarians, examined more than fifty horses that had died of the same epidemic. His dissections were always made within from half an hour to three hours after the death of the animal, and in almost every instance he found the internal membrane of the heart and aorta of a bright scarlet or purple colour. On the other hand, MM. Rigot and Trousseau, who likewise opened a great number of horses, state that they never found any appearance of redness in the heart or arteries when the dissection was made shortly after death, but that they always found it when the dissection was deferred for several hours. This difference in the result of our dissections is to be accounted for by the circumstance of our researches having been made at different periods ; mine during the year 1825, and theirs in 1828, when the first inflammatory disease had ceased. There is, therefore, nothing extraordinary in the different results that we obtained; and it appears to me that the very circumstance of the redness of the heart and arteries so constantly observed during the first epidemic, and not observed after it had ceased, affords an additional reason for supposing that it was produced by a morbid condition of the part. As to the nature of that morbid condition, t un * i highly probable that it was inflammation of the coats 5 of the arteries. These horses during their illness presented decided symptoms of disease in the thoracic visceia , an as Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 115 morbid appearance was found in the lungs, we have nothing to attribute these symptoms to but the affection of the heart a" lar^e vessels> characterized : 1st. By the uniform red colour of their internal membrane; 2nd. By a remarkable ^gree of softening in the muscular structure of the heart ; and 3rc . y inflammation of the pericardium, and effusions of ■ffrr k'nfdS ,nt°,itS CaV‘ty- From these facts 1 conclude that the uniform redness of the internal coats of arteries may in some cases, be the result of inflammation. In one of the cases recorded by M. Bouillard, the internal membrane in those parts in which it was red, was covered by a thin layer of albuminous matter. This surely is tolerable evidence of the existence of inflammation.'' The epizooty showed itself in Italy about the same period as in Sweden and France, and exhibited a more marked pieference for the lungs and their serous investments first four' ZZTfl ^ ** reached Siwtzeriand until Nearly the middleV^^; as h CantonsofB^Sol * “ "ep°rted attackinS the horses in the r rr? i£r. sttisksik sz ° Z tS“m t0 have considered it contagious. 7 7 newspapekTran^nfoo^t l825’ rep°rtS in the especially in Alsace whfoh haTattractT a"d indeed, a friend wrote to ad attracted un,versal notice; ease, which was o7a tvoh^H that this di- nervenfiebers), was CharaCter <****“” horses Ac ording o aU rdfab P5"" ^ many France and Switzerland pass dt T"" * and attacked very large’ numbers oTLrTeT become thoroughly acquainted with its chara^t ' J TS sustained from it was trifling. Veterinary Sur^on Anke" a £ Andra\ Hematologie Pathologique. fine dL?824 a manifestatasi sui Cavelli, etc., sul Siwesenen Pferdseuch, 1 1 6 History of Animal Plagues. who described the malady as it appeared in Switzerland, asserts that the lungs and the air-passages in general were most frequently inflamed.* It appeared here and there in 1826 and 1827. In Germany, its outbreak appears to have occurred at the same time as in France and Italy. A Wurtemberg govern- ment publication2 of the 16th of July, 1825, says: ‘In the early part of this year, news has been received, that in the latter months of 1824, a rapidly fatal disease among horses appeared in the northern provinces of France, and extended itself towards the south. From this, as well as from latei accounts, it would appear that it is the same as the intercurrent erysipelatous fever (“ unterlaufende rothlaufartige krankheit” febris intercurrens erysipelatodes) which in the year 1805 established itself in Northern Germany, and which extended itself southwards, when it became known as the “ Hanoverian horse-plague.” In proportion as it was rapid and insidious at its commencement and in its consequent paralyzing effects, so did it become milder as it travelled from its source (France). It seemed to have no power of infection, but arose spontane- ously. The characteristic symptoms of the disease consist in rapidly spreading inflammatory appearances ; serous swell- ings ; torpidity of the small intestines, and sanguinary suffusions therein ; but without any traces of effused fibrine, the necessary and never-failing constituent of suppuration. In its milder form, the symptoms usually are : loss of appetite, lassitude, the eyes redder than usual, the conjunctival mem- brane being much suffused with blood ; tears flow from the eves* the heart’s action is quickened, and the pulse soft; heaving flanks. The accelerated circulation, which general y does not precede intermittent fever, usually disappears in twenty-four hours ; but serous swellings arise in various parts of the body — particularly on the head, hind-quarters, thighs, and about the scrotum, sheath and belly, extending even ° the feet. With proper treatment the appetite returns, 1 x Anker. Abhandlung uber das 1825 unter den Pferden epizobtisch geherrschten Nervenfiebers. Bern, 1826. 2 Sammlung. von Wurtemberg. Verordn. p. 4»- Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 117 lassitude disappears, and in about seven days the animal recovers. This affection is distinguishable from a purely inflammatory disease by the absence of fibrinous exudations, and from the usual yearly erysipelatous fever “ rothlaufartigen jahreskrankheit ” — -fcbris annua cestiralis crysipelatodes — apart from its geographical progression — by the rapid course of the fever, as well as the swellings showing themselves in those parts nearest the heart, whence they become diffused, and the serous fluid gravitates towards the feet ; whereas in the summer fever, known as splenic apoplexy ( milzbrand ), the tumours form near the pasterns, and, extending upwards, endanger life.’ In the Duchy of Nassau, Franque1 declares it was present so early as the spring of 1824. After referring to the nervous epizooty (; nervose seuche ) which appeared among the horses in Prussia, Pomerania, and the Mark, caused, as he asserts, by the influence of the weather and a combination of other un- healthy circumstances, and which more especially in 1823 spread itself much in Germany, and in 1824-5 in France, he says : ‘ Whether its spread is attributable to contagion, as the Prench affirm, there is no reliable evidence to show. Most veterinarians consider it non-infectious, and are rather of opinion that it arose and is maintained by epizootic influences. The first traces of this nervous epizooty of horses manifested themselves in the spring and summer of 1824 at Nassau ; but not until the summer of 1825 did the cases become most numerous. By the autumn of that year it had disappeared. The greatest number of sick in 1825 was in the neighbour- hood of the Lahn, Wiesbaden, and the Taunus. It generally attacked the horses of carriers, post-horses, and those which traders brought from other localities. Among country horses it was rare ; and it was neither so general nor so virulent as to render public measures necessary. How many suffered from it is not known ; but, according to reports, out of about thirty horses only one died. Of the contagious properties of the malady no certain conclusions could be arrived at ; but it was a fact, that if it appeared in a stable, all the horses there 1 Franque. Op. cit. p. 27. Busch. Zeitschrift, vol. ii. p. 1. 1 1 8 History of A nimal Plagues. were attacked ; if other horses, however, were brought into the stable at a later period, these usually remained healthy. The disease varied with the age and constitution of the animal. In most horses the greatest weariness and dulness were shown ; in others there were symptoms of great ex- citability of the brain and nervous system, and great uneasi- ness and often fury ; so that the owners thought them affected with the staggers or madness. The disease was less serious when swellings formed on the fore and hind legs, on the sheath, and under the belly ; but it was a fatal sign when these appeared upon the head and neck, and became erratic. The following were the most characteristic symptoms which the disease presented in our neighbourhood : a sudden dimi- nution of appetite was the first indication of the horse being affected ; most horses refused their oats at once, while others still ate hay with avidity, and yet a few would begin to eat, and as if in forgetfulness stop and hold the food in their mouth. With most of the sick the thirst was so intense that they could never be satisfied, while others drank nothing at all. Soon after, the horse became dull, hung its head under the manger, drooped its ears, or stood as if asleep, with elevated neck and head, half-shut eyes, and with fore and hind legs drawn close together. Others were uneasy, fidgeted about in the stall, shook their heads, ground their teeth, became frenzied, and after a time subsided into a heavy stupor, in which they were insensible to all external impressions, until after a short period, when they again became restless. Their gait was listless and slow ; they reeled about in their hind-quarters as if paralyzed ; the skin was dry, and the temperature variable — often exceedingly hot and soon after deathly cold. In most cases, tears ran from the eyes at the beginning of the disease ; but in others the eyes were swollen and highly injected. The colour of the interior of the mouth was not always a criterion — now it was pale and filled with a iopy slime ; the tongue, on the contrary, was dry and greyish- yellow ; at other times it was of a purple-red without any saliva, and the tongue of a brownish colour. On the sides and the tip of the tongue there were always noticed put pic- Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1S30. 119 red and yellow spots. The pituitary membrane was pale or red-coloured ; and from the nostrils usually flowed a yellowish fluid. The heart-beats, in the first days of the disease, were generally plainly perceptible — often quicker, but sometimes also slower, than in health ; the pulse could scarcely be felt, and like the heart’s action, when the disease was more advanced, it became greatly accelerated and irregular. The freces were scant at first, but soon became abundant, and a large quantity of slime-covered, dark-green matter was passed. Towards the later stages, diarrhoea was common ; if not too frequent nor too watery and foul-smelling, it indicated con- valescence. Nearly all the horses which suffered from this disease had swellings on the limbs, sheath, and belly, or on the neck and head. These were mostly watery, and felt doughy and clammy ; only in a few cases were they very much inflamed and hot. No less various than the symptoms during life, were the appearances to be met with after death ; putridity of the textures showed itself quickly ; the abdomen became greatly distended, and from the nose issued a bloody foam ; under the skin were found in various places — the thighs, shoulders, and neck — yellowish-tinted, acrid accumu- lations, often streaked with blood, and occasionally also with black inflamed patches. The muscles were flabby and pale like veal ; the substance of the brain was usually healthy, and its bloodvessels very turgid ; the ventricles contained serum. The spinal canal always showed a yellowish-red fluid, and the dura mater was in many cases highly inflamed here and there. In the thoracic cavity there was an accumulation of water : the lungs, in some few horses, were adherent to the pleura costal is and were of a deep red colour, with black streaks, and friable ; in other cases they contained hard hepatized masses, abscesses, or cavities. The heart was much dilated, pale, and soft, with black stains, and full of black thick blood. On the diaphragm and pleurje were occasionally observed large, dark- red discolorations. But the most characteristic changes were always found in the intestines. These contained a great quantity of reddish-yellow flocculent fluid ; the stomach either contained a mass of half-digested food, or it was quite I 20 History of Animal Plagues. empty. Externally, these viscera showed traces of inflam- mation, though this was sometimes limited to the mucous membrane towards the pylorus, which membrane was often so softened as to be easily removed. The intestines were frequently distended with gas, and the large intestines nearly always exhibited patches of inflammation or gangrene. The spleen was greatly enlarged, softened, and filled with thick, black blood. The liver was usually of a dark-red hue, and so soft as to be readily broken up.’ This epizooty of influenza prevailed extensively in Saxony during this and the succeeding year,1 and it was still observed in Brandenburg and Pomerania in 1827-8.2 A.D. 1826. Epidemic typhus prevailed in Ireland, and some cases of yellow fever were reported. The winter on the continent of Europe had been very rigorous, and the summer was followed by exceedingly damp weather ; heavy rains falling to such an extent that low-lying regions were in- undated. Epidemic influenza was extensively prevalent in the north-west countries, and continued during the following year. In Holland it was so severe that the Dutch Govern- ment was greatly alarmed, because nearly the whole popula- tion was affected. In connection with this epidemy, we may refer to the influenza of horses described for last year. Vulpine hydrophobia was still prevalent in Germany. Duke Henry, of Wurtemberg, had been making inquiries into its nature, and concluded, from having found in the stomach of the dead foxes wood, earth, stones, leaves, hair, and other substances, that the malady was caused by hunger.3 When, however, the disease was communicated this was not the case. He also supposed that this fox-madness was not contagious until it had reached its extreme stage, and that it might possibly depend upon the corruption of the contents of the gall-bladder, which were known to become more vitiated as 1 Brauell. Uber die seit mehrem Jahren in Deutschland unter den Pferden herrschende Epizootie. Weimar, 1825. Also Dominik. Busch. Zeitschrift, etc. vol. i. p. 106. 2 Dietrichs. Handbuch d. Special. Pathologie, etc. p. 655. 3 It is quite common to find foreign substances in the stomach of rabid animals, particularly earth and stones, which they swallow when their taste becomes depraved or during the attacks of the disease. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 1 2 1 the disease increased, and were thrown into the stomach.1 In Poland, twenty-three persons were bitten by a mad wolf.2 In Russia and Galicia malignant anthrax was very wide- spread. In the latter country, Veterinary Surgeon Josephu reports : ‘ The hot and dry summer had caused splenic apoplexy to spread among the cattle and horses. It was, however, the only epizooty then observed. Several people who were engaged among the sick or dead animals suffered from malignant carbuncle.’3 In Switzerland this malady was also present in the Canton of Aargau. ‘ According to the hot or cold character of the summer, a greater or less number of cattle are yearly destroyed by this disease ; so it was that in September, 1826, it appeared as a most destructive epizooty, for which there was no remedy to be found in the district of Schuffarth. In October many more died, and the attacks were frequent, though many also recovered. Especially was this the case when the blood effused into the rectum and intestines was timeously removed. A young man, a burgher’s son, and the blacksmith of the place, were very expert in this business ; but they at last became affected with carbuncles on their arms, and had serious fever, from which they suffered for a long time. On taking the cattle up from grass the disease disappeared.’4 In the department of the Loire, France, Grognier observed an epizootic fever amongst cattle, which had existed for six years, and was designated a ‘ fievre charbonneuse.’ It was supposed to have originated in Auvergne, and to be con- tagious. Sometimes its most prominent symptoms were those of pneumonia ; at other times of gastro-enteritis.5 During the summer of 1826, and commencement of the autumn of 1827, what was termed an acute entero-peritonitis but which, from the symptoms and post-mortem appearances described, bears a great resemblance to inflammatory or anthracoid fever, broke out in many communes of the depart- 1 Bulletin Universel, vol. x. p. 160. 3 CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch. Grognier. Recueil de Med. Veter, vol 2 Huf elantfs Journal, vol. lxiii. 4 Ii/ien. Busch. Zeitschrift, vol. iii. viii. p. 700. 122 History of Animal Plagues. ment of Nicore, France. It chiefly attacked animals from four to six years old, and which were strong and in good condition. Some had been put in the meadows to fatten, while others were employed in agricultural operations, and probably kept without food during the day, until they were turned into the pasture for the night. Cows, calves, and aged oxen usually escaped. The symptoms were dulness, loss of appetite ; those grazing left their companions and retired beneath the hedges ; those at work becoming deaf to the voice of the driver, and insensible to the goad. Rumination soon ceased ; general lassitude ensued, with peculiar weak- ness of the posterior limbs and staggering. The respiration was quickened ; the temperature of the skin exalted, chiefly towards the shoulders and chest ; the back and loins were tender, and the slightest pressure caused shrinking. The head was protruded ; the ears and horns, from the base to the point, hot ; the conjunctivas injected, with considerable secretion of tears ; the muzzle hot and dry ; the mouth hot ; the tongue enlarged ; the pulse from 70 to 80. Ihe faeces were hard, and covered with a glairy mucus, and that mucus, when the disease had attained its full intensity, streaked with blood. The urine was thick, oily, brown, and had a strong, penetrating odour. The disease was most rapid in its pro- gress, and if the animal was neglected beyond the first day, it was irrevocably lost. The usual duration of the disease was from three to seven days, but some suddenly dropped and died. If early attacked the disease was easily arrested in its progress ; but it was necessary to persevere in the use of remedial means. The post-mortem appearances were, in the abdomen : slight inflation of the bowels ; three or four buckets of bloody serous fluid effused. Peritoneum univer- sally inflamed, with numerous spots of ecchymosis. The mesentery was likewise singularly spotted. A yellow gelatin ous infiltration, mixed with serum, was found about the middle of the diaphragm, and in the whole of the pelvic cavity ; the exterior of the bladder was likewise spotted. This viscus contained a little brown urine, and the mucous coat was highly inflamed towards its neck. The li\ci 123 Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. enlarged, inflamed, and easily torn. The bile was thick and flocculent, and had a pungent smell. The large intestines, for a portion of their extent, contained clots of blood, some of which were fibrous ; and the mucous coat was thickened, and of a violet colour. The small intestines contained a mucous fluid resembling the lees of port wine, and presented intense inflammation. The rectum was sphacelous throughout its whole extent. All the stomachs were likewise inflamed, and the mucous coat was easily detached from the rumen. In the thorax were found many pounds of fluid, resembling that in the abdomen. The pleura was slightly inflamed, and the lungs emphysematous. The pericardium was distended with fluid, and covered with black spots. The heart showed traces of inflammation, and had ecchymosed patches on its internal surface. The right ventricle contained four ounces of black blood, not coagulated, and small clots floating in it ; the other cavities were empty. The principal arterial and venous trunks presented nothing unusual. The mucous coat of the trachea was slightly inflamed at its superior and posterior part, and this inflammation was more intense at the commencement of the bronchial tubes. Neither the brain nor its membranes, nor the spinal cord, presented any extra- ordinary lesion .... The causes were supposed to be : eeping the cattle too long in low and wet meadows, abounding with ranunculuses, rushes, and other plants more or less acrid and irritating; and while in the upland pasture, the plants, less nutritive, were dried and withered by the scorching sun, and rendered highly stimulating ; the drinkinn- of stagnant and muddy water in the marshes, and the little precaution in getting rid of the carcases of those which had perished. With regard to its contagiousness, it was believed that it was only so in its third stage, when gangrenous spots appeared on the viscera, and death was inevitable. Even then, contact was necessary ; for when the healthy and the diseased were separated by a hedge, the malady was not com- municated.1 Bovine contagious pleuro-pneumonia appears to have been 1 Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. viii. J 24 History of Animal Plagues. entirely unknown in the department of the Nord, France, until 1826. According to M. Lecoq, it owed its introduction to the following circumstance. This rich department, in order to have its surplus forage profitably utilized, purchased every year in Franche-Comte numerous droves of cattle, and as the disease was present in that region, these droves carried the deadly contagion from their native mountains. For several years it apparently only affected cattle which were strangers to the department ; but the disease gradually spread among the indigenous herds, and is now enzootic among them. It has occasioned most serious losses.1 A.D. 1827. Epidemic influenza was yet prevalent in Gro- ningen, Friesland, North Holland, Belgium, and Lower Ger- many. Glanders appears to have become unusually frequent in England during this and the preceding year. Mr. Pritchard, of Wolverhampton, states : ‘ In many cases of acute glanders which came under my observation in 1826 and 1827 a period remarkable for the prevalence of glanders and the destruction of a vast number of horses by it — such were the eaily mani- festations of inflammatory action in the respiratory muco- bronchial surfaces, that acute glanders was apparently pro- duced by, or had commenced with, bronchitis.’2 In Colmar, France, an epizooty of catarrhal ophthalmia ap- peared among horses, which deserves notice, from the singu- larly rapid manner in which it spread. Dumalix, army veterinary surgeon, is the reporter. ‘ In the early days of last June, I was requested by several people in the town and surrounding country to attend their horses, as the eyes of these animals had suddenly become so lachrymose that they thought some one had injured them. About this time, while grooming, many dragoons also complained that their horses’ eyes were in the same condition. A careful inspection, however did not discover any trace of injury ; there was nothing but slight palpebral tumefaction and much inflammation of the con- junctiva. I then began to pay more attention to these cases , 1 Journal de Med. Veter, de Lyon, second series, vol. iii. P- 4°2. 2 Pritchard. The Veterinarian, vol. xiii. p. 4°°- 125 Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. and the following Saturday, on my usual visit to Colmar, where a hundred and fifty-five horses were on detachment, I found three-fourths of their number suffering from this attack, which, until then, I had looked upon as trifling. I pointed out to the civilians and the dragoons the necessity for fre- quently bathing the eyes with cold water. But this very simple measure, which in a multitude of similar cases pro- duces good effects, did not in this instance have the desired result. The circumstance was mentioned to the Colonel, who thought it necessary to see these horses himself, and my colleague, M. Philippe, veterinary surgeon 1st class, accom- panied him. The result of our inspection was to find all the officers’ and troop horses forming the detachment affected in this manner. . . . M. Heitz, department veterinary surgeon, in the course of his practice, had made the same observations. Should we attribute this enzooty to the great heat which had prevailed in the month of June, when the temperature rose to 25^° (centigrade)? It was the same at Neu-Brisack, distant three leagues from here ; four squadrons were stationed at that place, and yet none of the horses had ophthalmia. . . . 1 Nevertheless, and whatever may be the occasional cause of this ophthalmia, it is always correct to assert that it is enzootic (epizootic ?), as about six hundred horses have been attacked, and of these at least eight have been submitted to very com- plicated medical treatment, which was not followed by bene- ficial results for five or six weeks. On the arrival of M. Philippe at Colmar, we joked together at the large number of horses I had to treat ; but at five o’clock in the evening, when I went to the stable where his horse stood, to assure myself that his orders about feeding it had been attended to, I ob- served this animal’s left eye shedding tears in great abundance. The day after his arrival at Neu-Brisack, the mare which had been ridden by his dragoon was attacked. What was the origin of this case more particularly p’1 Prinz has described ah epizooty among dogs which com- menced in Germany this year, and to which he gave the name of the ‘yellow fever of dogs.’ It merits attention, when ex- 3 Dumalix. Journal Pratique de Med. Veter, vol. iii. p. 22. 1 26 History of Animal Plagues. amined in connection with the remarkable epizooty of 1761. He writes : ‘ Before the jaundice in dogs manifested itself, there were observed symptoms of digestive derangement, namely, loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhoea, with or without fever ; but one could not lay much stress upon these symptoms, as they are often induced by errors in feeding and improper lodging. The gums were swollen, loosened, became red, and were easily bled ; or there were yellow, foul-smelling enlargements on them. This malady, however, was not dangerous, and with such simple treatment as a purgative given at the commencement, was easily cured. The year 1828 was remarkable, however, not only for the many diseases of the digestive organs among dogs, but for a far more unusual, and in more than one respect dangerous, affection of the same class. There came to the veterinary hospital at Dresden, from time to time, thirty dogs with the ordinary symptoms of indigestion — ten with vomiting, nine with diarrhoea, six with extraordinary manifestations of this complaint, accompanied by fever ; which manifestations were not noticeable among fifty-six young dogs labouring under the malady. Rabies among dogs was also unusually frequent this year, inasmuch as seven mad dogs were sent to the institution. This outbreak was repeated in the two succeeding years. ‘The first cases of jaundiced dogs were brought to the hospital in July, 1828, for treatment; in September and November several others were brought ; and one other in February, 1829. The number of dogs attacked by this disease and brought to us for treatment only amounted to eight. This, however, must not be taken as the total number affected, for many proprietors of dogs which were ill preferred taking the advice of huntsmen and others. None of the owners could assign any cause for its appearance ; and as to this, it may be well worth while to consider the peculiarities of the weather. This, which in the summer of 1827 was un- usually hot, was in 1828 remarkable for its humidity — and especially in the months of January, March, June, July, and August. Twenty-eight storms, accompanied by deluges of rain, came from various points and broke over Dresden and Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 127 the neighbourhood. In Southern Europe earthquakes were numerous ; the barometer rose and fell rapidly ; the tempera- ture was low. The precursory symptoms of the disease con- sisted in an appearance of general indisposition ; the dogs lay a great deal, or, when obliged to move, evinced weariness, and hung their heads ; they ate little or nothing, but drank often and with avidity; after drinking, however, they were easily excited to vomiting, and brought up a whitish-coloured phlegm. Constipation was present, and the feces when passed were dark, and often blood-coloured ; the urine was a dark, greenish-yellow. On a closer examination of one of these sick dogs, the nose was found to be cold, but rather dry; a foul smell came from the mouth, the mucous membrane of which was yellow ; the temperature of the body was pretty regular, but rather diminished ; there was loss of condition ; the hair was smooth ; the heart or pulse showed no striking alteration. These symptoms lasted for three or four days, after which they were increased. The yellow colour of the mucous membranes became more intense— and especially was this noticeable under the tongue and the white of the eye, and also where the skin was light-coloured, towards the abdomen ; the inner sides of the thighs and the ears were of a dusky yellow. When standing, diseased animals drew their feet together, and appeared “tucked up;” many evinced pain on manipulation of the belly ; the appetite was entirely gone, and attempts to eat the smallest quantity of food were followed by severe vomiting of a yellowish-green slime. The thirst increased ; constipation was present, and the feces were soft, but of a light clay-colour ; the urine was of a dark yellow tint, and was often passed ; the breathing was slow and tranquil ; the breath was of a normal temperature, and there was no noticeable cough. The contractions of the heart were very plainly felt; the pulse was full, soft, and intermittent num- bering from 83 to 85 per minute. The sick dogs had frequent fits of shivering and slight convulsions, and became quite prostrated, brom this period the disease made rapid progress ■ the smell from the mouth became highly offensive; the -urns became spongy, of a deep red, and were often covered with 128 History of Animal Plagues. yellow spots or ulcers, which latter easily bled ; the eyelids were swollen, and were often glued together with a yellow, purulent mucus; the eye became languid and lifeless; the body swayed to and fro, especially in the posterior extremities; the temperature of the body was low. Many of the diseased became unconscious, so that they neither knew their masters nor answered to their name; and they either lay at full length, or, when in motion, knocked against objects. The pulse was then small, weak, and quickened to over ioo a minute ; the heart palpitated against the wall of the chest so strongly that its shock could be distinctly perceived. The breathing was of a wheezing nature, in consequence of the accumulation of mucus in the air-passages of the head, which secretion also flowed from the eyelids and the prepuce. In many cases, on the seventh day, a large quantity of dark decomposed blood came away from the nostrils, especially from the right one. The breathing became at last laborious, and death quietly took place from exhaustion on the fifth or seventh day. A long time elapsed before the rigor mortis set in, though the body soon became cold. On re- moval of the skin, its inner surface was coloured a darkish yellow; the cellular tissue and all the muscular envelopes were of the same hue ; the superficial bloodvessels were turgid with blood, and there were frequently observed red spots or patches in the subcutaneous textures. The muscles were of a healthy red colour, and . were tolerably supplied with fat. The mouth showed a dusky yellow tinge covered with a dirty- looking mucus, and reddish patches were apparent. The gums were swollen, and separated from the bones. On the inner surface of the lips and the cheeks, under the tongue, and on the palate, were noticed spots which were elevated, of a yellow colour, and which felt tough or friable; when these were re- moved, a deep cavity was left, which looked as if cut out. In the abdomen, the omentum and epicordis were marbled with petechiae ; the stomach was contracted or collapsed, but not otherwise altered externally ; it contained no aliment, but frequently a thick greyish-yellow mucus ; the mucous mem- brane had a dirty yellow appearance, and oftentimes reddish Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 1 29 patches containing extravasated blood. The small intestines likewise contained a similar fluid, and their lining membrane had also many dark-red streaks or patches. The large intestines contained a thick pea-soup coloured mucus, and their longi- tudinal bands were dark-coloured. The spleen was atrophied, pale, and deficient in blood. In only one animal did it appear larger than usual, and at the same time dark and unevenly congested. The liver was, generally speaking, somewhat larger than usual, and often remarkably enlarged. It was on its upper surface of a dark or reddish-brown, with patches and streaks of a light-yellow colour ; its anterior surface had in some cases a thick yellow layer of lymph over it, and by this it contracted adhesions with the posterior surface of the dia- phragm. The investing membrane of the liver under the exudation was friable, or covered with red spots ; the sub- s anceof that organ was often of a natural consistency: at ie same time, in those places where the red patches were si uated it was friable, and in one instance it was disorganized The bloodvessels of the liver, as well as those of the whole venac-portal system, were filled with dark, partially coagulated blood ; oftentimes the biliary ducts were distended with ropy i e but more particularly were the gall-bladders full h.!C : V!SCld’ bIack> brown, or greenish-coloured bile ; hood cf\l ad CXUdcd int° the textures in the neighbour- hood of this receptacle. The texture of the kidneys was of vessels’^ W S°mewhat softened, and their blood- but httle uayS C°ntTmed mUCh bl°°d- The bladder contained its lininrr nne’ and ln one case lt: contained coagula of blood ; b membrane had often petechiae. The Schneiderian the^l iane’,an th.at °f the laiTnx and trachea, appeared yellow the thyroid glands were in some few cases enlarged • the a dark fluid bl00d> in which fl;atcd dark places on their su^c^- ^heoe^^^ a°d Sh°Wed many hue, and had within it a Sl^^W . ’ , n lts cav,tles. especially the right one were darl- red and yellow masses of blood. In the cranium, the dura 130 History of Animal Plagues. mater had a remarkably distinct yellow colour, and the blood- vessels of the pia mater were very full of blood. The brain itself was shrunken and soft. From the vertebral sheath there flowed a yellow fluid, and the membranes of the spinal cord were in a similar condition to those of the brain. The sub- stance of the spinal cord itself had a yellowish appearance, and in the lumbar region was softer than in the other portions.’1 At Calcutta, according to Dr. Marshall, great numbers of dogs died in the streets with choleraic symptoms. At Char- colly also, fifteen-sixteenths of the dogs perished in the same way during a severe visitation of the disease ; and, at a later period, half the dogs in Madras died, with vehement vomiting and purging.2 During this and the two following years, there was a great drought and destruction of animals in South America, which to this day is known as the * gran secco.’ All vegetation failed, the brooks were destitute of water, and it has been computed that at Buenos Ayres alone there was a loss of at least a million head of cattle. Multitudes of birds, wild animals, and horses also perished from the want of food and water.3 . In the spring of 1827 ‘epizootic ekzema ’ appeared in Reggio, in Italy,4 and during this and the following year spread itself over Germany, Switzerland, and France. It Italy it appears to have been mistaken for glossanthrax Uancro volante). At Como and Sondrio, this ‘ cancro volante was said to have affected three hundred and ninety-five cattle, but in all probability it was the aphthous disease.5 In Bohemia it was prevalent from July, as the following notice informs us : . , , < Commencing in the month of July, .t raged throughout Bohemia until December. It appeared at first in the sandy low-lying plains, and in August spread to the mountainous • Prim. Das Gelbe Oder Gallenfieber der Hunde. Busch. Zeitsclirut, Mat, 'hall. British and Foreign Med. Chirurg. Review, April, 1853. 3 Daiivin. Voyages, vol. iii. p. IS5- _ . 4 Bergonzi. Storia di una Malattia Epidemica, p. o. 5 CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xi. p. 349- Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 13 1 regions as well as the plains ; attacking not only sheep and cattle, but also pigs. Some animals suffered only from the mouth affection ; others from the hoof disease ; but in most cases they were affected with both, though in these instances one part of the body was attacked before the other. When the feet were involved, it was considered a critical issue to the disease in the mouth. The fact deserves to be here noticed, that at the period when this epizooty raged among cattle, the young people suffered from an inflammatory rheumatic fever which resolved itself into an aphthous or pustular eruption in the mouth, as well as abscesses and sores on the inferior extremities. The sheep suffered most in this year ; for, in addition to the above-mentioned disease, they had' variola scab, rot, and dysentery. ‘ The “lung disease” raged in twelve counties and forty-seven districts, nearly the whole year through ; out of seven hundred and sixty-four animals attacked, two hundred and thirty-nine ied. Splenic apoplexy appeared in ten counties and thirty- seven districts in spring, and more frequently from July to 1 ov ember— simultaneously with the mouth-and-foot disease In the county of Czaslauer, it was complicated with angina • out of two hundred and sixty-three animals attacked,' "only eighty were saved.’1 x Another observation tending to prove the transmissibility o us affection to the human species is noted in Styria for the year 1828. 7 A similar observation I made in the autumn of the year '•l2' ’ '1 ‘r2 medlcaI district of Voitsberg in Steyermark, w ere the foot-and-mouth disease raged epizootically a mom’ the horned stock of Koflach. At the same period the iseascs existing among mankind were catarrh and rheu- matism, with and without fever— as well as secondary or con- secutive nervous fever following these attacks— intermittent fevers and among children measles, with inflammatory catarrh and chest affections. Among cattle there reigned sporadically besides the foot-and-mouth disease, the lung disease at Stallhofcn, and in the mountainous districts here 1 Nadhcrny. CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbueli, vol. xi. p. Sj. 9—2 132 History of Animal Plagues. and there the splenic apoplexy. While I was in Koflach, I had occasion to treat some grown-up women-servants, two of whom had been attending to the diseased cows, and were now suffering from a catarrhal inflammation of the throat . my attention was drawn to an aphthous eruption on the soft and hard palate, the result, as it appeared, of their attendance upon these diseased animals.’1 The disease prevailed in Bavaria in the summer of 1827, and it also appeared in Wurtemberg, which country it traversed in the autumn from east to west. Kolb has traced its progress very carefully. ‘ At first, as we know, the evil broke out at Thalhemia, a village in the prefecture of Rottenburg, near the eastern base of the Alps. In the month of August many animals were already affected there. In other neighbouring villages, also, the disease raged, we hear, at the same time , but it is uncertain whether it broke out earlier or later than at Thalhemia. The number of animals affected there was very great, but the intensity of the disease was but little remarkable. Milk, when coagulated, in time yielded very often a large pro- portion of whey. In many animals lameness succeeded the aphthous eruption ; in some a small portion of the hoof sloughed off through ulceration. In the prefecture of Reutlingen the disease -at length appeared about the middle of September, and those places were especially affected in which large herds of cattle were brought together, as in the towns of Reutlingen, Pfulligen, Mezingen, and in the lesser villages situated in the free Alps, such as Engstingen, Holzelfingen. There the invasion of the epizooty was so sudden, that there were Rom eighty to a hundred sick animals before a single day or night had passed. In stables once infected it was very rare for any animal to escape : all others, except calves under six months old, no matter what their age or sex may have been, were liable to an attack ; animals, whether grazing or kept up in stalls, were alike obnoxious to it. Aphthae and ameness attacked many beasts at the same time , the lsease 1 lasted from five or seven to fourteen days. The malady r in the city of Reutlingen for three months, during v 1 Levitzky. (Esterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xiii. p. 611. 133 Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. period about a third part, two hundred and eighty-five, of the cattle were affected. No measures were proposed by the magistrates to stay the evil. In some Alpine villages an indolent pneumonia ( pneumonia bourn lenta — nasse , wcisse lungenfaule) of oxen was much aggravated by this pest ; and in the city of Reutlingen, during the course of the summer, the cats in whole streets died from a particular kind of exanthemata, like the 'tinea sicca’ of mankind. At this time also, in the prefecture of Reutlingen, in an Alpine town called Munsingen, about the middle of September, the pest of aphtha seized some eighty or ninety cattle out of five hundred. In the town of Hayngen, however, so few as only four or six were affected ; a little later, in the village of Oberstetten, out of five hundred, from forty to fifty were seized by it. In these places the more aged ones were affected, and especially cows. Aphthae became apparent some time after the lameness began. At first those stables remained unaffected the cows of which went to pasture. The milk of the diseased animals was drunk by infants and produced an acid vomiting and diarrhoea. In a village called \\ eiller, distant from here about six geographical miles, and which was ceded to the prefecture of Rottenburg, the disease prevailed evidently about the same time as in the Alps ; nevertheless, only a few cattle were attacked, but these very severely ; so much so, indeed, that in a certain cow there weie deep ulcers in the tongue, not unlike carcinomatous sores. In the same month in the village of Hirrlingen, of the same prefecture, symptoms of the malady showed them- selves. In the prefecture of Tubingen, it at first began in the village of Sickenhausen about the 15th of September, and out of one hundred and sixty cattle it attacked about ninety. At the beginning of the disease there was some suspicion among the peasants that it was contagious, but this was afterwards abandoned when they saw very many animals which stood among the sick remain free from it. Beasts kept in stalls were no less affected than those wandering at large • the evil prevailed for seven weeks. In the village of Nailin’ it broke out about the 20th of September ; the aphthae pre- 1 34 History of Animal Plagues. ceded the lameness, and pustules appeared here and there on the udder. Among four hundred head only about a fourth remained unaffected ; it prevailed for five weeks. At the same time the disease invaded Mossingam, belonging to the prefecture of Rottenburg, but it was accompanied by different phenomena — the aphthae for the most part preceding the other symptoms, but sometimes they were not at all apparent, so that lameness alone was present, though this again did not in many instances follow the eruption ; pustules on the udders were very frequent. Out of one thousand two hundred cattle more than six hundred were affected. Amongst the sheep also, during the month of July, lameness was prevalent at Mossingen. At Ofterdinga, a place included in the prefecture of Rottenburg, a little before this time we heard that the disease was increasing. At Lustnavia, near Tubingen, this pest first appeared in the cow-shed of the chief magistrate, and attacked the whole nine cattle which stood therein. Lameness appearing, the animals began to give less milk, so that a cow recently yielding her full quantity , now gave less than two pounds a day. Not only was this milk easily coagulated when drawn, but it was often obtained in a coagulated state from the very teats. Some animals stood in stables in the midst of those severely affected, and yet they le- mained unscathed ; pustules often formed on the udders. Out of six hundred beasts four hundred were seized with the disorder. On the 27th of September, a veterinary surgeon of Tubingen, named Belthlen, instituted an inquiry in the village of Rom- melsbach, and he found eight cattle suffering from aphthae with lameness ; on the same day there was an invasion of the malady announced by the chief magistrate at the village of Kirchentellinsfurth. The epizooty ended in five weeks, and it attacked about the third part— two hundred and fifty -of the cattle therein. The disease broke out in Dusslinga about the middle of September, and increased in intensity until about the middle of December, when out of one thousand one hundred cattle it seized two hundred in a benignant form. At Degerschlachti, from the 28th of September to the 6th oi December, eighty-seven animals were infected out of one Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 135 hundred and forty-nine, and here the disease was thought to be contagious. What gave them reason to think it was so, arose from the fact that the animals at pasture were first attacked when grazing with those from Kirchentellinsfurth, and that these latter were then affected. At Waldorf, in the middle of October, only nineteen beasts were affected, and these did not suffer for more than ten or twelve days. In the neighbouring village of Gnibel, about this time, six or eight cattle were contaminated. At Pfrondorfi, from the middle of October up to the 24th of November, forty or fifty out of four hundred were affected. In the city of Tubingen, the disease reigned from the middleof October, and about three hundred out of eight hundred and sixy-five were ill. At Altenburg, from the beginning of November, increasing up to the beginning of December, from twelve to fifteen cattle were sick out of one hundred and twenty. Many animals near the sick remained healthy , though the contagious saliva was flowing from the mouths of the former, yet these were unaffected. In the village of Ofterdingen, the malady was wonderfully mild ; about the beginning of November each animal suffered only three or four days, and out of two hundred, twenty or thirty were affected. From the city of Rottenburg, Veterinary Surgeon Kienzle informs us that the disease disappeared in the month of December.’1 In -the summer of 1828 it prevailed in Wertemburg.2 In the Duchy of Nassau it manifested itself in the districts of Weilbourg, Herborn, Reichelsheim, and Weisbaden.3 At Geneva it was observed sometime in the course of the year 1828.4 Wirth, I find, states that it was glossanthrax that pre- vailed in Switzerland. In the North of Germany it appears to have been most frequent in 1828, and in Altenburg to have shown itself in the autumn of this year.5 Ovine small-pox was very destructive in Saxony.6 1 Kolb. Aphtharum Pecorinarum Iiistoria 2 Sammlung v. Verordn. p. 73. * Recueil. de Med. Veter, vol. xv. p. 653. 5 K’ohls. Peitrage z. d. Landwchr. vol. v. e Heusinger. Op. cit. p. 330. succincta, etc. 3 Franque. PP- 31?, 339- Tubingen, 1828. Op. cit. p. 201. History of Animal Plagues. The contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle again appeared in Paris and its neighbourhood. Delafond, in a report on this malady some years after this period, observes : ‘ It is well known that this disease has been domiciled for a long time in the cow-sheds of Paris. Since 1827, pleuro-pneumonia has prevailed continuously in the vicinity of Paris, and for the last ten years has inflicted much damage on the grazing herds. Many cattle-owners have had the misfortune to lose three- fourths of their stock when this scourge appeared.’1 During the ten years subsequent to 1827, the disease had extended to and fixed itself in the districts of Merv, Noailles, Beauvais, Abbeville, Arras, Amiens, and Lille. From the year 1831 the malady was particularly well known in France. In this year the Cattle Plague appeared in Southern Russia, during the war between Russia and Turkey, and prevailed during 1828, 1829, 1830. In October, 1827, it was carried into Courland, where it caused grievous loss.2 In November it was also imported into Silesia from Podolia, and extended into Galicia, Cracovia, and the adjoining regions, where the damage inflicted was very considerable.3 In 1828 it showed itself in Moravia and Bohemia, and had scarcely been promptly extinguished there, when it was again introduced in September, 1829.4 Consul-General Green, in a report to the British Government in 1865, writes : ‘Persons with whom I have conversed on the subject state that the rinderpest or Cattle Disease was first introduced into the Danubian Princi- palities in 1828 by the Russian army, which was accompanied by thousands of carts drawn by oxen.’ Ubicini, in his ‘ History of the Principalities,’ thus alludes to the subject : ‘ Puis vint le terrible hiver de 1829, pendant lequel le manque de fourrages, joint a une epizootie, enleva plus de la moitie du betail ; alois en se servit des paysans, comme des betes de somme, pour le service de l’armee.’ 1 Delafond. Traite sur la Maladie de Poitrine du Gros Betail. Pans, 1844. Fuchs. Frage iiber die Contagiositat der Lungenseuche, p. 107. 2 Bidder. Henke, Zeitschrift fiir Staatsarmeik. vol. xii. p. 232. 3 Lorinser. Untersuchungen iiber die Rinderpest. Berlin, 1S31, p. 253- fessen. Die Rinderpest mit Besondercr Beziehung auf Russland dargestel t. Berlin, 1834. A Prinz. Rinderpest in Bohem. Busch. Zeitschrift, vol. iii. p. IS* i37 Pej'iod from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. The origin, spread, and disasters accompanying this out- break of the fearful malady, are sufficiently interesting to merit notice. The wars in Europe and Asiatic Turkey were carried on with such vigour, that the call on the people in W estern Russia and the Danubian Principalities for labour and provisions exhausted all internal resources, and was a fiuitful source of disease both in man and beast. The repeated invasions of Turkey led to extensive demands for cattle in the Principalities. The Russians had, however, passed the Pruth ; General Geizmar reached Aluta, and his Cossacks had pene- tiatcd Little Wallachia without opposition. As a consequence, the Sultan obtained only 500 head of cattle and 3,000 sheep from Wallachia, whereas Moldavia yielded nothing. ‘The Russian declaration of war, however, was accompanied by a demand for 250,000 loads of corn, 400,000 tons of hay, 50,000 barrels of brandy, and 23,000 oxen, in addition to the forced labour of 16,000 peasants, who were to be employed in making ha^ on the banks of the Danube. The loss occasioned by the payment for these requisitions in bills, instead of cash, was not the only disadvantage to which the unfortunate people were immediately exposed ; for, as the local supplies were soon exhausted by such an army, it became necessary to transport provisions from Bessarabia by means of forced labour. The peasants also soon exhausted their own supplies, and were reduced to such extreme want in consequence that they died in great numbers on the road ; as did also their cattle, in con- sequence of a murrain. The serious extent of this disease covered the road with carcases, which by their putrefaction coupled with the want of cleanliness in the Russian soldier gave rise to typhus fever in its very worst form— that of the T ?arfUl SC°Urge firSt aPPeared at Bucharest ; and it continued to afflict the Russian army, as well as the inhabitants during the whole of this and the succeedino- campaign. Bessarabia, Wallachia, and Moldavia were not the only provinces over which the Cattle Plague extended and produced such terrible disasters, but it again found its way into I odolia and Volhynia, and thence to Prussia, Saxony Hungary, and Austria. ' Colcml Chesney. The Russo-Turkish Campaigns. London, ,SS4, p. n. i3§ History of Animal Plagues. The losses continued great for some time, notwithstanding all efforts to check the disease; and in 1830 it appeared in several parts of the Austrian territory, especially in Illyria. ‘For three years, from 1828 to 1830, Southern Russia suf- fered much from rinderpest, and it continued to break out here and there in the Steppes and adjoining districts ; but so long as the indigenous cattle only were affected, deaths were comparatively rare ; so soon, however, as the herds of Austrian cattle, belonging to German colonists, were attacked, not even ten per cent, survived. At all times the German colonists suffer from this scourge ; their cattle are infected by the herds employed to carry salt from the Crimea and the Steppes of saline base between the Caspian and the Baltic, which are supposed to have once formed a bottom for the waters when these two seas were united. The German colonies which thus suffer are in Moloshna and in the vicinity of Mariopol. It is said that in these colonies the neat cottages and the well-built barns and outhouses, surrounded by trees and gardens and by highly cultivated fields, bear the signs of wealth and com- fort, and of the care bestowed on them by an industrious population. The German colonies form a striking contrast to the dreary country in which they are situated, and to the miserable Russian villages, and the still more wretched Tartar douls around them. Their situation is always well chosen on some sloping ground, on the border of one of the few rivulets that water the country.1 ‘ My object in referring to these features of the German colonies is to point out the interesting fact that, although surrounded by Steppe-land, the colonists and their cattle exist under very different conditions to those common to the habitations and the herds of the Cossacks, the Tartars, and the Calmucks ; and although the cattle of the Steppes, accustomed to hard living, withstand the Steppe murrain, it is no special breed that presents this immunity from disease, but animals in general reared in the most primi- tive manner, and somehow rendered constitutionally ab e o ward off all injurious influences. 1 H. D. Seymour , M.P. Russia on the Black Sea and Sea of Azoff. Londo 2/. Gamgee. The Cattle Plague. London, 1866. Period from A.D. 1S15 to A.D. 1830. 139 ‘ In 1829 an immense number of bullocks was accumulated beyond the Pruth, for the use of the Russian army against Turkey. Being greatly distressed for want of food, and ex- hausted by fatigue and exposure, the Cattle Plague broke out in August, and continued till nearly the approach of the following summer. The mortality was fearful. In the Princi- palities, during the autumn alone, more than 200,000 head of cattle perished. The entire stocks in Bessarabia were de- stroyed, and the provinces northwards became infected, and suffered enormous losses.’1 A.D. 1828. An epidemic fever was very fatal at Gibraltar. Ty some it was supposed to have been imported, and by others to have arisen from want of sanitary attention. Swarms of flies were generated, and their incredible myriads covered the walls of houses like black curtains ; and while the pesti- lence raged, parrots, canaries, and other small birds in cages, and even poultry and domestic animals, perished in great numbers. Those people who recovered were found to be swarming with vermin.2 In the spring, epizootic catarrhal fever, or ‘ influenza,’ was prevalent among horses in England. In the London districts, w ere it was very common and fatal, it bore a somewhat iHercnt character to what was observed of it in the provinces, anc t le curative treatment was consequently modified. Mr. rown who saw much of the disease at Melton Mowbray, says that ‘the pulse was generally small and frequent; a cult and sonorous breathing; an offensive smell ; a trouble- some and almost incessant cough ; great difficulty in swallow- ing, the Schneiderian membrane highly injected, with an mor mate discharge of viscid acrimonious mucus ; great freXTT °f.the submaxi,lary a"d parotid glands, with equent ulceration ; considerable debility ; loss of appetite • tremors ; great irritability, with a disinclination to move In some cases the feces were buttony, voided in small quantities a pecXTor mUCUS’i °thCrS there was diarrhoea, with peculiar offensive smell. I„ a few instances the pulse was 1 Quarter]y Jom-naJ 0f Agriculture, October, 184c. ^ • Neale. Op. cit. pp. 175, 244. 140 History of Animal Plagues. slow and small, the eyes overflowing with tears ; the Schnei- derian membrane inflamed, yet assuming a yellow tint, and discharging an immense quantity of viscid mucus ; breathing less difficult and sonorous ; very lethargic and partial loss of voluntary motion.’ The disease, under depletive treatment, was very fatal ; but when the sick animals were nursed and subjected to the opposite regime , it appears to have been rarely so. On examination after death, ‘ the Schneiderian membrane was found to be in the highest state of mortifica- tion, with several ulcers on its surface ; a large abscess in the pharynx, full of the most offensive matter. The membrane lining the pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchiae, and air-cells had the same morbid appearance. The substance of the lungs was not in that high state of mortification which is often met with after active inflammation, but contained several abscesses. The pleurae were much inflamed, and the cavity of the chest filled with a mixture of serum and pus having a very putrid odour. It attacked all ages, whether in the stable or at grass, in elevated or low situations, or drinking fiom stagnant pools or fresh water.1 The editor of the fifth edition of ‘ Osmer’s Treatise on Horses’ (Mr. Hinds) remarks: ‘In the spring of 1828, the catarrhal epidemic prevailed generally, with symptoms nearly resembling the third and fourth classes of Osmer ; but in London, the attacks partook of the whole of those described in his text.2 In the Austrian States, the influenza which we have already noticed as prevailing on the Continent until 1828, yet appealed here and there. Even so late as 1829, it broke out in the military stud at Mezohegyes.3 In Argyleshire, Scotland, anthrax fever killed a great many sheep, and prevailed for a long time during this year.4 The contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle appears to ha\ c been introduced into Belgium about this time. ‘Since iSeS, there has existed in Belgium an epizootic disease that came to us from the south of Europe, where it had existed foi a 1 Brown. The Veterinarian, vol. i. p. 286. 3 Wirth. Op. cit. p. 157. n- Hinds. Op. cit. p. 104- * The Farmer’s Magazine, 1828. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 14 1 very long time. Different names have been given to it ; but it is now well known to all who attend to such matters by the name of “exudative pleuro-pneumonia” — a correct designa- tion applied to it by a learned Belgian professor, M. Gluge.’ 1 But in a communication from the late Inspector of Belgian Cavalry, Verheyen, we find that this insidious plague was imported into Belgium so early as 1827, and proved a dread- lul infliction on the Belgian farmers, travelling from place to place, until the whole of Flanders was invaded by it.2 It has been remarked that no country ever suffered so much from this malady as Holland. It received the infection in 1827 before the separation between it and Belgium— in the, at that period, southern provinces of the kingdom, particularly in Brussels, Mechlin, Louvain, and Diest. At a later date it showed itself in Hainault and West Flanders ; and in the >ear 1833 it appeared in all its malignity, in what we now call o land. In that year it broke out on a farm in Guelder- land, and from this centre it spread over the whole country a.d. 1829. A blight or disease made its appearance in the potato and other crops in Germany, Ireland, and America.3 n he preceding and following years, the oak caterpillars (om yX processions) caused great damage in Westphalia,* and ^ri^-!SC^’tland ?reat fl00ds occurred. and the east coast was t\e c ? StCr , In M°rayshire' the sh°re was strewn with ca, cases of domestic animals, and with millions of dead Spey.* S‘ particuIarIy at ‘he mouth of the river theTttaterThe0f ’829 W3S comParatively mild, but towards Mr,,,,' ' 1 , e exceedingly wet, with a cold east wind mg .and tins unfavourable weather continued for a lone ■me An apparent complication of various diseases, which collect, vely were termed ‘rot '(cachexia aquosd), attacked the dopT“ du KlaiI- • S%™n. AS7 TShe *** >833. remarks on the destructiveness of fWie i ’ 9‘ . Vcry lnteresting Humboldt. Personal Narmive. Also W -iSSfo^SaT 142 History of Animal Plagues. ovine and bovine species over the whole of Europe, and caused tremendous loss, more especially in Egypt, Northern France, Eastern Germany, Holland, and England. In Egypt, though its ravages are very great every year after the subsidence of the Nile, it seems to have been ex- traordinarily wide-spread and fatal. ‘ It appears every year in Egypt after the fall of the Nile, and it follows and keeps pace with the subsidence of the waters. In the higher districts of Upper Egypt, it commences about the end of July ; nearer Cairo, in August ; in the environs of the capital, in October and November ; and during the months of Decem- ber, January, and February, in the Delta. It is most obstinate, and continues longest in the neighbourhood of the confluence of the waters ; in lower Egypt it lasts about one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty days, and it disappears soonest and is least fatal when the rise of the Nile has not been considerable. Desolation and death accompany it wherever it passes. The Arabs say this pest annually destroys sixteen thousand sheep in Egypt. Its victims usually perish on the twenty-fifth, thirty-fifth, or fortieth day after the apparent attack If an Arab shepherd is asked how he distinguishes this disease from all others, he replies that the sheep have under the jaw a bag full of water ; that they walk with difficulty ; have diarrhoea , their wool falls off; they are dull, disinclined to move, and are almost constantly lying down ; sometimes a foetid matter of a variable colour— yellow, grey, or green— runs from the nostrils. The head and neck and belly and limbs swell ; the eyes are red ; the animals become emaciated ; they eat and drink little when the disease is in an advanced state, but rumination continues for a considerable period ... It is observed in Egypt in the sheep, rabbit, hare ; in poultry, an sometimes in the horse, mule, ox, dog, and even the sil - worm. It is always dangerous, and is generally enzootic 01 epizootic . . In the Delta the rot fournture) lasts longest. This part of Egypt lies very low ; it is cut in every direction by innumerable canals ; the waters are out a longer time and there is more marshy ground. The very habitations of the Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 143 Arabs are in the water; rushes are the only food for their ocks during three or four months ; the sheep pasture in the midst of the mud, or on the borders of the marshes and canals ; the malady follows their every step, and thousands of hem perish ... In 1829, one of us, by order of the Viceroy visited many of the provinces of the Delta, to oppose if possible, some barrier to the scourge which decimated the oc -s so indispensable to the tyrant as well as the slave, he inhabitants laughed at the advice which we gave them as to the management of their sheep. “Before we concern ourselves, said they, “ with the preservation of the health of the oxen and sheep, we must demand the means of our own existence, which are now refused to us." Dr. Pariset and one of us were resting in the house of the chief of one of he villages, and were talking with him about this pest the presumed cause of it, and the possibility of effecting its utter disappearance from Egypt. Our host laughed, and slid This pest has always raged in our villages, and it would not rti°fit; 'et °Ur fami'ieS be c°mf°rtably lodged and let them have wholesome and proper food and not country!” ’lPeSt” wfll disaPPear our In the department of the Meuse, in France and In n districts in this portion of that country its d“’adff , d l 1C™ Ou7ofent1 T by many 0bservers- O-of — t h" £ ~ twenty thousand six hundred and eighty two T'6’ °f thousand two hundred and one succumbed The mortjr has been most considerable ine mo1 tality towards the decline of the malady" a,/011”2 an'maIs> and It nearly always commenced S’ 2 ?1 °Xen- tacked the weakest cows, and espeelily if ! ^ J then 14 at~ and lastly, the oxen. It made the greatest Z ?'f ; departments in December 18^0 and T in these , „ ' 9’ and January, February, lamont and Fischer. Journal de Med. V^r. 144 History of Animal Plagues. March and April, 1830. The mortality commenced about the 15th of December, and ceased about the 20th of April ; from the 15th of January to the 15th of March it destroyed the greatest number of animals. 1 For the Duchy of Nassau there is a similar account. ‘ In the year 1829, the first district of the land (Westerwald) was visited by this disease to such a degree, that from the autumn till the spring of 1830, in the two parishes of Marienberg and Rennerod alone, more than eleven hundied head of cattle, principally young stock, died. The summer of 1828 was notoriously unfavourable, and it is certain that it predis- posed to the malady, which the humidity of 1829 at last developed. In the low-lying parishes of Westerwald, in the neighbourhood of the Lahn and the Taunus, only animals here and there were attacked. Here, on the contrary, it had already appeared in the autumn of 1828, and in many places, especially during 1829 and 1830, it killed great numbers.’* In the Lower Rhine provinces and in Holland its ravages were very severe, and are described as follows : ‘ The month of May in 1829 was remarkably cold and dry, and we could not congratulate ourselves upon a single growing day for the crops In June, the cold was varied with occasional hot Hearns of sunshine, which was yet unfavourable for all vegetation, and hence it was that grass was extremely scarce On the 20th of the same month it rained, and continued doing so for two months ; so that until the end of August the sky was overcast. From these circumstances the ground was ^ «.i i ^ ^ A Irviir-I wincr . Hurtnl d'Arbmal. Diet, de MM. etc. VWr. vol. i. p. 265 2 Franque. Seuchen tier Hausthiere. Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 145 m short, the cattle were in a most miserable condition. In this state they were taken to their sheds, and there being but ittle reserve forage for them, it was not long before disease broke out in a severe form, and caused a frightful devastation, it cannot be denied that the farmers who lived in the low- ands of the Rhine, and without the dam, had saved an excellent hay harvest, inasmuch as they kept their cattle healthy and in good condition, owing, undoubtedly, to the fact, that notwithstanding all the storms of rain, the Rhine ortunate y did not overflow its banks ; and thus consider- able tracts of pasture on both sides of the river were free from inundations From this combination of circum- tances ,t is that in this region but little disease occurred But when we consider that in the township of Haldern and wduTn t? tJdve hundred head of cattle alone died- we ™y of tl • thl'.d,sease a true plague. In Holland, the position he inhabitants of the low country was still more worthy of commiseration; the plague was there even far more authority^ th I" neighbourho°d i for I know, on good hundred^* :Lk0dLvillsSrVintkeveenTver fifteen 2 ls°di:wehr rsth°ef Brrp ,and a-d unfortunate people's eh f ^ °W' ymg Places. These being dependent on thdr cTule^the Hvelihood ness thoi fr cattle’ they were obliged to wit- the beautiful 7L7o7ThyU the7 7 P£ °f SaVI'ng tl,em> for Several thousand acres of f 1 , ‘C Sea’ and were su'Tounded too fast, was pumped aJs'V^"’ f6" St did "ot --ease wind failed, this remedy also feile’d • and h 7' h°WeVer’ the that it appeared strange t^me at first ,1 /V rema''k brackish pasture near the d ^ th * the cows on the It is, however, known that most 7fT "early a“ healthy' sected by canals which contain salt' wato^ 7/ T “T animals had a proper amount . . ’ * then, the the lost strength would soon he ounslment — their stables, S would soon be regained, and they would not 10 146 History of Animal Plagtces. die in such large numbers, as, on the contrary, was the con- sequence of the damaging of the herbage in this neighbour- hood and the loss of strength and condition. The year 1830 brought an extraordinary fine spring, and the great desire of the farmers to drive their cattle to pasture was much favoured thereby. However, the new grass acting as an irritant and a purgative, caused profuse diarrhoea, from which the cattle suffered much, and caused the prostration of many, even in the fine healthy month of May. It was also necessary to keep the cattle up at night, to give them dry fodder and the medicines needful to enable them to regain their strength. I must now be allowed to point out, shortly, that this bad weather exercised an evil influence not only upon cattle, but also upon horses and sheep. As an instance of this, in the above-named townships at least twenty larger or smaller flocks of sheep became a prey to the malady.’1 In England, where the malady did not appear until 1830, and lasted till 1831, it was regarded as a national calamity, as it was estimated that not less than two million sheep perished.2 ‘ Perhaps the greatest outbreak that evei occuned in England, or at any rate the one respecting which we have the most authentic information, is that which took place in 1830, in which it was supposed that we lost not fewer than two millions of sheep ; and the result was that an inquiry then going on in the House of Commons with legal d to the depressing causes of agriculture, branched out into an inves- tigation of those losses. I believe the Government fully ascertained that in the following year the weekly supply of sheep to our metropolitan markets was diminished by five thousand— a circumstance that will help to show us to what an extent we have suffered in this country when these gieat outbreaks have taken place.’3 Even two years afterwards, there were twenty thousand less sheep than the otdinai) average at Weyhill Fair.4 1 Achthoven. Uber dio Rindviehkrankheit des Jalires 1S30 am Niederrhein. Emmerich, 1832. See also Monteton. Uber die zwei nichtigsten Lammerkrank- heiten. Potsdam, 1833. 3 Library of Useful knowledge. 3 J. B. Simonds. The Veterinarian', vol. xxxiv. p. 276. 4 Ar vintage. Clater's Cattle Doctor, p. 5 r9- Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 147 epMemy 3t thE Brazils’ conse * que presque IslaTent' ” Sa"S- e"SeVelis’ aU milieu des Marais, of, FrZVsTLPT "I63*1 Sale’ rarC et P-que tarie.’- Saxony. J°’ ,ab‘eS canma was very frequent in TouV^ef^a^^Thrcf ^ £pif fty am™g ducks near Disease of the intestines was observed oTe ^ death. * There were 1 i °n exammatlon after similar to that of bricks, to the'extenTofThree inchef ^T' ^ — ---- a\eoutI^ an alteration which bore rise ret^K, th‘'S Pa,t sWd symptom observed in the skin r b ance to tIle Princ‘Pal (*« )• The other Ice ton's offTT “Shingks” being from one to two inches in Tt.?6 SamS characters. same manner : they were pvf- i i dth’ proJected in the of intestine. In the spaces bet ^ °ve^ the remaining portion membrane formed rido-es wb* b theSC zones’ the mucous of a red colour theTe If “ drCular and thin, and the <,roove ” duP1,catures were narrow together, resembling whaT 7s "J’T 'T™ were close umbelliferous plants.’-" ^ n°t,Ced 011 thc bark of certain cows.N7„a7ePCe7panrtWof “d °ftentimes fatal » particularly in the commencement Tisfo' ^ m°re cases of difficult parturition „ V ' 8j0’ abortl°ns and and they were farPmore 7eqUentVarr7d ''n Pla“a> cause, in all probability resided nnt "1 yearS’ The influence of the damn rnl , d, °nIy ln tlle debilitating faulty state of £ Z^f ^ °f ^ bat also in thf making. The result of these uniTT “t! Y *" Sp°iled in tnese unfavourable conditions was fvaud. Les Maladies de Brazil, p. 17 j ^ JOUrni1 **“*• Sciences Zooatriques, ,836. 10 — 2 148 History of Animal Plagues. the disturbance and relaxation of the reproductive energies ; and in those animals which were not really diseased, there was, nevertheless, a languor and debility of the muscular system, and even the bones themselves appeared to be friable and easily broken ; such, indeed, was proved to be the case in several animals which were examined. The extreme atony of the muscular system was more particularly noticed in cows which were near their time for calving, though they might otherwise be healthy ; many towards the last weeks were unable to stand, and had to be assisted to rise. They lay helpless for three or four weeks, until at last they calved and were relieved. Others died before calving ; some while calving, or soon after that event. The calves were always full grown, healthy, and lively— a striking proof of how much the natural energy is directed towards the maintenance of the young, even at the expense of the mother. In several cows which died during calving, or were killed in consequence of their inability to calve, the bones of the pelvis were found fractured. How these fractures occurred could not be ascertained, but they were probably due to the cattle falling down when, in consequence of their great weakness, they could no longer stand.’1 These peculiar fractures were, I think, in all likelihood owing to the presence of that diseased brittle condition of the bones designated ‘ cachexia ossifraga,’ which appears to have been epizootic at this time ; as Wirth2 informs us it made its appearance in the spring of the year in the east of Switzerland, after a cold winter. In Germany, this fragility of the bones of cattle, and pai- ticularly of breeding or dairy cattle, would appear to be somewhat common, if we may judge by its being so frequently mentioned in the veterinary records of that country, where it is popularly known as the ‘ Knochenbrechigkeit.’ In France it would seem to be rare, for it is scarcely alluded to. ts frequency in Alsace-the border-land between t ranee and Germany— is, however, attested by M. Zundel,3 who desig 'Franquc. Busch. Zeitschrift, vol. ii. P- id- f Wiri*' Op- cit. P- 447- 3 Zundel. Recueil tie Mid. Veter., fifth series, vol. vn. p. 5°i- Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 149 “>at • °Ste0claStie’ 14 is a chronic disease, some- • ectic in its nature, unaccompanied by fever and particularly characterized by incomplete nutrition of’ the and^verv^'Ht 1 ^ I”"63 becoming 1;ghteb less compact, J bnttle,; at the same time there is most frequently as ' nica ’ gjne A ema?la.tion- or the morbid condition known the *P1 • I," A sace 14 1S only observed in a special region— termfdheTtVPOrr °f tte P'ain’ °r as" it is droughi when the m°St T tensWdy in ^s remarkable for . gnt’ wilen the vegetation is largely dennVnrl •«. ssrsa thhathare most solved in sulhcien't birds, bmthas notyet b^TobL^Tdl^^' ^ ^ Hungary3 **** af>Peared in Bessarabia> Moldavia, and CHAPTER III. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1830 TO 1835. A.D. 1830. Malignant cholera showed itself on the frontiers of Europe, towards the borders of the Black Sea, and spreading, passed into the centre of European Russia ; while from the Georgian frontier of Persia it extended into the very middle of the Russian Empire, and travelling westward, swept away hundreds of thousands of people in its course.1 1 The entrance of the epidemy into Orenburg took place on the 26th of August, 1829, and its approach to Moscow seems to have been heralded by some strange phenomena, described as follows : * During the summer of 1830, the Tartars, who frequent Moscow for purposes of traffic, predicted the approach of a pestiferous malady, which, however, the inhabitants, relying upon the local advantages of their city, would not credit. Suddenly , however, the atmosphere was filled with dense masses ofi small green flies, which in Asia are the forerunners of pestilence, and are called “ plague-flies .” The streets swarmed with these insects, and as soon as the inhabitants quitted their houses they were covered from head to foot. ^or a time, however, no attention was paid to this phenomenon, nor were any pre- ventive measured against the cholera even thought of unt.1 mtemgence arrnred that this formidable disease had appeared in Nischm-Novgorod. -The English- “ Dr! Sr,’ tfSt Petersburg, in a letter to Dr Marc, cohrmunicate^the Academy of Medicine at Paris, states, ' that the cholera was brought to. ASraca bv shins and spread itself over Russia by the emigration of the inhabitants, principally those1 of the lower orders. This is the sole cause of its propagation m Russia ; it has never shown itself in any place, except where it has been roug by travellers who came from infected places. We have not a single -stance of a town or village which without communication with houses or persons : affecte has contracted the disorder. Several places surrounded by the ‘ served themselves from it by a rigid insulation. It is a contagmr * which we must not assimilate with the plague, and which will be J rapid, more or less extensive, according to the more or less whoksome nature^ localities ; it has been more dangerous to the Jews, who live si P rooms and in extreme filth.’ — A. Neale. Op. cit. p. 19 Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 151 In the winter and spring multitudes of young cattle died in -britain from filaria in the bronchiae.J Epizootic affections, either preceding or accompanying the c olera in man, were reported by a large number of observers, anc 10m many of the accounts these diseases appear to have borne some resemblance to that dreadful epidemy. Professor ic -, of Edinburgh, in an admirable essay on ‘ Cholera in the Domesticated Animals,- writes: ‘Early in 1830, an epizootic isease commenced, by which, for some weeks, several horses Edinburgh and its neighbourhood were affected ; but until 16 eSlnning of June it had not become very serious. During . C a cr part of that month, and throughout the two follow- mg ones, however, it became more formidable, and a great number of horses were seized with this affection. The difease appeared to consist in an inflammation of the mucous mem! brane of the organs of respiration ; the pulse rose to a range o rom sixty to ninety, according to the severity of the attack ; there was slight soreness of the throat, weak cough afd3 h7 qfC, ; th£ animal heavy> with great weakness, i " ' 3 rapidly ensuinS i ^els easily acted upon; surface of the body natural in temperature, but with a more than or mary tendency to become cold in the extremities The by n° means fataI- 50 that in one onlv fS "T'!r ,°Ut °f thlrty'tW0 horses seizcd with this disease Y.. J died : and other proprietors were at that time firftlL ' • • By a reference to my case-book, I . d that it commenced again about the end of October, and increased in severity throughout the months of December January, and February, during which time upwards of one ZuMhirt 1 dy -CaSeS °CCU1Ted in ”y Practice- of which ■serioas tStfe’ ^ Stnk''ng Pr°°f °f the S6Verity of thi. ,.In thl- dePartment of the Somme, France, a mysterious disease showed itself among horses, which is thus noticed in e Proceedings of the Alfort Veterinary College : ‘A disease bearing the character of an enzootic, appeared, towards the middle of last year, among the horses of one of the largest The Veterinarian, vol. vi, p, 207. 152 History of Animal Plagues. proprietors of the department of the Somme. M. Renault was immediately sent for to examine and treat it. At the time of his arrival, the disease had prevailed for nearly three months; and out of one hundred and thirty horses which were in the stable at the time of its development, forty-nine were dead, and fifteen ill from it. They knew not what to think of this affection, in which no organ seemed to suffer or be in the least altered, either before or after death. Many of the patients ate heartily up to the last moment. The various methods of treatment adopted all failed. There was nothing to direct their researches, and their efforts to prevent it were not more happy. Among the persons who were consulted, some attributed it to the unhealthiness of the stables ; others to the bad quality of the water ; some believed it to be contagious ; the people of the establishment believed all sorts of things ; the owner knew not what to think in the midst of all these contrarieties, and was in absolute despair. M. Renault set to work immediately to study the character and natuie of this fatal malady. Of the fifteen horses which were diseased at the time of his arrival, eight, of whose recovery there was no hope, were destroyed, and the examination of them served to throw light on his researches. In comparing the observations which he made on the carcases of the dead with the symptoms and character of disease observable in the living, he was assured that the primitive alteration, the essential malady, was in the blood, which, whether taken from the dead or the living animal, covered his hands without reddening them, and either did not coagulate, or formed a mass of a dirty grey colour, and contained a very small proportion of fibiine, which was easily proved by analysis. These alterations were yet more perceptible in the horses that had been diseased for some time. There was so little cohesion between the organic elements of the blood, that even during the life of the animal the fibrinous elements separated from the liquid whenever it was agitated, even in the slightest degree. Agreeably to this, in many of the carcases that were opened immediately after death there were found little parcels of pure fibrine floating between the cords which retain the mitral valves, or resting J5 3 Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. on the fleshy columns which traverse the left ventricle of the heart. In one horse that died after being ill fifteen days, M. Renault found an adhesion between the wall of the left \entricle and one of the mitral valves; the adhesion was formed by a little fibrinous mass, deposited doubtless for some days beneath this membranous fold. If we add to these chaiactcis the paleness and flaccidity of all the organs which, like the red muscles, are essentially fibrous, the absence of all traces of either acute or chronic inflammation in any organ, and the rapidity with which the carcases became putrefied, it cannot be doubted that the disorder existed in the blood characterized by the small proportion of fibrine and colouring matter in this fluid, as well as by the easy separation of its elements.’ At Stuttgart, the Veterinary Professor Hering witnessed an extraordinary and fatal epizooty among horses. ‘ The following described disease, by its suddenly attacking horses which a short time before were perfectly healthy, by its extremely rapid course, and by its deadliness, has caused as much alarm as the cholera did in the human subject on this , lSt :TPcarance- Several of the most prominent symptoms add to the resemblance otherwise to be found between the diseases ; so that the attention of medical men, as well as that of the public, was awakened to its importance. Happily however, it disappeared as rapidly as it had appeared. Thai in places visited by the Asiatic cholera, similar symptoms showed themselves also among animals is amply proved as wel by the reports in the public press, as in the works written on that ep, demy. Nevertheless, I have not observed an exact escription of the same disease among horses or other animals suffering in a locality when the human species were not there affected. At that time, however, this epidemy had got no further than Moscow, and had not yet overstepped the borders of Russia, so that up to the present time Wurtember ' is perfectly free from it; and hence I cannot describe the fo lowing epizooty as identical with it, but will simply draw attention to the similarity between the two diseases. It was m the second week in September, 1830, about the time at 1 54 History of Animal Plagues. which the usual autumn manoeuvres commence, whereby the horses of the Regal and Court Stables, as well as those of the princes and general staff, were rather more than usual, though not over, worked. Besides these, the disease attacked those horses which had not been worked, and entirely avoided the troop horses. The following must be considered as the first case. Achwerdow, an Eastern stallion of the King’s private stables, was attacked with colic on the 7th of September ; it was treated by the veterinary surgeon to the Royal Mews, and died the same day. On the 8th of September the stallion Aleppo, a mare, Zeida, and another horse, ridden by a lackey, were all attacked in the same stable towards the evening. Two of these had been out at the field-day in the forenoon, but had returned without the slightest appearance of illness. In the night the veterinary surgeon came to inform me of the fact, and to seek my advice. According to his description I con- sidered the horses lost, and they were so ; for none of them lived till morning. On a post-mortem examination under- taken by him, the intestinal canal appeared dark-coloured, and contained a blood-coloured fluid ; the blood was tarry ; the spleen was enlarged, etc. The 9th of November had nothing unusual, but in the following night there sickened a fifth case — a horse belonging to Senior-Lieutenant C., of the Royal Guard, and which died in eight hours. The sixth case was on the 10th of September, when the mare Calliope, belonging to the King’s private stable, showed symptoms of illness : she was brought to the Veterinary School, where she died in two hours ; she had been ridden the previous day. The seventh case occurred on the following night : . a roan horse, belonging to the postmaster, Von H., and which on its recent arrival at Stuttgart had been placed in the stable of an inn not far from the Royal Stable where these cases of disease had broken out. When first seized the malady was considered an ordinary case of colic. Upon a post-mortem inspection which I undertook on the next day, the S^I|1C appearances were present as in the previous cases, eighth case happened on the nth of the same month . at sir o’clock in the morning a white mare, belonging to the Gian Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. I^35- T55 blaster of the horse, was attacked in the Royal Mews. At seven o’clock the animal was brought into the school and there treated. It improved rapidly, and was returned as con- valescent on the thirteenth day. The ninth case showed itself on the same morning, when the farm stallion Osman sickened in the Royal Mews, and died there in twenty-four lours. Cases ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen happened on t ie same day, when four horses belonging to Major Von M., adjutant to the King, were affected. After six hours’ suffering a tu e ve-years-old bay mare died ; a few hours later a white mare and another white mare at midnight. These animals stood in a stable near to the King’s private stables. Cases fourteen, Wteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen broke out in the same building, which enclosed three roomy yards, which were the stables of the Prince Frederick. Of these, five were attacked on the same day, and were treated with cold applications as 1 they had been affected with splenic apoplexy. Early on ie morning of the 14th a bay mare died, and on the 16th ? ay Siding. Cases nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty- tw°, twenty-three, and twenty-four: of six horses which th?rCeH r c1Ck had takGn With him to the manoeuvres on nth of September, not one escaped. Two of them died h °UtuGlght leagues from here. The other four were rnp l bUt a bay geldin£ died on the 15th before he the m!fnth fttgaruand & black geldl'ng died on the 22nd of and tv f 10m thC effeCtS °f the disease- Cases twenty-five and twenty-six occurred on the 12th of September. In the evening wo Mecklenburg brown horses, belonging to the be°enP t° ^ ^ H°USehold’ Von- S-> fell sick. They had s. an lng in a stable adjoining the palace of Prince °n foll°wi ng morning they were brought into maJdivTT 1 °b °nC °f ^ magnl^cent animals, a T th du f a a lard StrugSle in the night of the 13th and 14th while the other, a gelding, though at the commencement seriously affected, was pronounced out of danger at noon on the day following. Cases twenty-seven and twenty- had h m ^ SamC StablGS St°°d a pair of white horses, which had been driven on the same day to C. On the way back 1 56 History of Animal Plagues. they were both gravely attacked by diarrhoea, and were immediately taken into the Veterinary School on their arrival. One, a seventeen-year-old gelding, died in twelve hours, and the other recovered in two days. Cases twenty-nine and thirty : two horses had been standing for some time in the Infirmary Stables — one suffering from staggers, and the other from lameness. On the evening of the 13th the first symptoms of this disease were noticed, but, in consequence of the measures adopted, they began to be convalescent at noon on the next day. Of the other horses in the stable at that time none were affected, although no attempts had been made at separation. Case thirty-one : on the 14th of Septem- ber in the evening, in the stud stallion stable, the stallion Jupiter sickened; on the morning of the 15th he was brought into the Veterinary Stables, and at first rallied, but on the 22nd of September he died of the disease. Case thirty-second : on the 15th of September, four horses belonging to the riding- master of the Guard came back from the manoeuvres, but of this number, however, I only found one exhibiting the early symptoms of the malady, and this in a short time recovered. Case thirty-three : On the evening of the 1 5th, the stud stallion Amico became ill, but on the following morning was again out of danger. There were other cases treated which I have not mentioned here, because my convictions do not enable me to pronounce definitively as to their identity with this malady, and the great care shown when any horses were taken ill caused them to be at once put under medical treat- ment before the symptoms made any progress. The disease now made a pause, for from the 15th of September until the 14th of October, no new cases appeared. Cases thirty-iour, thirty-five, and thirty-six: on the last-named day, three horses belonging to Prince Frederick, and which had fully recovered, relapsed shortly after their return from a rapid drive. One, a white gelding, died the following morning , another, a brown stallion, died the same evening; the thiid, a bay gelding, recovered. Without taking into account these three cases, it appears there occurred within eight days, fioni the 7th to the 15 th of September, thirty-three cases o Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. i57 abdominal typhus ; of these, twenty died from the immediate e ects of the malady, and the other two soon after from its secondary consequences. In the majority of the horses attacked, one could] not help being convinced that up to the period of its invasion they were healthy. Some had been working shortly before they were seized ; others were attacked " “ e ,a‘ wo!'k ; and others again had been standing for several days idle. The attack was consequently sudden and h„nl°?t, Wa[mnF ; the animals at once refused their food, m g ,7 headS’ and Sh0wed in their behaviour symptoms more of fear than actual pain. The dung was generally at and fC°mflm?"Cement hard. but shortly after diarrhoea set in, and the fluid excrement was reddish, or rather clay-coloured In some cases, as in twenty-seven and twenty-eight the disease began at once with diarrhoea; in others, on the contrary, as in twenty-five and thirty-one, diarrhoea did not a e place at all. The urine was scanty, and the skin was en covered with sweat, which, however, did not lead o any improvement in the symptoms. Very striking was the smeU of the breath ; it was generally described as of nlppeared t ^ ““ °f PUtrid WUrzel or cabbage, appeared to me to resemble the smell of carburetted the diseasefand It incLTed'asI^3 ^ Symp‘°m °f was, at the beginning, full and seventy, and even rose up to a hundred and twe„tf-e ghfp ° minute ; m other cases it was small and hard i t avs however, soon became very weak, and in the advanced stages ° fi 1Cf dlSe,a7 S“rceIy appreciable. The beats of the heart at first could only be felt close to the chest, but very soon began to throb strongly. Blood drawn from the veins wa black, thick, and like tar ; it settled into a solid mass without any serum, or remained for a long time fluid and of unctuous consistency. The respiration was often’ at the mencement of the seizure laboured and audible • at a 77 period it became quickened • dpo-li,f,v ’ ^ ter although the animals remand col i uT TT ' moment, there were not wanting symptom “of clbml £ 158 History of Animal Plagues. rangcment. The great depression immediately on the com- mencement of the attack — the noticeable speedy and considerable loss of power in its advance the insensibility of the skin to the effects of counter-irritants, etc., all showed a serious derangement of the nervous system. With all this there were combined an increase of the pulse and the respira- tion, tremblings, jactitations of the neck and head, which soon terminated in paralysis. The animals in the course of the disease either did not lie down at all, or if they did, soon got up again. Age and sex appeared to have no influence whatever on the course of the disease ; which, nevertheless, in the earlier cases, was much more rapid in inducing fatal effects than at a later period : in the former death occurred in a few hours, while in the latter the patients held out foi twelve or twenty-four hours, or even for three days. Where the animal recovered, convalescence was as rapid, and only with two or three horses was there any doubt, after twenty- four hours, as to whether they would be saved or lost. An autopsy showed the following results : the bodies were in good condition, some of them very fat ; nowhere under the skin were there serous effusions except where embro- cations had been used, and even then the effusion was but slight. On the other hand, the superficial veins were distended with black fluid blood ; in the intestines were found patches of a dark, inflamed, or even blueish colour, and these were sometimes more noticeable in the small intestines, sometimes in the larger ; but seldom was the injection of any great extent. It only pervaded the mucous membrane, which was not thickened, but rather appeared thinner than usual. Under the serous membrane were, in some cases, small ecchymose spots, and in one instance the mucous layer showed the same characteristic markings. The openings of the mucous follicles, especially in those animals which were seized with diarrhcea were very visible; nowhere was there inflammation of he intestines. The contents of the stomach were, with tl exception of one case, tolerably dry ; in the sma 1 intestines were found that peculiar fluid before noticed as having passed in the diarrhcea, and which was of the coloui a Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1S35. i59 consistency of wine lees, having but few particles of food in it. lough the majority of the animals treated had received oses of hydrochloric acid, the contents of the small intestines ia either an alkaline or a neutral reaction. The liver was sometimes larger, sometimes smaller than usual ; was mostly 0 a lg it co our, and hard, though at times it was soft. The hepatic ducts were full of bile; the spleen was rather small atl arge ’ other'vise it was generally sound, though in some cases it was swollen and had dark patches in it. The veins of ie mesentery and of the omentum were full of tarry blood 1 he kidneys were softened and darker than usual- the bladder contained a small quantity of pale, transparent urine The mucous membrane of the genital organs of some mares was reddened ; the lungs contained much dark blood and Sit so,id tharsuai ; overed with large or small patches of ecchymoses ; and the pleura-pulmonahs was separated from the lung-tissue as if there had been emphysema. In the trachea, the membrane quantity rff, fT and there discoloured> there was a large q anti y of frothy mucus ; almost always without exceotion the l.nmg membrane of the aorta was covered with the heart, as well as' along This co 7 T ^ and even in the ventricle of the hear? two cas": ZTtjJ blaCk flUid b,°°d- a"d ^ - coamilum The ™ twenty-°ne— was there found a small distension of the bloUoCdveSs”rbrane °f m°Uth Was- by the r »r r,ss;riTVnd showed the membranes djo-infi • • c nostllJs- The brain non ytl on serum be discovered. Of the exciting n ^ quantlt^ of this disease we remain in a stif-e r t pioxlmate causes of we may surely take for granted that , certainty ; but ■sought and found its victims , • stables ln which it he appearance ^ * ood or the general hv^ienp Qn c cluabty of the 'ears of scarcity, or when the fSCrUp ^ maintained. In >ave been the case ; but such an errm in Ihewly T' ^ 11 Lne way of manage- i6o History of Animal Plagues. ment could not well have occurred at this time where the horses, though all belonging to the one establishment, were yet kept in stables widely apart. The weather was not unusual, neither at the outbreak of the disease, nor in the previous month. The mean pressure of the barometer was, in August, 2 f 4'" ; in September, 27" 3"', and the monthly difference was 6,63^ and 10,60 in September ; but we must remark that the greater variations of the barometer occurred in the last third of September— at a time, therefore, when the disease had already ceased. The temperature was at the same time not remarkable, nor yet did it show rapid changes , the thermometer ranged in August between +8° and 26°, and in September between +6° and 20°. Several storms occurred in August, but otherwise the month was fine. On the other hand, it rained during the second half of September almost daily, though not heavily. If the weather had really been capable of at all exercising any influence on the abdominal typhus, it must have been noticed elsewhere, and even in Stuttgart have caused its extension. It remains, therefore, in this as in many similar cases, that the cause is completely hidden ; as we can find no sufficient cause to account for the disease either in the predisposition of those attacked, nor in their nourishment, in the mode in which they were used, nor yet in the atmospherical conditions. Should we lay the blame on telluric .or cosmical influences ? or shall we call to our assistance the presence of a miasma, as in the case of the cholera, which is said to attack here and there a house, a street, or a town ; now creeps from dwelling to dwelling, or at once makes a spring over whole countries and seas ? The idea o an infection presses itself npon us by its own force, and is worthy of a thorough examination. On the one hand, several animals in the same stable and in stables which weie me the same roof, or not far apart, sickened ; on the other hand although in some stables the whole, or nearly the whole, of the horses therein sickened, yet in the Royal Mews, the Com Mews, and the stud stables, as well as in the barrac -s Guard, several hundred horses were exposed to the infect without the slightest evil result Whatever causes Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1S35. 161 ma\ have been in operation, they must undoubtedly have cen more purely local than general ; their influence on le animal body is less obscure than their nature. In activit^Tri °f th£ previous hot weather, the increased of h K, 7 Ve'13e P°rte System had aItered the character Ofthtfl d rn y n aking ;t richer in carbon : ‘he dark colour of hts fluid, the absence of coagulability, its great tendency to extravasabon through the walls of the capillary vessel - 7 SS 7 3n inCreaS6d venosi‘y. but even to al imal approach in the character of the whole circulating medium to the blood of the van* port* (This l the only affinity observable between this disease and splenic apoplexy (mibbrand)- with the apoplectic form of the fatter it cLiot compare , inasmuch as at the commencement of this malady there is disturbance of the brain, and the senses are in abeyance ; in milebrand it ;s kn(wn ^ ammals are affected by eating of the flesh of the diseased • therefove were dogs and cats fed on the carrion of Tose which had been most affected by the malady, and 7 y w“ .1” ":,"T ;r A - was not a puret infla" ! demonstrated that this fever functions 7, ' lflammatory and the exhaustion of the symlathet 1 ^ rapWly Under thc influence of the disease was P^lydueTo .wSaxi: syrr, frr “J h the urine which was observed Onn , <. , n of pared this intestinal fluid with that obseLdl^temrnemelt 162 History of Animal Plagues. for it had the appearance of boiled blood mingled with water. The ecchymosesr, about and in the heart may be partially ascribed to the already mentioned condition of the blood, and also to the very severe death-struggles of the animals. Death arose from paralysis of the circulatory system, and especially of the right side of the heart. As the infection proceeded from the stomach and intestines, as there was fever, and the symptoms were often contradictory and bore no comparison to the dangerous character of the disease, I have, following the example of my predecessors, who have introduced into veterinary nosology a lung typhus, a stable typhus ( stall- typhus ), etc., called this malady the “ abdominal or stomach typhus.” Whether this typhus is the same as cholera in mankind, I leave to the judgment of others. The striking similarity between the two diseases is beyond doubt, and if the cholera had been prevalent in Stuttgart at that time, 01 if the horse first attacked had come from an infected neigh- bourhood, one would have had good grounds for establishing the identity of the diseases.’1 2 In Orenburg the following circumstance was noted, as an example of the poisonous character of choleraic dejections . ‘As a remarkable example of the danger of cholera evacua- tions, it may be noticed that a physician of Orenburg, who was accustomed to take two dogs with him on his rounds, went to a cholera patient in 1829, where these animals licked up some blood that had fallen on the floor from an open vein. They were soon afterwards attacked with violent convulsions, sickened, and ceased to breathe. In the village of Capitanowka, near Odessa, the lower animals seemed to have suffered from symptoms of cholera : ‘ In this village, in December, 1830, as also in other places, the cholera has broken out among the cattle, as well as man- kind, and is causing r great mortality.’ At Taganrog, die same observer says of this affection among anima s . *• Dobrodejew, who was sent to Taganrog, speaks in his report of the appearance of cholera among the lower animals, and 1 Hering. Magazin fur thierarzte, vol. iii. 2 Hamburg. Magazin f. a. Lit. vol. xix. p. 374- Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 163 establish m 5 P°“ltry’ whlIe k ra8ed among men. In some of this d e greater Part of the hens and turkeys died convuls aS£ 1 SymPtoms of which-vomiting, dysentery, convulsmns-were also noticed in a crane, and in several sea»nVlSandafrhd large'y Preva!linS unhealthiness of the as°„, and there was a strange similarity in the symptoms ■ At Kortschewa (Poland), geese and ducks were fJumt v attacked by cholera. This was marked by outstretched head Pellon their side as was noticeable ZT and especially the rectum, contained a «Zy Tula’ > of the a°fmMa7d ^ ^ arrival fowls in Posen ’which ‘ ady appear°d amon£ the domestic from Poland. Hens tn k SUpP°Sed to have been brought died in laro- , ’ 1 ve^s’ ducks, but above all, geese aiea in large numbers in all the circle «.» b se» Way-?* the -“7^: ttr walk lame, and 7 ^ W°Uld be^ *> lose the power to ect un ’ • C° ^ wouId Ile down and suddenly died. Others C°ntlnuin£ *° eat until they would unexpectedly die whilT premonitory symptoms, -VUSS2 Healthy, they were seized with vomiting and di, V iPPearance about an hour or half an hour they died • if tl ^ ^ In b^rX^rrediir? ,7ish^ T-d ^ creased m size, and full of bile ; thim dip JHambwg Magazinf.a. Lit. vols. *i„ xx AadtUS' MlUheilungen, vol. ii. p. ^ 164 History of Animal Plagues. colour ; those fowls which died at night exhaled a very strong cadaverous odour in the morning. In some the lungs were dark red, black, and softened, and gorged with black blood. The stomach was in general large, and contained a yellow mucus and sound grain ; the intestines were empty, except having a quantity of yellowish mucus. The bodies of these animals contained much fat.’1 In Galicia the cholera appeared at the end of the year. At the same time so great a mortality broke out among poultry, that in some places the greater portion of the turkeys and hens died, and there was an unheard-of scarcity of fowls. The symptoms were as follows : ‘ The animals attacked became dull, did not eat, drank much, and carried their heads very low, and in such a way that in the course of the malady they have been seen sitting with their bills resting on the ground ; from their mouths a limpid mucus flowed, and they had a looseness by which a mass of mucus resembling milk was evacuated. The disease usually lasted for two days, though sometimes it terminated sooner. Only about one- fifth part of those attacked recovered. Those that died were emaciated, their skins were dark brown, the stomach blue and pulpy, the intestines empty and of a violet colour, the liver pale, and the eyes deep sunk in their orbits. Canary-birds died in many houses.’2 3 During the prevalence of cholera at Moscow, Dr. Jaenichen saw geese, hens, and turkeys, and many other species of animals, affected with similar symptoms;" and in the government of Twer poultry suffered from cholera.4 At the end of the year a deadly epizooty raged among fowls at Trieste, while the epidemic was most severe among the people there. In the Austrian dominions we have an elaborate detail of the diseases which were observed among beasts and biuls during, or previous to, the epidcmy, by Hildebrand. Accoiding to his researches, derived from eye-witnesses, the aii in man} places was filled with a stinking fog, and electiical machines 1 Cohen. Generalbericht d. Med. Colleg. zu Posen, 1830. 2 CEstevreich. Med. Jahrbuch. vol. xvii. p. 442- . 3 Hcusinger. Op. cit. p. 95- 4 Klcinerl. Repertorium, vol. 1. p. 284. Period from A.D. 1S30 to A.D. 1835. 165 would produce no sparks. Plants did not blossom well ; cabbages and cauliflowers were blighted, and those who used them as food had diarrhoea. Vegetables in general lost their flavour, and were dangerous to eat ; toads were seldom seen ; tree caterpillars resolved themselves into a blueish dust; certain species of insects, of the genus carabus and curculio , were not to e seen , sparrows and swallows were very scarce during the summer months, as well as rats and mice, and jackdaws had disappeared ; flies, game, and fish were seldom seen. Hares, foxes, and wolves were found dead in the woods, and no song-birds were heard among the trees; indeed, the country people were struck by the universal stillness, where before birds used to make a regular din. Fish floated dead m the streams and lakes, and in the leech-ponds these useful creatures had nearly all died or disappeared ; those procured "i some double were far from being vigorous, and would arely perform their required functions. At the gardens of . Grand Duke Palatine, at Ofen, three pairs of water salamanders which had been kept in a pond for a year and a Iocaiitv r SeC°"dJda>' after ch°^a appeared in the locality Canaries died in the houses whose inmates were ac e and all the domestic animals— horses, cattle do°s Pjgs, cats, and poultry-were seized in some pla e or another’ With symptoms more or less of cholera. In one farm out of one hundred and seventy-two cattle, one hundred and two Oied within a very brief space-and the mortality varied but was generally great. In a particular district it was noted 'tha oxen „ aed one-third mQre forage tQ enaWc ^^“that weaker 'than ' °'d‘nary work- AI1 seemed troubled and eaher han usual, and more particularly was it remarked hat heir procreative functions were affected, for they 'pro C Q Ter y°“ng' ancl these were small and weakly. Out of six thousand Spanish sheep which at p~. „„ , History of Animal Plagues. 1 66 in many cases relieved or cured by mixing in their food some ipecacuanha. As the cholera disappeared the heavens brightened, the air became purer, and the most delightful weather set in— the autumn lasting far into November, and the flowers blossoming a second time.1 At Paiis, and elsewhere in France, M. Moiroud records an epizooty of diabetes in horses.2 In Nassau an epizooty of anthiax appeared among hogs, and Professor Hertwig of Beilin describes a strange outbreak of ‘grease’ in horses, which I will notice more lengthily in the author’s own words, as it possesses some points of importance : ‘ In Berlin, after the lower animals had been tolerably free from disease during the wintei, and only such sporadic affections as catarrh and gastric derangements had shown themselves, there suddenly appealed a wide-spread attack of “grease” ( 'inauke ) among the horses, and in March and April it assumed a real epizootic character. It affected those horses which were kept in the stable quite as frequently as those always employed out of doors, and spared neither sex, age, nor race. The animals showed slight fever, rested one of the limbs, which showed increased warmth around the coronet or the pastern. After a few hours, never beyond the second day, swelling was notice- able, and then exudations of a yellowish fluid were perceiv- able ; in from three to four days, in most, but net in all horses, extensive sloughing of the skin took place. In a short time inflammatory ulcers appeared — sometimes on the coronet, and at other times before or behind the pastern — extending deep into the cellular tissue, even to the tendons and bones, spread- ing themselves to some distance. The discharges from these ulcers was of a yellowish colour, occasionally mingled with blood, highly putrescent, and stinking — the stench, indeed, was so great that two patients so impregnated the atmosphere in a ten-stalled stable as to make it unbearable to any human being. In from six to eight days the tumefaction began to decrease, and the tension to which it gave rise subsided ; as a consequence, the ulcers assumed a healthy suppurative cha- 1 Hildebrand. Qisterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xvii. 2Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. vii. p. 327. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 167 racter, and began to granulate, and in almost all cases the healing process rapidly set in. The only exceptions were those in which the bones, the cartilages of the hoof, or the sinews had suffered. From the large quantity of acrid fluid which ran from the ulcers, it was almost impossible to avoid soiling the hands during examination or treatment, and the consequence was that I and ten students were really infected. I had no wounded finger, neither had several of the others, though for the remainder there is no certainty. In from six to eight days we all had fever, weariness, and indisposition. On nine of the infected dark-coloured pustules showed them- selves on the fingers and hands, but especially on the joints of the fingers ; and at the same time the lymphatic glands began to inflame on the arm, and the lymphatic glands in the axilla also became more or less swollen. This implication of the lymphatics always manifested itself by red streaks begin- ning at the hand and running up the arm towards the shoulder. The swelling of the glands was in many cases so great that the arm could not be bent on the breast. The pustules in three days became ulcers, which had quite the character of carbuncles, and were healed by digestive ointments ; if the other symptoms subsided the patient recovered in fourteen days from the outbreak of the disorder. It is remarkable that two of the students, in addition to the above-mentioned swellings and ulcers, had also pocks upon the arm which, in appearance and in their different phases, bore the most exact resemblance to the true cow-pox ; and it is still more remark- able that both these subjects had been affected with the small- pox in their youth, and had never been vaccinated. On the contrary, I and the others had been vaccinated. Dr. Bremer has closely observed and described these pustules daily on one of the eleven, and I also vaccinated a cow and a calf with the exudation from the horse’s heels, and in both these cases no pox appeared. Whether, then, this matter of “ grease ” is of the same nature as that described by Edward Jenner as protective of small-pox, I cannot decide, as no description of this material has yet reached me ; even in England I have asked for it in vain.’1 1 Hertwig. Verhandlung cl. iirztl. ges. d. Schweiz, 1830. 1 68 History of Animal Plagues. Vast swarms of a gnat ( Sitnulia Columbaschensis ) which is bred in the marshy regions of Servia, appeared in a large tract of Austria, Hungary, and Moravia overflowed by the river Marsch, and hundreds of horses, cows, and swine perished from their bites.1 The following curious circumstance was communicated to the Zoological Society of Paris by M. Baraquin, in 1867 : ‘In 1830 there was such an abundance of horses in the island of Marajo, belonging to the delta of the River Amazon, that a president of the province of Para made an agreement with a company to allow them to kill as many of these animals as they chose, for the sake of the skins, which fetched fifteen francs each, while the live horse did not cost more than six francs. The horses were slaughtered with such carelessness that the carcases, left unburied, gave rise to a dangerous infection, which could only be got rid of by setting fire to the whole island, which was thickly wooded. This measure caused the death of all the horses that still survived, and since that time it has been impossible to re-introduce the breed on the island, all the horses brought thither soon falling victims to a paralysis of the hind-legs. A.D. 1831. Epidemic influenza appeared in Europe. At Paris it was prevalent in May, and was named ‘ la grippe! A remarkable analogy was noticed between the * medical con- stitution ’ which existed for some months previously and the development of the disease. Scientific observers are generally of opinion that these catarrhal epidemies have nearly always followed cold moist seasons, and appear to be more immedi- ately induced by sudden atmospheric vicissitudes. The symptoms exhibited by people who were attacked closely resembled those observed about the same time in the equine species. In England, during the month of May, the weather was unusually variable, the barometer rising and falling suddenly, and the thermometer standing one day at 8o° (Fahr.), and another day at 320. The wind prevailed steadily from the north-east. In June, the thermometer ranged from 401 to 1 Kirby and Spence. Entomology, p. 82. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 169 8o°, generally varying between 750 and 6o° — an unusually high temperature ; with a south-west wind, and a singular humidity of the atmosphere.1 This was the month in which the influenza began. The symptoms in mankind commenced with coryza, attended by cough ; dyspnoea, with severe bronchial irritation supervened, when the paroxysm suddenly became greatly aggravated. One symptom was remarked as being general and prominent : a feeling of lassitude and fatigue of the limbs, with more or less great moral prostration. The disease was not very fatal, and generally lasted for eight or ten days.2 This disease prevailed very extensively among horses, but in a more serious form than in mankind. ‘ At the close of last summer, and at the commencement of the autumn (influenza in man having commenced in June), a disease of an epizootic character prevailed rather extensively in these parts ; and, as I have reason to believe, it extended elsewhere. I have never seen the disease described by any English authors.3 The virulence of the complaint differed very much in different subjects, and I will proceed to mention the symptoms attending the most virulent cases. Attention was invariably first called to the disease by the sudden and total loss of appetite. On examination, the mouth was found excessively hot, the bowels costive, and the feces cased in mucus ; urine scant and high-coloured, pulse from 70 to 90 an a minute, increasing in one or two cases to 120, and often intermittent. . . . The whole countenance was dull and heavy , and the lids, particularly of one eye, generally consider- ably swollen.’4 Mr. Percivall, writing in 1832, observes : ‘During the last month, March, and also — though to a less extent — during the present, an epidemic disorder has been flying about among thc horses in this neighbourhood (London), which though quite of a different nature from the one that has caused so much needless alarm and disturbance among the rational part 3 ^.0nd°n Medical Gazette, vol. viii. p. 587. 2 Bascome. Op. cit n 1 co os2~::r was evidentiy not — ^ * Spooner (Southampton). On the Influenza of Horses, p. 9. t Jo History of Animal Plagues. of the creation, has called for the vigilance and attention of the medical practitioner. ... It has proved a disorder readily recognizable, and one (judiciously treated) unattended with danger. To the eye of the experienced practitioner, the animal’s countenance at once betrays his malady. . . . The first intimation you have of the complaint is, that the animal is ‘off his feed that he either ate nothing, or but a little hay during the past night ; and that he has likewise refused his morning feed. You visit the animal, and find him dull and dispirited, his countenance betraying his malady ; the eye exhibiting either that peculiar gloomy dolorous aspect which a drooping lid and listless spirit give it, or else itself being affected with the disorder, when it is found nearly or quite closed, and overflowing with lachrymal secretion. The pulse rarely is so low as 50, and seldom mounts beyond 60. The coat — particularly on the parts left exposed — becomes pen-feathered, loosing its glossy sleekness ; the extremities become cold ; the mouth unusually warm and dry ; the urine sparing, and more or less difficulty in voiding it ; the dung contracted into small hard balls, and sparing in quantity. Such are the ordinary — the very ordinary symptoms. Now and then the disorder has been ushered in by a shivering fit, which I have known to last — off and on — for twenty-four hours. Some cases exhibit catarrhal symptoms along with the above ; a cough is a common concomitant ; a discharge from the nose more commonly supervenes ^upon the primary disorder than commences with it. The most common of the sequelce of the disorder is swelling in the legs — the hind always, sometimes the fore too. In too or three cases it has been ushered in by vertigo, to such a degree that the animal has with difficulty staggered a few paces from its stall into a box. ... I consider the said disease extraordinary , because it attacks many horses at the same season, without manifesting any results that lead me to pronounce it contagious .... it manifestly disorders the whole frame and constitution of the animal, without evincing any signs enabling us to detect its seat or source. In one case the eyes are most affected; in another, the legs ; in a third, the air-passages ; in a fourth, the Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 171 brain. In many, none of these local attacks have developed themselves. I consider it to be of a nature different from diseases in general, because it will not unfrequently make its appearance in an animal at the very time that he is under the influence of those agents which are found most effectual in its removal.’1 This influenza also affected the horses in Scotland, accord- ing to Professor Dick, of Edinburgh, who witnessed a similar malady affecting cattle.2 In the Compte Rendu of the Veterinary School at Lyons, for 1831, we find that the epizooty had extended to France. ‘ The variable tempera- tuie and frequent rains that occurred towards the close of the last year and the beginning of the present one, caused a gieat numbei of inflammations of the mucous membrane of the lespiratory passages both in the horse and dog. In the latter, the disease which attacks young animals consists of a simultaneous inflammation of the mucous membrane of the alimentary and pulmonary organs, particularly the last. It resisted all the ordinary means of treatment, and destroyed the greater part of those attacked. With the horses, in nearly fifty of those affected with this inflammation of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, the malady was not S,en0US ’ but Wngitis was frequently complicated with coryza, rhinitis, tracheitis, or bronchitis. In the latter form, an acci- dental symptom is frequently observable, namely, a very loud respiration— a sort of snoring, which becomes more intense when the patient is eating. In all the animals attacked by this disease, the throat was sore; a few had considerable tumefaction of this part, and some evinced much pain when the trachea was compressed ; all coughed more or less, while thcie was a slight mucous discharge from the nostrils. The mucous membrane of the stomach participated very little in this morbid affection, as evidenced by the unimpaired state of the appetite.’3 In the district of Hoxter, Prussian Westphalia, this diseases f 'ercivall. The Veterinarian, vol. v. p. 216. - Dick. The Veterinarian, vol. vi. p. 209. 3 Journal de Veter, de Lyon, 1832. 172 History of Animal Plagues. — which was there designated a ‘ nervous epizootic fever ’ — appeared, and was very fatal. In one establishment, for instance, seventeen out of twenty-one attacked died. Later in the year it became more general, and a very large propor- tion of those affected succumbed. At the same time what was called a ‘ nervous catarrhal fever,’ with more or less of bronchitis, seized cattle ; it was not severe, and but few died.1 As we shall see presently, the epizooty was generally pre- valent in Germany. An epizooty was reported by Burnes as affecting the horses of Runjeet Sing, at Puttee, in the Punjaub. ‘The horses of this stud were lately attacked by an epidemic disease, of which a Mahommedan, who resides in a neighbouring sanc- tuary, is believed to have cured them. Though a Mahomme- dan, the Sikhs have in gratitude repaired and beautified his temple, which is now a conspicuous white building, that glitters in the sun.’ 2 In Mandroros, Russia, a severe epidemy of gangrene of the spleen — almost identical in its pathological features with the splenic apoplexy of the lower animals — caused much moitality. An epidemy of ergotism was also reported as occurring in many northern countries, caused by the wheat, rye, and coin having become diseased. It lasted during this and the next year, and animals seem to have suffered. Wagner described it as it appeared in the marshy districts of Saxony, the circle of Schlieben, and on the banks of the Elster. ‘ A light frost destroyed the blossom on the vine and the rye in 1831. Each partially withered blossom of the rye crop, instead of a healthy seed, brought forth a spur of ergot about three-fourths of an inch long In some houses, where the disease raged most violently, grain was found consisting of two paits of diseased and one of bitter rye, vetch, and a variety of other seeds Pigs ate ergotized rye (mutter korn), and suffered from its effects. Dogs, however, instinctively avoided it ; but when compelled by hunger to eat it, they exhibited symptoms of madness (tollwuth). I believe that such food was partaken 1 Sanitatsbericht des Med. Colleg. zu Munster, 1831. 2 Burnes. Travels into Bokhara, vol. ii. p. 10. i73 Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. of here and there by dogs, and that it assisted in producing madness, as dogs and cats were so affected that no man ever remembers seeing so many mad as during the existence of the ergotism ( Kriebelkrankheit ) among the people.’1 This unhealthy grain may have had something to do with the sickness among the lower animals which prevailed at this time, and which was ascribed to the choleraic influence, though its share must have been small. In the district of Bray, Seine Inferieure, France, a typhoid contagious pneumonia (epizootic pleuro-pneumonia ?) was very destructive among cattle, and increased until 1 839.2 Small-pox in sheep was unusually prevalent in Bavaria.3 The Russian troops engaged in the conquest of Poland had carried with them into that unhappy country, in addition to the miseries of war and the cholera, the Cattle Plague, by means of the droves of cattle derived from the Steppe country. We shall see that it was introduced into Courland from the infected districts, and soon spread in that country, and from thence into the government of Bromberg, Prussia, where it raged in 1832.4 Cholera in mankind was still continuing its ravages. It followed the Russian army sent to subjugate Poland, and in Warsaw and many other places it was very destructive in April and May. In June it had reached Cracow and ex- tended to Galicia, Hungary, Smyrna, and Constantinople. It also appeared among the pilgrims at Mecca, and was very fatal. In August it broke out at Alexandria, and about the same time nearly all the towns in the Delta of the Nile suf- fered greatly. In Bagdad a fearful mortality raged among the people, caused partly by the overcrowding of the inhabi- tants, due to the surrounding country being inundated by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Cholera showed itself in Northumberland in October, and made its appearance in 1 Wagner. Journal de Hufeland, vols. lxxiii. Ixxiv. lxxv 2 Delafond. Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. xvii. p. 593. ■' Wurtemberg. Verordn. p. 151 ~ in dcra *»'-«■ 174 History of Animal Plagues. Scotland about Christmas, Edinburgh and Leith being severely visited in the following spring. Authors speak of fogs and stinking mists in various places before or during the prevalence of this pestilence,1 of modifications of the state of the atmosphere with respect to its electricity and other characteristics, as well as other phenomena, such as birds leaving their nests, etc. In Hesse and the neighbouring countries, universal astonishment was excited by the arrival of immense swarms of caterpillars of the Artica Caja , which covered the pastures and the cultivated ground.2 1 For instance, in England Dr. Neale remarks : ‘ Sunday, 8th of August, 1831, it was new moon at ten o clock in the evening ; light winds variable from the south-west to the west and north-west quarters; thermometer between 790 and 83° in the shade towards midday. On Monday (9th) and Tuesday (10th), I remarked (although the atmosphere Was dry and clear) a smell as if of burnt leaves , which has been observed at times to precede pestilence. On the Wednesday morning (the Iith), having been awakened by some noise as early as three o’clock in the morning, I arose half an hour afterwards, and on going to the window of my chamber (which fronts the east), I remarked, on drawing aside my window- blinds (the sash having been left open all night on account of the oppressive heat cf the weather), that the rain, which had been falling all night, was still descending very heavily (as in a more southern climate), but that there was at the same time a very thick mist , of a tawny-orange colour , and that the wind was then south-east. In about an hour the rain ceased, and the wind having shifted successively to west, and north-west, the mist disappeared, and was followed by a clear day of sunshine. That afternoon, very many people were attacked in the city of R. with severe cholera, attended with dreadful spasms; and on the following morning, Mr. E., a practitioner in S. (a small towm at a little distance, built on a marsh, near an estuary of the sea), was called up early to thirty persons all attacked suddenly with dysentery, attended with violent spasms. As to myself, after remaining at the open window for seven or eight minutes, observing this strange mist, I perceived a very strong and disagreeable bitterish taste in my mouth, which I could not get rid of until I had gargled several times with a mixture of chlorate of lime and water. A neighbour of mine, who had also been awakened by the noise, and had gone towards her window and looked out at the mist, was seized that afternoon with nausea and colicky pains and other gastric symptoms, and an eruption on the sacrum. . . . On the same day, this lady’s daughter, living in the adjacent town over which the mist had passed, was seized about three o’clock p.m. with a very alarming attack of cholera, attended with strong spasmodic symptoms. . . . Once before, I recollect to have witnessed a similar tawny-yellow mist , which occurred at Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain, in the morning of a dry day, during the month of August, 1812. The mist was followed by great sickness amongst the British troops from the yellow fever, which prevailed epidemically during the whole of that warm summer and autumn.’ — Op. cit. p. 234. It appears that the Arabs term the cholera Rili el Asfar, or ‘ Yellow-wind.’ — Burton. Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Mecca, vol. :. p. 367. ~ Heusinger. Op. cit. p. 368. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 175 The diseases of the lower animals were closely observed in many parts of the Continent, and especially with reference to their relation with the cholera in mankind. At St. Petersburg, leeches were observed to be curiously affected, according to Mayer, who says : ‘ Leeches, although fresh caught, bit (in the case of non-choleraic patients) unwillingly, and died in large numbers without having been used, and notwithstanding the utmost care having been taken for their preservation.’1 The Medical Society of Stettin, which undertook an investi- gation into the nature and causes of cholera in that town, makes the following observation with regard to epizootic diseases : ‘ Still we notice that the milzbrand (anthracoid) class of diseases was prevalent only in the year 1826; later they were only local until the year 1829, when they again became general, as well as the other enzootic diseases common to oxen such as the lung-disease, and the sheep- rot, which in time became more rare. One striking peculiarity in the animal world must be noticed here, and that is, that the year 1827, which was highly favourable to all kinds of insects, brought the locusts, which had not been seen in our province since 1754- In September, 1827, in the village of Leopolds- hagen, near Anclam, immediately after a heavy storm, three hundred and fifteen geese died within an hour, and without any appreciable cause. From June till August, 1828, along the whole course of the Oder and its estuaries, there was observed a phenomenon, which, so far as our researches extend, has never before been witnessed in this country, although a similar occurrence is not unfrequent on the coast of Italy and other places namely, a mortality among fish. First of all the sturgeon died, and, later, pike and eels; and in such a quantity that their bodies lay along the banks in thousands ; so that here and there police measures became necessary to guard against disease being generated from their decomposition. An examination of their bodies showed inflammation of the intestinal canal ; no satisfactory reason could be found for this disease. A similar mortality occurred among fish ol \Mayer. Erfahrungen und Bemerken iiber die Cholera-Epidemie, p. 79. 176 History of Animal Plagues. all descriptions, in 1830, in the so-called Upper Lake of Giiltzow.’1 In the Baltic, the fish were suffering from some strange disease. ‘ The newspapers, as well as the reports which, during my residence at St. Petersburg, arrived from Riga, allude to an enormous mortality among fish in the Baltic ; and it is known that the inhabitants of the peninsula of Hela, who are entirely supported by the fishery, were obliged to be furnished with the means of living from Dantzic, as, for the first time, their usual subsistence had failed them. Like occurrences were noticed in other places.’2 Tn Eastern Prussia, the finny tribes were in an unhealthy condition, and perished in large numbers in the lakes and ponds without any assign- able cause. ‘ In several lakes in various neighbourhoods in the district of Marienburg, the whole of the fish have nearly died. From the Zempelburg lake alone, the police have already buried forty tuns full. This occurrence is by no means uncommon, and has no necessary connection with the epidemy now raging. In the autumn the large stagnant waters often assume a green or even a reddish colour, and thereafter, and also perhaps in consequence thereof, the fish oftentimes die. This green and red, and occasionally blood-like, colouring of the water appears to the naked eye only a coloured slime ; under the microscope, however, it is discovered to be a vege- table production consisting of various plants. The botanical names of such as are known, whose appearance is leally accompanied by the death of the whole or a portion of the fish, are as follows : 1. Oscillatorici rubescens. The renowned botanist, Lecandolle, gave this name to a red, slimy, and filamentous substance which, in the year 1825, coloured the lake Murten, in Southern Switzerland, red, and in consequence of which large numbers of dead fishes appeared upon the surface. 2. Palmella ichthyoblable was a green substance, so named by Professor Kunze, of Leipsic, which covered a fish- pond near that place, the fish in which also died.’" 1 Die Epidemische Cholera in Stettin, p. 8. 2 Barcliewitz. Uber die Cholera, p. 16. 3 Ehrenberg. Bemerkungen fiber das absterben Cholera or herrschte. Berlin, 1S31. der thiere an orten wo die Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1S35. 177 It was likewise reported that at Landsberg, in Brandenburg, an immense quantity of fish died in May, 1832 ; so that many men had to be employed for a number of days in burying them. Their livers were found soft and discoloured.1 The general diseases affecting fish have often been alluded to in this history ; though beyond their occurrence, and the occasional reference to some probable or improbable cause, nothing has been satisfactorily ascertained of their nature or generating influences, notwithstanding that these may be as various as in the case of warm-blooded creatures. Even with the piscine tribes as with terrestrial animals, certain regions may be the unenviable haunts of subtle but powerful forces which generate destructive maladies among their finny shoals, and more or less affect the welfare of men or animals dependent upon them for sustenance. For instance, near the Frozen Sea, on the coasts of Siberia, great numbers of fish perish annually, and we cannot select any writer more worthy of credence for an account of this fact than Erman. Speaking of this part of the world, he says : ‘ The mouth of the Sosva, like those of the other Uralian streams which descend into the Obi, is of the greatest importance for the fishery ; for in December all the fish which ascend from the sea turn westwards towards the sources, and remain up these rivers until spring. With respect to all other portions, how- ever, of the Obi and its tributary waters, the Ostyak and Russian fishermen agree in.asserting that they lose their inhabi- tants, the fish in them dying about the beginning of January. The livers then die off, to use their expression, and living places are to be found only in the vicinity of the spring^. They talk of the ‘Samor’ or convulsions, and also of the ‘ blast or vapour, as of some peculiar deadly principle which comes upon the fish and destroys them, either when at liberty 01 when taken in the falls. They suppose that the water then acquires a quality poisonous to the fish, though to the eye and taste it has undergone no change, and produces no effect on the men who drink it. It may be reasonably conjectured, * Sanitatsbericht d. Provinz Brandenburg, 1832. -Erman. 1 ravels in Siberia, vol, ii. pp, 2, 59. 12 1 History of Animal Plagues. that the river-water under the ice gradually loses the air necessary for the support of life ; but some different explana- tion seems to be required for the suddenness of the effect, and also on account of the remark of the fishermen, that the Samor is more or less delayed and checked in its operation wherever springs enter the Obi, whereas it is particularly fatal in waters issuing from bogs and stagnant lakes. I had subsequently an opportunity of convincing myself of the existence of a similar mortality among the fish at the break- ing up of the ice in the rivers which enter the sea of Okhotsk.’ Speaking of the young fish descending the rivers to the Polar sea, between the months of January and June, he remarks: ‘ Of the parents of this brood, however, those alone which have ascended farthest, and have first deposited their spawn, can possibly return to the sea ; the rest, which reach in their descent only the middle portion of the river, end their lives by what appears to be a general malady ; but perhaps the true view t>f the matter is, that the sea is deserted annually, not by all the individuals of every kind of salmon, but only by those of an advanced age, a considerable [number of which are not merely impelled by instincts connected with the business of procreation, but also await their death (under any circumstances not far distant) in the calm waters.’ M. Guyon, in a paper read before the French Academy of Sciences, relates, that in 1831, when the cholera raged at Warsaw, an epizooty appeared among the horses of a cavalry regiment stationed there. Six of them died, and the most prominent symptom manifested during their illness was ‘ the sinking or retraction of the eyes within their orbits,’ and this characteristic was not absent from the facies of these animals after death ; it is, of course, a most notable symptom in cholera. In a village in the neighbourhood of Warsaw, twenty-seven cows died in the space of eight days, after having shown, as principal symptoms, intense thirst ; injected tearful eyes ; ears burning hot at their roots, but cold at their extremities ; black and hardened faeces ; borborygoms ; and coldness of the surface of the body. A young bull kept in a stable in Warsaw, not far from the Vistula, dropped dead when turned Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 179 out to graze. When the body was inspected, it was observed that the eyes were drawn deeply into the sockets ; the vessels of the conjunctive were gorged with black blood, giving the membrane a dark-blue tint ; the tongue and gums were cold and extremely livid ; and it was only necessary to prick the skin covering the muscles, or even to pass the fingers through the hairs on the muzzle, to provoke muscular contraction. In a village near Warsaw, a whole brood of chickens died, with the mother, in one day. Their bodies were maculated with black spots. During life they had passed nothing, either by the beak or anus ; the combs were black, and the crop swelled very much before death.1 Hildebrand, with great care, has collected from various souices, and chiefly from the reports of competent authorities who were eye-witnesses, a copious detail of the affections among the lower animals during the progress of the cholera i» the Austrian Empire. In continuation of last year’s reports, he mentions similar occurrences as taking place in Moravia and Silesia. Space, unfortunately, forbids my giving a list of the various places where particular phenomena were observed ; so suffice it to say, that during the cholera, or immediately preceding it, all kinds of birds left their nests and did not return until it had disappeared. Typhoid dysentery was prevalent among cattle in some places ; and goats, chamois, cats, pigs, and even frogs, died in unusual numbers. Thick, stinking clouds were observed here and there, and where they settled over the hop-gardens the Tops looked as if they had been eaten by insects. These were remarked to be very scarce. After a heavy thunderstorm in one district the malady slackened, and after another it altogether dis- appeared. Fish and lobsters appeared to suffer severely in Olmutz ; the former came to the surface of the water looked stupefied, and were easily caught. When examined, they had a glutinous slime over their bodies, and this, along with their scales, readily came off. When thrown back into the ponds they endeavoured to come again to the shore. Carp especially sickened in the fish-ponds, and died. They were noticed to 1 Recueil de Med. VetA, first series, vol. iii. p. 210. i So History of Animal Plagztes. lie with their backs above the surface of the water for four or five hours, and then, turning on their side, to die. When taken out of the ponds alive their eyes were said to be sunk in their heads, and towards their tails they appeared quite rigid. Circumscribed quiverings, in extent about the size of a shilling, were observed in various parts of their bodies, and when this occurred they were certain to die within an hour. Nothing particular was observed on examining them after death, except that their blood was darker than usual. The lobsters and crabs were remarked in open day to creep out of the water in large numbers, and seek the banks of the rivers. In one tract of country which was partially submerged they took refuge in the hedges, in which situations they were easily captured by bo}^ with baskets. Roes and hares suffered very much, and were often found dead. In the woods of Dobrauer alone, one hundred and sixty-five hares were picked up by the foresters ; many more must have been collected by other people, and a larger number never found at all. Their lungs and livers showed signs of disease. Leeches were also reported to have died in large numbers, and so severe was the mortality among them that in some places they all perished. Malignant lung-diseases were prevalent here and there, and rot among sheep was not unfrequent, even where no cholera was present. Milch cows gave less milk than usual. In Bohemia, like events attracted attention. Typhoid lung- disease was remarkably prevalent, and anthrax was common and very fatal among cattle, which were also attacked with dysentery. Those that did not manifest disease, yet looked dull, had less appetite than in ordinary times ; they shivered a good deal, and were alternately hot and cold. These symptoms declined as the cholera disappeared. Goats and dogs were attacked with choleraic symptoms. Several instances occurred where dogs perished in the houses in which the epidemic was present, and with symptoms almost identical to those exhibited by their owners who were affected. Although the weather was apparently favourable to animal life, yet even the untamed denizens of the woods and fields testified to the presence of some mysterious agency. Hares were also found Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. i8r dead in this country, and when inspected they were observed to be emaciated, their flesh was of a blueish-red colour, the intestines were inflamed, and the bodies rapidly passed into a state of putrefaction. So unhealthy did they look that people were afraid of eating them. The number of cats that perished was most striking. They were seized with dulness, loss of appetite, had great thirst, violent vomiting, and a slimy, watery diarrhoea ; they usually died in convulsions. A post- mortem examination showed the vessels of the brain full of blood, the mouth rigidly closed, and full of viscid saliva. The pleural membrane was nearly dry, with reddish spots ; the liver full of blood, and friable ; the gall-bladder large and distended with bile of a green colour ; the intestines inflamed, and their mucous membrane softened, their contents being a white slimy fluid. The bladder was contracted and empty, and the muscles of a dark red ; the rectum was, in nearly all cases, dilated, and observed to be covered with white slime. In Lower Austria there appeared also to reign an unusual condition of the animal world. House-flies had nearly all gone away, and entomologists asserted that they had never known butterflies and moths to be so scarce. In September, horses were frequently attacked with colic, and suffered very much. An ape which had been in confinement for more than two years, and during the whole of that time had always remained in good health, was attacked with a not very severe diarrhoea, which lasted for three weeks, when it recovered spontaneously, as the epidemic in mankind began to moderate. Cats died as numerously here as elsewhere, and from apparently the same disease. In the whole of the Austrian dominions, the mysterious way in which the feathered tribes perished caused a great sensation, especially among the breeders of poultry. At Pressburg, in Hungary, pigeons and sparrows were found dead during the cholera, and in many comitats an epizooty among hens and ducks reigned. In one preserve, belonging to Count Zichy, a hundred pheasants perished.1 At Grosmeseritsch, in Moravia and Silesia, it was remarked 1 CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xvii. p. 442, I S 2 History of Animal Plagues. that all the birds left the country during the cholera. In the spring of 1831, before the epidemy appeared, in many villages of Grading, the hens, ducks, and geese were seized with an unknown disease. They were suddenly attacked, withdrew themselves from the others, grew dull, did not eat, and the head drooped, became blue, and soon they died. At Klobank the epizooty was noticed in the months of February and March, among hens and pigeons, and more rarely in turkeys. ‘ The hens ate with avidity, but when attacked with the disease they went away, sought out hidden places, and in a quarter of an hour they were dead ; the pigeons descended from the roofs to feed on the ground, and fell dead beside their food. There was nothing found in their bodies, except a slight inflammation of the stomach and intestines.’ In other places the hens, guinea-fowl, and ducks died with vomiting, profuse diarrhoea, vertigo, and blueness of the crest. At Kremsir the pheasants and the partridges died in great numbers from cholera , and in the district of Znaym the epizooty was re- marked among ducks, geese, hens, turkeys, and pigeons, fully fifteen days before the arrival of the cholera. In the hens and turkeys the liver and gall-bladder were found greatly enlarged. At Knowitz, Teseram, Lodwitz, and Marschowitz the mortality among the hens and geese was noted some time before the arrival of the cholera in man ; the disease was so very acute, that death often took place in a few minutes. In Bohemia similar symptoms were observed among the geese, hens, and guinea-fowl. In Lower Austria like observations wei e made, and it was particularly observed that the sparrows, magpies, and jackdaws had left the country a few days before cholera appeared at Vienna. Dr. Schiffner saw many sparrows seized with convulsions, and fall dead among the trees.1 At Beilin and the surrounding districts, hens and pigeons frequently died suddenly. The air seemed very still and quiet, owing to the absence of the sparrows and song-birds. At Diesden hens and pigeons sought the corners of their pens, became heavy and dull, drooped their heads, purged masses of a green gelatinous nature, had convulsions of the extremities, 1 GEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xvii. Period from A.D. 1S30 to A.D. 1835. 183 became cold, and the crests were blue ; the greater part of their numbers died in twelve hours after being attacked.1 At Hamburg, Buchheister witnessed a great mortality among fowls four weeks before the arrival of the human plague. They refused food, had diarrhoea, and, convulsions setting in, they perished in twelve or twenty-four hours after showing the earliest symptoms. So deadly was the disease that many breeders of geese, in fifteen days, out of sixty of these birds, would only have four left.2 ‘ The disease (cholera) attacked dogs, cats, ducks, hens, and hares ; dead fishes also floated in great quantities to the shore. It was astonishing how rapidly putrefaction attacked anything made of flesh — or even flesh itself.3 An epizooty among fowls was also seen in the neighbourhood of Muret, Upper Garonne, France.4 In Saxony the diseases among animals, as described by Prinz, appear to have had some interesting features. £The prevailing condition among domestic animals, due to the morbid atmospheric influences, continued from the preceding till this year, and maintained itself in all its virulency until the month of August. It was described as of an inflammatory bilious character, and was general ; inas- much as it was manifest even in the simple irritative fevers accompanying wounds. This condition was most palpable in the diseases of horses : beginning with a tendency to biliousness, often merging into bilious diarrhoea, and increas- ing to inflammation of the liver, with bilious fever ; and, lastly, ending in remittent typhus fever, with great tendency to relapse. To this bilious constitution was often added inflammation of the throat, lungs, and intestines, and also, fiom external causes, violent hoof and joint inflammations. This character was noticeable in the diseases of the other domestic animals, though less violent and general. Among dogs here and there, there was malignant mouth disease, and in one case yellow fever. From the month of August the 1 Radius. Mittheilungen, vol. iv. p. 68. -buchheister. Erfahr. iiber p. Cholera in Hamburg, p. 9. 3 Radius. Op. cit. p. 22. 4 Journal de Med. Veter. Theor. et Pract. vol. vi. I 84 History of Animal Plagues. gastric symptoms in fevers gradually disappeared, and from October these were nearly all of a catarrhal and rheumatic type. It is true that very many horses in Dresden and its neighbourhood were treated for the above-mentioned bilious and inflammatory fevers, but nowhere in large stables ; and hence they never assumed the proportions of an epizooty. On the other hand, in the kingdom of Prussia, and in the Prussian dominions of Saxony, similar maladies were pre- valent in the cavalry stables, and were sometimes known as “horse-influenza,” at others as chest disease ( brust-seuche ). There was no general disease among cattle in Saxony, except in two instances, when lung disease broke out in two stables, but this was clearly attributable to local causes. In other neighbourhoods of Saxony than that of Dresden, foot-rot, unaccompanied by fever, appeared among sheep in the summer and autumn. In the neighbourhood of Leipsic, an erysipelatous eruption was noticeable on the skins of young sheep, but these diseases, in all probability, were due more to wet than to any other circumstance. Among dogs a rheumatic catarrhal fever was very rife, and kept pace with the influenza (of man). They were at the commencement very weary, and so weak that they could scarcely walk ; they had vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever. To these symptoms were added signs of pain ; they uttered doleful cries, and showed uneasiness with more or less lameness. The malady was nevertheless not dangerous, and only after the disappearance of the fever were the rheumatic symptoms obstinate.’ After stating that fowls and pigeons suffered from a malady similar to that already described, and that a like affection had been noticed among hares, he adds : ‘ A mortality among hares, like that reported from Bohemia, was wide-spread here in the months of October and November ; it appeared to be a general inflammation of the intestines. Only the young animals were affected, and the bad weather had, no doubt, much to do in inducing it. For the same reason, a remark- able mortality broke out among house-swallows.’1 1 Prinz. Krankheitsconstitution unter den hausthieren in Sachsen. Radius. Mittheilungen, vol. iv. p. 67. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835* T^5 The following statement, referring to this period and this kingdom, is also made with regard to Germany : ‘ From the month of March, and during the whole spiing and summer months of 1831, influenza among horses and dogs appeared, accompanied sometimes with gastric, sometimes with typhoid complications. A disease among fowls with symptoms of great swelling of the head, and vomiting of a greenish- white fluid, is here noticed. The crop being greatly distended with fluid, and seeing the inutility of other remedies, the author, with a bistoury, made an incision in the crop an inch in length, and evacuated the contents. Those fowls which were not yet too far gone, rallied and fully recovered within twenty- four hours after this treatment. In October, November, and December, 1831, and January and February, 1832, cholera raged among dogs, cats, and rabbits in various degrees of intensity. Violent bilious vomiting, and dysentery, also of a bilious character, were prevalent. Both these affections were accompanied by severe muscular contractions, and there was loss of sensation and animal heat ; and the creatures showed by their dull eyes and reeling gait great weakness. The hair was harsh and dry ; the urine was dark coloured and ropy ; from the nose flowed a purulent dis- charge ; the tongue was covered with foul mucus ; and the hairless parts of the body, as well as the mouth and gums, were of a striking yellowish hue. There was no fever present. In those cases where the disease was in a milder form, the animals remained more sensitive to external impressions, and a favourable result of the treatment was anticipated. But where the malady assumed a more serious character, the animal lost all sense and feeling, paid no attention to any- thing, and was even indifferent to surgical operations. The heart and pulse could then be scarcely perceived moving. If they survived twenty-four hours, and the warmth returned, they were generally saved, but the course of the affection was often so acute that they died within eight or twelve hours. More especially was this noticeable when — as in the case of old dogs, a post-mortem revealed chronic disease of the lungs or liver. Out of twenty-eight dogs attacked, twenty were History of Animal Plagues. 1 86 cured. (Cats were also affected ; out of eight, three only recovered.) My children had sixteen rabbits, of which ten died within two or three days. I could not notice in them the symptoms and course of the disease, as my children told me they were healthy and dead within two or three hours. In two days the brain and spinal marrow were much softened and almost fluid ; in the plexus of the brain there was extra- vasation of blood. The heart was flabby, and its muscular substance discoloured ; the ventricles were remarkably dilated, and the presence of a more lymph than blood-like substance indicated an obstruction to the circulation. A similar con- dition was noted in the portal system of vessels • the texture of the lungs was soft and pale in colour, and the bronchial tubes were filled with a sanguinolent mucus. The gall- bladdei was empty , the liver and spleen were gangrenous, and there were detached inflammatory patches in the small intestines. On examination of two cats and three rabbits, I found analogous symptoms ; fowls also showed the same appearances, with the exception of the intestinal inflamma- tions, which were absent. It was remarkable that all the dogs and cats I had to treat were house or pet animals. I had no cases among watch, butcher’s, or sporting dogs. I am inclined to think, from the disordered condition of the pul- monary and portal circulations, and the tendency to putridity of the animal juices, that the disease affecting these creatures must be similar to the anthrax class of maladies. I do not believe that this cholera of animals was infectious or con- tagious ; inasmuch as many of the dogs and cats brought to my place came in contact with my dog and cats, and yet these did not suffer.’1 For Courland, we find some very important facts recorded, having reference to the diseases in other countries, and also as informing us again of the appearance of the Cattle Plague beyond its native land. The remarks are to the following effect : ‘ Sporting friends of the writer notice that there was a smaller number of hares in the district than in the previous 1 Bohme. Beobacht. iiber die Cholera der thiere. Radius. Mittheilungen, vol. iv. p. 17. .8; Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. year ; but on the other hand, the partridges, which had some time before nearly all disappeared, were now far more plentiful. . . . The year 1831 was a highly favourable year for cattle, inasmuch as the entire loss in Courland did not exceed 567 head of horned stock — very different to 1829, when I5°4 horses, 5784 cattle, 11,337 sheep, 345 swine, and 150 goats died from the rinderpest, and from a putrid fever arising from insufficient and bad fodder. The usual maladies only in two places assumed an epizootic character in 1831. In seven dis- tricts there was no particular affection, and only in three districts was there anything of a real epizootic malady. In July, on a private estate, and during the preva- lence of the east wind, and a thick, yellowish, badly- smelling fog, there broke out an epizooty among the herds which were in the most excellent condition. The able Veterinarian Adolphi describes the disease as a very rapid inflammatory fever, with inflammation of the heart, which could only be overcome by very free blood-letting. Seventy were saved in this way, but the first twenty-four which were not so energetically treated were lost. On another estate in the same locality, and about the same time, appeared a typhoid lung disease among the cattle, attended with exuda- tions of lymph, and which was so destructive that eighty-two died. The cause of it most probably was due to the animals drinking from a pond which had not been cleansed for twenty years, and the water of which was like a solution of verdigris. In the third district, in the beginning of June a herd of one hundred cattle was attacked with splenic apoplexy, and in a week twenty-five had perished. The only cattle epizooty of any importance in this year was again the rinderpest ( Loserdiirre ), which broke out in these three districts. It was undoubtedly imported from the district of Dunaburg in the government of Witepsk, which is only separated by the river Duna from this neighbourhood, and where it raged with great violence. The scarcity of mad dogs was noticed in this year. ... A mad wolf caused great destruction in a village, in consequence of which four men and many domestic animals died of hydrophobia.’1 1 Bering. Hamburg. Magazin iur die Ausl. Literat. d. heilk. vol. xxvi. 1 88 History of Animal Plagues. In Westphalia, prolapsus of the uterus and vagina, and inflammation of the former were very frequent among milch cows, consequent, it was supposed, upon the use of innutritious fodder. The same occurrences were observed among goats, and abortions were unusually numerous ; in one instance, in a herd of two hundred, no fewer than thirty-one calved before theii time. In some places ‘ rot ’ was most destructive among sheep ; so that often there was not one left out of a flock. The ‘ trembling disease ’ was not unfrequent among the animals. Many horses died in consequence of bad forage. In one dis- trict, at the beginning of the year, there was a great mortality among young cattle, but without any well-defined disease being present , it was chiefly, if not altogether, due to the scarcity of herbage on the uplands, and the animals having to be fed in low marshy situations. Fowls suffered very much in the district of Hoxter, and Dr. Seiler imagined that the malady which carried off so many, bore a great resemblance to the cholera.1 An epizooty is again recorded as occurring among the wild animals in the island of Ceylon, previous to an outbreak of cholera. ‘ Spasmodic cholera is an epidemic that has at different periods made fearful havoc in the island.’ In 1832, it raged fearfully, and ‘ in the preceding year, a vast number of elephants and other wild animals had been carried off by an epidemic which did not affect people. The natives account for this by a belief that sickness among wild animals and cattle generally precedes, by a year, any pestilence amongst the population of the country.’2 ‘ In October, 1831, elephants, wild hogs, and deer died in great numbers in this forest (Nalandie), and the mortality extended to Minneria, and other parts of the adjacent district; but the inhabitants were not affected. There was neither scarcity of water nor any apparent cause for this plague amongst the wild animals, but it is remarkable that in the same month of the following year (1832), Trinkomalee was visited by that awful scourge, the spasmodic cholera.’3 1 Sanitatsbericht des Med. Colleg. zu Munster, 1831. 2 C. Pridham. Ceylon and its Dependencies, vol. ii. p. 693. 3 Forbes. Eleven Years in Ceylon, vol. i. p. 397, ii. p. 43. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 189 There was a great death among rooks in Ireland. The shores of Lough Neagh were afterwards covered with their skulls and bones. It is supposed that during a dense fog that lasted for some days and nights, multitudes of these birds perished in the waters of the lough and were afterwards washed ashore.1 A.D. 1832. Asiatic cholera raging in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and also in France, some parts of Germany, and Holland. The lower animals yet appear to have suffered from some mysterious influences in those places where this terrible epidemic was most fatal. At Paris, in a garden, twenty-five out of twenty-six rabbits died in the space of fifty hours.2 In the lakes and ponds of Marais and Marcoussis, at Baville, at Fontenay-les-Brie, in a great number of ponds and small streams in the valleys of Dourdan and Arpajon, from the end of 1831 to the beginning of April, 1S32, M. Clement Desormes observed a very fatal epizooty among the carp. Their spinal cord was found in a state of great congestion.3 At Breslau, M. Otto thought he had observed the infection of some animals with cholera from people who were ill of that disease. In one instance two pigs had eaten the evacuations of a cholera patient, and died with very similar symptoms ; they were attempted to be bled ; but this was impossible, as there was no blood in the vein. In another instance, a doer had lain in the bed of its master, who was ill from cholera, and had licked up the matter vomited by him. The second day after, it was seized with illness, had vomiting, diarrhoea and convulsions, and died. The autopsy revealed similar morbid changes to those observed in man.4 The feathered tribes were again affected with peculiar epizootic diseases, and died in large numbers. Carrere says : ‘ During the disastrous progress of cholera in Paris, the village of Choisi-le-Roi, while perfectly fiee from the epidemy, was the^scene of an epizootic 1 R. Patterson. Introduction to Zoology, p. 356. Thompson. Natural History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 320. 1 - Caffe. Journal Univ. et Hebdom., 1832. 3 Desormes. Gazette Med. de Paris, 1832. 4 Otto. Rust’s Magazin, vol. xxxvi. p. 298. 190 History of Animal Plagues. disease, of which domestic poultry were the only victims. In the history of many other epidemics we. find coincidences of this description of peculiar diseases affecting the lower animals, while pestilences were decimating mankind. Sometimes horned cattle, at other times horses, have been especially attacked ; but there have not been recorded more than two 01 thi ee examples of epizooties among birds. Chabcrt and Boronio, it is true, have described some diseases of birds, observed in France and Lombardy ; but the characters of the affections they describe are totally different from those observed at Choisi. ‘ The cholera had scarcely appeared at Paris when it was generally reported that a disease, accompanied with most de- structive mortality, was raging among the poultry throughout the commune. Here, as at Paris, the cry of “poisoning ” was loudly made; all persons who were persuaded that the food and drink of mankind were mixed with poison, found no difficulty in convincing themselves that similar villainy was practised in the poultry-yards. But the mortality soon reached such a pitch, that this idea was abandoned ; and then it was generally reported that the cholera was the cause of the epizooty. ‘ Wishing to arrive at the source of these rumours, I learned that since the 3rd of April a vast number of fowls had perished in several houses situated in different quarters of the hamlet. During the first days of the disease, the number of deaths had been very considerable, after which period the birds were killed by the owners on the occurrence of the first symptoms. In one fowl-yard, of eighty attacked, one or two alone recovered. Many remedies, amongst others, bleeding under the wings, had been in vain resorted to. A considerable quantity of the diseased fowl had been eaten by the inhabitants without any bad effect. ‘The causes of this maladyappear to me altogether unknown, and I saw no reason for supposing it to be contagious. Nevertheless, when a single death occurred in a fowl-yard, the mortality only ceased when it had no more victims to destroy. The most cleanly poultry-feeders suffered as severely as the Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 191 most filthy. The nature of their food had no influence on the disease. The fowls at large in the streets of Choisi were attacked with equal severity with those perpetually confined, or occupied in incubation. Rabbits, geese, and ducks, however, lived with impunity in the same yards where the hens were universally perishing, and three turkeys only were affected. ‘ The disease, generally speaking, commenced in the morn- ing. The hens were noticed to be dull and weak, their wings drooping, and their crops distended with undigested food. In a few cases the disease commenced during the day, and lasted four-and-twenty hours. The respiration was short and hurried, the motions of the heart accelerated, and diminished in force in proportion to their increase of velocity. In almost every instance there had been numerous whitish liquid dejections. The gullet was distended with thready mucus, which escaped from the beak. The combs were of a livid-red colour, and the tint deepened to a violet as death drew near. After the disease had lasted from two to five hours, con- vulsions usually finished the sufferings of the animal, and death was rapid in proportion to the quantity of the evacua- tions. In many cases I have learned that the coldness of the sick birds was very remarkable. A few recoveries were noticed towards the termination of the epizootic. So far as I can discover, about five hundred fowls died of the disease, or were killed in consequence of the development of its symptoms. After death the colour of the skin was the same as in fowls strangled without being bled. The bodies were warm for at least thiee hours, and the cadaveric rigidity was very remark- able. I have taken much pains in seeking for any pathological alterations which might explain the cause of the disease, but my researches were quite in vain. The brain was white,' and free from congestion. The heart was bloodless, and of its usual consistence. The aorta contained little fluid blood The lungs were rosy and crepitating. The mucous membrane of the oesophagus frequently showed little papilla. The crop always contained food ; the gizzard was strongly contracted • the intestine presented occasional patches of red, especially in the situations where little parcels of worms were found. The 192 History of Animal Plagues. liver was gorged with black and tarry blood ; the gall-bladder distended with thick green bile. This epizooty is quite different from the ‘maladic charbonneuse ’ of Chabert, and from that described by Boronio. Neither has it any analogy to the “ pip,” for the tongue was always in a natural state.’1 The accomplished veterinarian, Grognier, describes a similar disease among the poultry in the department of Ain, Lyons. ‘ The disease broke out at Monthuel, and after lasting about twenty days, with more or less gravity, it disappeared on my arrival ; at least, I could not discover any trace of it. From what I was able to gather in this time, it had destroyed from two hundred and fifty to three hundred fowls at Monthuel. I was informed that it was at Beligneux, a commune about two short leagues from this town, and I therefore went there the next day and saw the disease. These are its symptoms : the sick fowl lost its vivacity, and rocked itself ; it could easily be caught ; refused its food ; kept near the water-trough and drank much ; sought the sun’s rays for warmth, and only left them to seek for drink. If many were sick they all collected and huddled themselves into groups, the one fowl resting on the other ; they drooped their wings, and shook them in a convulsive manner. Sometimes they wheeled round, as if attacked by vertigo ; at last they remained unmovable, closed their eyes as if going to sleep, fell down and died. Towards their last moments their crests were wasted, assumed a violet tint interspersed with black stains, and became cold. Some fowls rejected by the beak and the anus a mucous matter of a yellowish- white colour. Fowls have been observed to die at two or three o’clock in the day, which, in the morning, had eaten, crowed, and laid eggs. When the sick birds lived beyond twenty-four hours, there were many chances in their favour as to recovery. A necropsy showed, in addition to the withered crest with its parti-coloured violet and black hue, blue or black patches on the skin. The mouth was filled with whitish mucosities, and sometimes at its posterior part showed traces of inflammation, or some white pimples about the size of a pin’s head, about there and on the mucous 1 Carrere. Journal Hebdomadaire. Lancet, July 7, 1S32. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1S35. 193 membrane of the oesophagus and the crop, which was very full. The mucous membrane of the intestines was thickened and slightly inflamed. The digestive canal, and particularly the two ciecums, contained a thick mucosity of a yellowish- white tinge, but without a bad odour. The gizzard was hard and of a gicenish-yellow colour. The mesentery and the omentum were injected, arborized, or streaked like marble, and had a yellow tint. The fat was always yellow, as in old owls. There was nothing particular to be noted in the oviducts. The liver was double its natural size, and black, as if half roasted. The gall-bladder was dilated, and contained ark-coloured bile. The whole of the blood was black, arterial as well as venous. The organs in the thorax were in a natural state, and there was no sign of putrefaction twenty-four hours after death. The disease had begun at Beligneux, a little before it was seen at Montheul.and it had extended about the same time ,n the neighbouring communes, such as Bressoles, Saint Chnstophe, and Dagneux. It was remarked that the best-mamtamed hen-houses were no more spared than the others, and those which drank out of pools or ponds suffered no more than they which had clear limpid water todrink. The qua ity of the aliment had not, apparently, any influence in producing ,t, and its cause remains a mystery. There is nothing to prove its contagious properties. ... I am inclined o consider as identical with the epizootics of Beligneux and the dlSict of^lf f 1 ,°bSerVed at St Ge°rges-le-Renein, r;:: exciting much uneasinps" ^ 1 the 10th of the current month (Tune P'l • ft- hnri by Dr. Volprd and Veterinary Surgeon Gav0t "wT noted the following symptoms: the walk unsteady2 litt'i° resistance shown when attempted to be caught ■ the ? pendant and shrivelled ; the eyes dull • the “ ’ branes white and dotted with "granulations ZTn T‘ distended, and fluctuating, so that it was easy to re X *’ ascites. The sick fowl walked slowly We have “mse which had been ill for three weeks "and , 1 • f , hens time either had not laid any eggs or h J that y 01 had produced them 13 194 History of Animal Plagues. without shells. Diarrhoea was persistent, and the dejections had the appearance of lime-water. The post-mortem appear- ances were the fellowing : the skin was white and the muscles wasted ; the mucous membrane of the mouth and the oesophagus covered with miliary granulations ; the crop was nearly always empty ; the abdominal muscles and the peritoneum were livid or violet-coloured. When the abdomen was opened, there escaped a large quantity of thick viscid fluid of a yellowish hue. In one fowl at least a pint was calculated to have been present in the abdomen. The intestines were full of a greyish or black foetid mucus, but there were no traces of inflammation, nothing save some miliary granula- tions ; the gizzard presented no particular alterations, and the liver was normal. The poultry-yards were in general damp and badly kept. . . . M. Robert, physician at Marseilles, has written to Dr. Gaultier of Lyons, under date of the 12th of April, informing him that there was an epizooty among fowls on the borders of the Mediterranean, which was characterized by diarrhoea, and the vomiting of glairy matter, accompanied by cramps and soon terminating in death. . . . The political journals have lately told us, that, in some villages in the neighbourhood of Burgos in Spain, there reigned a mortality among poultry, and that in order to preserve the healthy from this contagion, they have found no better means than to kill all the diseased or suspected.’1 In many places in Lower Brittany nearly the whole of the poultry died.2 Mayer witnessed a disease at St. Petersburg similar to that seen among the fowls at Choisy, while at the same time sporadic cases of cholera were appearing in mankind ; and in the province of Mantua, according to Dr. Bignani, an extraordinary quantity of young poultry, died. After death the liver was found acutely inflamed, and to this was attributed the symptoms observed during life ; young ducks perished in great numbers.’3 In April, 1832, M. Guyon observed a great mortality 1 Grognier. Recueil de Med. Veter, prat. vol. ix. p. 246. 2 Maout. Experiences sur le Miasme du Cholera, p. 17. * CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xi. p. 20. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 195 amongst poultry at No. 264, Rue Saint Jacques, Paris. They died from a disease which, according to his description of the symptoms and lesions, is designated as the cholera of fowls1 — a malady particularly well-known to French veterinary surgeons. In France, an anthrax fever {fiivre charbonneuse) caused much havoc among the cattle in the department of Tarn.2 Nothing very worthy of note was recorded for Central Europe. In Posen the crops, especially the early seeds, were a month behind their time. In May and June the weather was very unfavourable to vegetation, though it greatly injured the vermin inimical to agriculture. In June the crops looked so bad that great apprehensions were entertained for the harvest, and the cold and rains of July and August much retarded the growth of the hay and rye. The field and garden fruits were not damaged by the weather, but appeared to be rather benefited by it, as the trees were long and full in bloom, and bore much fruit. The vines did not blossom before the end of June, although their usual time to do so is in the beginning of that month, and all flowers were a month later than in ordinary seasons. Game was plentiful, and domestic fowls were thriving. The may-bug appeared in immense numbers in May, and in Hesse, invasions of caterpillars were frequent, while the ‘ Bombyx processionea ’ covered the pine forests. The Cattle Plague was raging. Madness was rather common among dogs, and hydrophobia in mankind. Seventeen persons died from this disease in the one province, and the same malady was extremely rife among cattle. Sheep-pox could not be got rid of in the province, so long as the yearly inocu- lation of the lambs with cultivated lymph was neglected. The disease occurred at all times and in all districts, and caused very great damage among the flocks. In the second quarter of the year rot, complicated with dropsy, was prevalent a!mong cattle and sheep; their lungs and livers were found to be diseased, and contained cysts with numerous hydatids in them. This disease was in some localities supposed to be 1 Recueil de Med. Vdter. fifth series, vol. iii. p. 210. 1 Fractal. Observations sur la Maladie regnante des Bestiaux. Castres, 1832. 13—2 196 History of Animal Plagues. caused by the bad forage, and damp and rainy weather ; but other localities the flocks best attended to perished; so at Jt appeared as if some miasma was diffused in the atmosphere. The devastation was enormous, whole flocks being swept away. In some instances neither dropsy nor hydatids were present ; but a peculiar friability of the paren- chyma of the internal organs, especially of the liver and heart and ulcers in the intestines, were frequently noticed. The animals which showed an inclination to eat until shortly before death, consumed the black earth.* In Pomerania a similar atmospheric constitution was observed, and caterpillars did great damage. Cholera was present in mankind. Catarrh and rheumatism, glanders and mange, were diseases more than ordinarily noticed among horses. Among sheep, foot disease, small-pox, and dysentery were prevalent, but typhoid lung affections were most destructive. Veterinary Surgeon Teg ge reported the breaking out of influenza among horses. The symptoms were : refusal of food ; great thirst ; dulness and fever ; pulse quick, but small ; heart-beats very perceptible the respiration quickened ; an oppressive cough ; in some cases colicky pains ; diarrhoea and borborygmi. Where this was not present the faeces were in small round pellets and covered with mucus. Not unfrequently the lungs were impli- cated, and then the animals did not lie down, but stood away from the manger with drooping heads and widely separated fore-legs. They coughed or groaned on the slightest move- ment, and more especially when they tried to drink. Their walk was languid and tottering. In the majority of those affected the functions of the liver were deranged ; the tongue was covered with a dirty yellow mucus ; the mouth contained much ropy saliva, and its lining membrane was pale; the temperature of the body was increased, and the breath foul- smelling. All these symptoms indicated an affection of the liver ; a fact which was substantiated on a post-mortem examination, when that organ was found considerably en- larged and friable. It was named a ‘typhoid lung-and-liver inflammation/ or influenza. The causes were surmised to be 1 Sanitatsbericht die Trovinz Tosen, 1832. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 197 bad hay, and the wet and cold weather of the summer and autumn. Raphania in pigs was witnessed by Dr. Helm : * T- welve pigs of various ages were fed with rye which con- tained much ergot. A few hours afterwards convulsions set in, with foaming at the mouth ; the animals grunted and groaned most piteously ; became paralyzed in the hinder extremities, and expressed their agony in the strangest con- tortions. At first I presumed the disease arose from the bite of a mad dog, but on opening the first animal that died I dis- covered the nature of the malady, by finding in the stomach much ergoted rye. The jaws were so tightly closed, that with great difficulty a purge of white hellebore was introduced, and this was followed by a dose of vinegar and buttermilk, and lcpeated douches of very cold water. By these means seven of the animals weie saved. The other five died in the course ol a few days. 1 In Westphalia contagious and eruptive diseases were frequent among dogs. In several horses in one locality diabetes followed the giving them musty hay and oats. Glanders was prevalent among horses, as well as typhus or ncivous fever; pneumonia, and gastric fever were epizootic. Small-pox ( blattern ) showed itself among pigs. Rot among sheep caused much loss.2 In the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine, the early and warm spring caused the horses to shed their coats prematurely, and cold setting in, they suffered much from the changeable weather which followed. Aboition and retention of the placenta were remarkably common among cattle, and puerperal fever was not infre- quent The weather was bad for forage, and horses, besides catarrhal and rheumatic affections, had diabetes and derange- ments of the digestive organs. Hmmaturia was enzootic among those cattle which were pastured in the woods and swamps in the month of June. The ‘milzbrand’ was also rather prevalent.3 In Saxony, rabies was unusually common among dogs, and 1 Provinzial-Sanitatsbericht von Pommern, 1S32. - Samtatsbericht des Med. Colleg. zu Munster, 1832. Ceneralbericht des Rheinischen Med. Colleg., 1S32. History of Animal Plagues. many cattle and men were bitten, but there were no deaths among them. Geese were seized with a deadly disease, sup- posed to be caused by flies getting into their ears. These insects were swarming about for several days, just as they are in foreign countries before or at the outbreak of cholera- Horses in one district had inflammation of the liver, with secondary inflammation of the brain. In Lombaidy, pneumonia, glossanthrax, and inflammatory fever or anthrax were epizootic among cattle. In Mantua, in the month of August, many hens and ducks died from an acute inflammation of the liver. In the spring of 1832 there were various rumours of a strange epizooty having shown itself among the domestic animals in Britain, but especially in Scotland, where the cholera was very severe in the human species. It appears to have differed in its symptoms and in its more rapidly fatal terminations, from the ‘ influenza ’ so-called, and even the un- learned could distinguish this peculiarity. ‘ In the thriving village of Denny (Stirling) a disease has made its appearance among the hoises, which has already proved distressingly fatal. The first case occurred on Monday, and before evening several valuable animals had become affected. We have not heard exactly how the malady operates ; but after severe suffei ing, the poor horses generally die in about five hours. The fairieis say that the cause of death is violent inflamma- tion of the bowels ; while the less learned declare it to be horse cholera. In all, there have been seven cases and five deaths. 1 Professor Dick, of Edinburgh, has described some extremely interesting cases of a class which, he informs us, was numerous. In alluding to the symptoms of cholera in man, he says: ‘Now I have stated that herbivorous animals are sometimes cut off in a similar manner. It is no unusual thing for a horse to be brought to a veterinary surgeon in the most intense agony. He has, perhaps, been seized within half an hour or an hour ; he can scarcely be kept upon his legs a moment ; he tosses himself down wherever he is for a few seconds allowed to stand ; knocks his head against the 1 Caledonian Mercury. Veterinarian, vol. v. p. 21S, 1S32. Period from A.D. 1830 to A. IX 1835. 199 wall or whatever comes in his way, as if, from the intensity of the agony under which he then suffers, he cared not for any other injury; a cold sweat runs from every pore ; his eye is fixed, sunk, and glassy ; his limbs are convulsed ; he sobs, or rather snorts ; and a few more convulsive spasms terminate his existence. In others the progress is not so rapid ; perhaps the disease, instead of lasting only two or three hours, may, although rarely, continue during as many days. . . . On examining a severe case of this kind, it is found that the pulse is perhaps raised to 80, 90, or above 100 ; it is small and thready, and scarcely to be distinguished in the arteries* while at the heart it may sometimes be distinctly felt. The mouth is generally colder than natural — either dry, with white, furred tongue, or filled with a frothy mucus. But there is little time to spare in examination : the animal throws himself to the ground, and continues to toss about, or frequently rising and lying down again, until relieved in some way or another. If the extremities are felt, they are cold to the touch, and the tips of the ears are not less so ; but the ex- tremities are not only cold, but they have become remarkably fine or shrunk. Convulsive spasms soon take place, and he dies. On examination after death, we find there is a great determination of blood to the deeper-seated parts ; they are highly inflamed, and the vessels injected with blood. These symptoms and appearances vary, however, according to the rapidity of the disease. The epizootic which at present rages has a somewhat curious character. It has been much less destructive than is generally the case with diseases of the bowels, while, at the same time, it presents various modifica- tions. The most conspicuous, and that to which I would more especially direct attention, is diarrhoea, which is now very prevalent. This is the more remarkable, because that complaint in horses is extremely rare.’ The post-mortem appearances of an animal that had been opened immediately after death were as follows : ‘ The abdo- minal viscera presented little appearance of disease ; the stomach was about two-thirds filled with food, but offered no particular morbid appearance ; the mesenteric veins were History Of Animal Plagues. '-‘“W Dlooa- The brain was not examined.' Cows were also vpru cnKio^ 4 _ r a ready offered, as indicating a long continuance of a peculiar atmospherical influence, we consider the general state of the weather and atmosphere for these two seasons past, the extra- ordinary brilliancy and frequency of the aurora borealis, and also the following facts : that during the prevalence of the c lsease of the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs in the horse it was observed by Mr. Stevenson, of Redside, near Noith Berwick, whose horses were almost all affected, that (as he states in a letter to me, dated 6th May, 1831) “it was a curious fact, that before the thunder upon Tuesday the black mare’s and brown horse’s (two which died) pulses rose above 100, but after the storm their pulses again fell as low as 70; all the lest of their pulses (the horses which were unwell) were affected in the same manner.” ... I may also add that some time prior to the commencement of the disease at Mussel- burgh the sea had for several days been observed to be highly phosphorescent, or “ on fire,” as the natives of the place emphatically expressed it ; all of which seemed to prove a peculiar state of the atmosphere.’ 1 In the public papers the following strange paragraph was ciiculated : Disease amongst Race-hovses. — For some time past a disease of an inflammatory, and apparently also of a contagious nature, has shown itself amongst all descriptions of horses. The training stables of Mr. Scott, at Malton, York- 1 W. Dick. The Veterinarian, vol. vi. p. 207. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 201 shire, have been particularly unfortunate. Beaufort, a St. Leger horse, belonging to the Hon. E. Petre, died about a week ago. George Walker, Esq., whose horses are trained by Scott, has lost three. Mr. Bower has also lost a colt, by Figaro, out of Chancellor’s dam ; the value of these five horses cannot be estimated at less than ^4000. Mr. Walker has also lost seven valuable cart-horses by this strange disorder. In all the fatal cases death has ensued within forty-eight hours ; and on opening the bodies a quantity of water has been found about the heart. If the complaint should reach Newmarket, the mischief will probably be very extensive, as there are now five or six hundred horses in training there, besides brood mares, yearlings, foals, etc.’ To this the editor of the ‘ Veterinarian ’ adds : ‘ There has been for some months past an unusual mortality among horses, in almost every part of the kingdom, although we cannot say that many cases bearing any resemblance to these have fallen under our notice. The epidemics which occasionally prevail, so different in different years and different localities, form a very impor- tant and utterly neglected subject of inquiry. . . . Affections of the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal have lately been almost unprecedentedly frequent and fatal among dogs ; and there has been a peculiarity in the character and copious- ness of the bloody discharge, and rapid prostration of strength, and speedy death, to which our experience supplies us with no parallel. 1 That cattle were not exempt from a like morbid influence the following communication from Mr. Mayer, of Ncwcastle-under- Lyne, will testify : ‘During the months of August, September, and October last year, the English cholcia prevailed amongst human beings, as an epidemic, to a greater extent, and with a greater fatality, than ever was known ; at the same time horses and cattle, and particularly the latter, were attacked with bowel affections, to a degree I had never before witnessed; so that I consider (so far as atmospheric influence goes) we have been rather severely scourged with cholera ; but Heaven forbid that the whole island should be visited with the Asiatic cholera, with all the 1 The Veterinarian, vol. v. p. 222. 202 History of Animal Plagues. malig„ant features that have hitherto marked its progress. ic 11st extreme cases which were brought under my notice occurred at a lay in Cheshire, where ten or twelve head of ca tie had a ready died, and three or four others were con- sidered hopeless. There were several other slighter cases, in which the animals recovered when a proper treatment was adopted, and the diseased cattle were separated from the ealthy ones The disease was ushered in by a dull anxious appearance, and the eyelids and dewlaps were of a ye ow tinge ; in dairy cows there was a total suspension of the secretion of milk ; a slight muco-purulent discharge from the nostrils was observed ; the appetite was indifferent, bowels costive, the dung of a dark colour, having portions of blood diffused through it; but the urine was not much affected. The pulse, for the first twenty-four or forty hours, when the disease came on more gradually, was not much affected ; but afterwards it became frequent, small, and hard, beating at the rate of 70 or 80 pulsations per minute. In extreme cases, the febrile action set in from the first, accompanied with violent diarrhoea and tenesmus; the faecal discharge being intolerably offensive, and consisting of a thin, watery, dirty, gieen-coloured fluid, full of shreds of coagulable lymph and blood, with, comparatively speaking, no portion of faeces along with it. The extremities were alternately hot and cold , the suiface of the nose sometimes dry, at others having a dew upon it; occasionally during the cold fit the eyes would become sunk in their orbits, the features collapsed, the nose, innei parts of the lips, and tongue, of a deadly pallidness, which would be followed up by reaction, and a consequent hot fit again. The bowels were affected, in some of the extieme cases with colicky pains ; and in every case there was obstinate constipation and obstruction in the second and third stomachs. If relief was not afforded, the disease ter- minated fatally on the third or fourth day. The causes appeared to be great atmospheric changes, accompanied with much moisture operating upon a frame already predisposed by living on bad fodder. The morbid appearances which presented themselves after death were violent inflammation 203 Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. of the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels, paiti- cularly that portion lining the colon and rectum ; piesenting, in some cases, quite a dark-crimson hue. The second and third stomachs, particularly the manyplus, were quite blocked up with vegetable matter, consolidated and hardened to such a degree as to require the force of a hatchet to cut it in two , in fact, it was as dry and hard as if baked in an oven. The gall-bladder was completely gorged with bile.’1 2 Glanders was epizootic amongst horses in Holland." An epizooty among cats at Aleppo. The Rev. Vere Monro, during his residence in that city in 1833, when describing a large establishment founded there for the reception of these creatures, remarks : ‘ They had amounted to five hundred, but the plague in the previous year had reduced their number to two hundred.’3 A.D. 1833. Epidemic influenza was again prevalent in Europe, having travelled from east to west. ‘ The disease was ushered into London during the prevalence of a bleak wind and a cold vernal atmosphere succeeding to a long, warm, moist winter. Storms of hail, snow, sleet, thunder, and rain, from dark fragments of clouds, were alternated only by currents of gelid air and harsh squalls from the north and north-east. Under these coarse rude flaws of heaven, the pulmonary organs, so susceptible of atmospheric changes, were excited and parched or moistened and depressed, and the whole surface of the skin must have suffered universally in its functions.’4 In London, and while the human species was suffering from influenza, horses were affected with the same disease. For a short time those kept in the low districts suffered most, whilst those in the upper and north-west divisions escaped. A few weeks afterwards there was not a stable in Marylebone in which the malady did not appear, and Westminster was exempt from disease. With regard to Marylebone, Mr. Youatt observes : ‘ I have known it to be 1 7'. Mayer. The Veterinarian, vol. v. p. 185. 2 Kir c finer. Magazin fur Thierheilkunde, 1865. Veith. Handbuch der Veter- inarkunde. 3 A Summer Ramble in Syria. London, 1835, vol. ii. p. 235. 4 London Medical Gazette, vol. xii. 204 History of Animal Plagues. traordfnary caSe‘ a' fiftl"01 t T!0"5 SqUare‘ In 0ne cx' died while th ’ ' ' palt of the ,10rses in certain mews recollect that WaS 7 VCStige °f disease elsewhere. I :7°7tour brcks’ -»**** catarrh i a , f yard wcre attacked by epidemic cata A, wh,le there was not a sick horse on the other sSl accountable T “? , eXCeptions ™ altogether un-' , -countable. The stables and the stable management have d iZ™ L7*ffired int° in the ^-edTdteaX namely, that the probability of the disease seemed to be in a Two or T TP "Umber °f hones inhabitin» ^ liable esc’aoc n ! 7 P 111 a comparat‘vely close stable would stahles' t ? distributed through ten or fifteen little t Mes, not one would be affected ; but in a stable containing ventilale/Tlr 3 th°U§h proportionally larger and more vent dated, the disease would assuredly appear ; and, if it does , . 'J the argest stables, almost every horse will be affected The attacks of this malady appear to have been remarkably sudden. Mr. Wilkinson had thirty-six cases in one day, and another practitioner had nearly twice that numbei in twenty-four hours. The epizooty appears to have been also very common throughout England. From Rochdale, for instance, Mr. dayes writes: ‘From October, 1832, to March, 1833, there have been numerous cases in this district of catarrhal fever joined with inflammation of the lungs, liver, trachea, larynx,' and pharynx, and the mucous lining membrane of the bowels ; frequently with all the symptoms of malignant catarrh, and even these in an aggravated form. In some cases there was excessive diarrhoea: the fasces were black, liquid, mucous, and loody, exceedingly foetid, and accompanied by such extreme debility that the animal could not move without falling; there was quick pulse, injected nose, mouth and gums as red and dry as possible, and resembling a piece of lean raw beef. In some there was extensive anasarca ; in others, phlegmonous 1 The Veterinarian, 1833, p. 117. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 2°5 tumours in different parts of the body ; in others, again, there were spasmodic jerkings, and lameness in the legs, shoulders, and hips. On the fourth day they generally began to bleed at the nose, a very dark-coloured thin blood, which continued for four or five days, or until the bowels became set; in. some, for about the first two days, the bowels were constipated ; the pellets of dung came enveloped in a thin tissue of the mucous lining of the bowels : this also came in great quantities, whether the faeces were hard or pultaceous. There was total loss of appetite for five or six days ; the temperature of the extremi- ties was irregular, sometimes hot and sometimes cold, and the others warm, and next day it would be just the contrary. . . . Out of one hundred and twenty-six extreme cases, I have only lost four. ... I attribute the prevalence of this disease to an almost stagnant state of the atmosphere, together with what little winds we have had being almost exclusively from the east, or north-east, of a most foggy, cold, damp kind, and for which these seasons have been so remark- able. . . . Such, indeed, has been the prevalency and de- structiveness of the complaint in this district, that very few establishments have been able to continue their works, and this without regard to close, small, large, crowded, ventilated or unventilated stables or situations; but perhaps the low damp stables, near large waters, felt it most. It has been the same in the country as in the towns, pervading the whole country round for many miles, and in a very aggravated form such as I have seldom met with ; and also affecting cows— chiefly those that gave milk — in a similar manner >l At the Veterinary School near Paris, horses recovering from various maladies were suddenly affected with anorexia0 the head heavy and hot, the conjunctiva; red and tearful dry cough and great debility. Many horses previously in good tea th became affected when brought into the neighbourhood of he sick. In the course of the months of May and June ast, the time when the disease called grippe appeared in the human species over the whole of France, a large portion of horses convalescent from internal diseases or suffering I lie \ eterinarian, 18331 P* 192. 206 History of Animal Plagues . from surgical complaints in the College Hospital, have been attacked with a malady which had the greatest analogy to th & grippe. The loss of appetite, the heaviness and heat of the head, the prostration, the general debility, the heat and dryness of the mouth, the redness of the conjunctival and pituitary membranes, announce the commencement of the disease ; at a later period, in addition to these primary symptoms, some of which are persistent and become aggravated, are evinced difficulty in deglutition ; an abundant and viscous salivation ; a cough unfrequent and dry at first, but afterwards becoming soft and constant, with discharge from the nostrils. In very many cases, it is observed that the great portion of the small quantity of hay, barley or water given them, and which they attempt to swallow, is returned by the nostrils. The slightest compression of the larynx produced the greatest pain, and caused a fit of coughing of more or less long duration, and which appeared to be most harassing to the animal. The pulse, nearly always normal with some so affected, quick with the majority, was never strong, and in those which suffered from the disease in the most intense form it was full and hurried. The sick animals did not lie down, but standing seemed to be a most uneasy position for them, as every instant they kept resting and moving their limbs alternately. This malady, which affected nine horses at one time, was continued and did not last beyond from eight to twelve days. Its termination has always been a fortunate one. The causes of this attack are unknown to us ; some lame horses, but otherwise in good health, have been seized with it all at once when put beside horses which were affected ; nevertheless, nothing authorizes us in supposing that it bears a contagious character.’1 In Britain the epizootic diseases of the past three years are thus noticed : ‘ For these three years past the influence of the atmosphere, under the various changes it has exhibited, has been peculiarly marked in its effects upon the bodies of animals, especially in the northern metropolis, and surround- 1 Compte Rendu de l’Ecole Veter. d’Alfort. Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. x. p. 520. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 207 ing country. First, in producing the fatal and destructive bronchitis which so generally prevailed ; next, in derange- ment of the bowels analogous to cholera ; and lastly, in three other forms of disease : First, sore throat, terminating in strangles, in which the disease appeared in varied forms, the abscesses being found in all parts of the body, and in some proving fatal by the tumours interfering with the functions of organs essential to life (the lungs and abdominal viscera) ; and in others proving fatal by the abscesses bursting into the chest or abdomen, and setting up a destructive irritation. Secondly : Erythematous disease, in which sudden eruptions have taken place generally over the whole body, attended with low febrile action, weakness, and slight soreness of the throat, but otherwise with little disturbance of the respiratory organs ; slight derangement of the abdominal viscera, but no apparent derangement of the sensorium : the eruptions on the skin, in some cases, disappearing as suddenly as they came, but generally returning a few times before they entirely left the animal ; in other cases, proceeding at once to a slight effusion fiom the suiface of the tumours, followed by a desquamation of hair, and then going quite off ; while in others a permanent alteration of the skin has been followed by a deposit of a small quantity of calcareous-like matter in it, forming little tumours. The animal during the disease showed considerable weakness, attended with loss of flesh and condition ; being unable to stand free blood-letting, and, from the absence of the bufify coat on the blood in the early stage of the disease apparently not requiring it Thirdly, the frequent occurrence of tetanus.’1 In Courland no diseases of an epizootic character appeared among cattle. The milzbrand broke out on two estates, but it was so quickly stamped out that only thirty-four horses, six sheep, and two cows became victims.” In Pomerania catarrh was very prevalent among horses, and often lapsed into disease of the lungs ; so general and so virulent did it become that it was thought to be infectious. Angina and glanders were also 1 The Veterinarian, vol. vi. p. 484. 2 Possart. Die Russischen Ostseeprovinzen, vol. i. p. 201. 208 History of Animal Plagues. unusually rife. Mange raged in several districts, and at the same time itch affected the people in these places. Haematuria and typhoid lung disease, as well as the ‘ foot-and-mouth * complaint, occurred among cattle. Abortions were very common, and were supposed to be occasioned by bad forage. Sheep-pox raged in some districts.1 In Brandenburg the prevailing diseases were of a nervous character. Milzbrand was rather deadly among horses and cattle. In one instance it was thought to be due to the over- flowing of the Oder, which, on the disappearance of the waters, left a large quantity of putrefying vegetable matter and slime- covered herbage on which the animals had to feed, as well as foul water for them to drink : these causes were all intensified by the great heat of the summer and autumn. In many neighbourhoods— especially the low-lying ones— contagious pleuro-pneumonia prevailed during the winter months of 1833. Variola ovina reigned in seven districts all the year through. Rabies was very frequent among dogs, but no cause could be assigned for its appearance. Aphthous foot disease was present among cattle, and so wide-spread and virulent was it at Frankfort that the police regulations had to be enforced, but without avail, as it raged over the whole country, and but few herds escaped. It began in July and ended in November, travelling from east to west. If it attacked one animal it soon spread over the whole herd, and calves were usually seized with it on the third or fourth day after birth. Occasionally it was observed that, in two localities of a precisely identical cha- racter, one would be attacked and anothei not that where favoured herds were strictly secluded they often escaped, while the neglected ones suffered severely, and sometimes the oppo- site result took place. The causes were supposed to be long- continued heat and drought, succeeded by a sudden change to cold rainy weather, whereby the pastures were always w ct , but more stress was laid on some peculiar and indescribable condition of ’the atmosphere, for animals kept in stables and not exposed to the cold and wet had the disease as gencialh and severely among them as those always exposed. Earlici, 1 Sanitatsbericht des Med. Collcg. von Pommern, 1S33. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 209 and still more virulent than among cattle, raged the foot-and- mouth disease among swine ; so that in those places where the cattle became affected, it was believed that the infection had been introduced by swine driven from other localities among them, though this is not very probable. Pigs suffered from anthrax. Haematuria was very fatal among cattle, death taking place on the second or third day. On examination the kidneys were found inflamed, and their external surface black ; the stomach and intestines were also inflamed ; the muscles were of a blueish colour, the peripheral bloodvessels full of blood, but the large vessels and the heart empty. The blood itself was thin and of a bad colour. The disease was due apparently to low, damp meadows, for when the surviving cattle were removed to high-lying pastures the malady disappeared.1 Prom Dalmatia it is reported that as the influenza appeared in mankind of a rheumatic and catarrhal character, so it also seemed to extend among animals as an epizooty of a febrile and catarrhal nature, with a tendency to affections of the tongue, the throat, and the joints.2 In Galicia it is noted that of all the epizooties among the domestic animals, the rinderpest was the most wide-spread and destructive. For the number attacked in two hundred and thirty-six places in several districts amounted to ten thousand five hundred and sixty-four, of which six thousand nine hundred and sixty died, and three thousand six hundred and four recovered. Besides this plague, in eighty-eight places contagious dysentery, the foot-and-mouth disease, milzbrand, and variola ovina, as well as scab, prevailed.3 In Bohemia, where epidemic influenza appeared in March, milzbrand showed itself among cattle in October and Novem- ber. A contagious disease broke out among swine and poultry, and hares were found dead in the fields.* In Upper Austria, in the last half of the year, typhoid lung disease was common among cattle, and ‘ foot-and-mouth disease ’ amon? Sanitatsbericht der Provinz Brandenburg', 1833. H eber. (Esterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xxi. p. 20. 4 Ibid. p. 368. 14 210 History of Animal Plagues. cattle and swine. Anthrax was epizootic, and rabies was un- usually common. Two horses had to be destroyed for glanders.1 In Styria, during the summer, haematuria and foot-and-mouth disease appeared among cattle.2 In the Tyrol, epizootic lung, bilious, joint, and softening of the bone diseases were prevalent among cattle. In Roveredo, contagious pleuro-pneumonia, and in Trient, the milzbrand appeared among cattle.3 In the Voralberg and in the Canton of St. Gallen, in Switzerland, the aphthongular, or ‘ foot-and- mouth disease,’ affected cattle and swine in the month of November, and in this month it also broke out in the Grand Duchy of Baden, and in the Cantons of Zurich, Schafifhuse, and Bale.4 This disease appears to have reigned, in a general manner, from the frontiers of Poland even to Belgium.5 In Saxony, where epidemic influenza affected the human species in April, the veterinary professor, Prinz, gives the following account of the medical constitution of that king- dom, and of this disease : ‘ The prevalent diseases among the domestic animals corresponded to the temperature and weather in this neighbourhood, and were of a catarrhal and rheumatic nature. Yet in many months among certain classes of animals — as dogs, cats, and horses, they were also of a nervous type, marked by tendency to paralysis and convulsions. Of pestilential diseases among animals, there is only one that really deserves mention as occurring among cattle and swine, and being due to contagion or the pre- sence of miasma ; for the two following diseases receive the common denomination of plague because they hap- pened to have spread in one or more herds, though they were ordinary well-known maladies: I. Anaemia, or rot in sheep ( hydropische cachexie ), combined with the generation of worms in the liver and bronchial tubes, appeared in many of the low damp sheep-walks of Saxony, and reigned during the winter. It was caused by the past wet year, and prevailed among the flocks which, since 1828, had suffered from foot- 1 Weber. CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xxi. p. 1 93- * ^id. f>. 510, J Ibid. p. 359. •* Archiv. Schweizerthierarzte, vol. vii. 5 fCorber. Ilandbuch der Seuchen der Hausthiere, p. 195. % 2 1 [ Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. rot. 2. Catarrhal fever of sheep broke out in the high-lying lands in July and August, and chiefly among the lambs after shearing, and the two-year-old animals, if they were exposed to cold weather or to heavy showers. 3. The foot-and-mouth disease among cattle and swine. The first trace of this affection appeared in the month of July, on the south- eastern border of Saxony, towards Bohemia, partly in the district of Seblitz and Zinnwelde, and in stables on both sides of the border. Later, it advanced in various directions. . . . . At first it broke out only in separate and widely separated districts, and in these only in scattered stables. Still latei, in September and October, this disease extended ovei most of the districts of Saxony, and over many other countries in Germany. The course of the malady from its outbreak plainly showed that it was contagious, as it could be readily followed. In the month of June several large fairs weie held in Bohemia, and to these large numbers of Hun- garian and Podolian pigs were brought. These the smaller dealers bought and took into the provinces, and into Saxony, to be sold to individuals for fattening purposes. These animals brought the disease, for they were the first to suffer from it. The traders, also, in several places were found selling lame pigs. ‘ :t. is not. t0 be thought that the pigs were suffering from the disease in their native country, or acquired it there ; far more likely is it that they received it during their transport, and probably towards the end of their journey. This is further confirmed by the fact, that pigs coming from unin- fected districts to the markets took the disease in the stalls in which they were placed after being sold, and infected other swine as well as cattle. That this malady is really infectious . s bcen proved not only by exact observations of this kind in cattle and swine, but also by many experiments, and the latter even show that it may be transmitted to other kinds of animals ; for two asses which were brought into a cowshed in which the greater number of the animals were suffering horn this disease, were shortly after attacked with a vesicula^ eruption on the lips and in the mouth. The natural infection 14 — 2 212 History of Animal Plagues. was generally produced by fodder which had been soiled by the sick creatures, the mutual smelling and licking of each other, 01 b^ tainted litter, and roadways which healthy beasts passed over after the unhealthy. Hence the corresponding local outbreaks on the mouth or feet, which mostly manifested themselves in about three days. On the other hand, during the later course of the pestilence, the presence of this infection was not so palpable, for in many instances it attacked all the cattle in a stable or neighbourhood all at once, thus constitut- ing itself a veritable epizooty. As in the commencement the disease could not fairly be ascribed to the foreign animals, but only began in them because they were exposed to atmospheri- cal influences during their journey, the question therefore arises as to what were these injurious influences at work in the production of the malady. Upon this point, however, it can only be lemarked that the state of the weather was just the same in the course of this year as in the previous year in which the foot-and-mouth disease occurred — namely, there followed the excessive heat of May, June, and July, heavy storms of rain, and then continuous rainy weather.’1 The influenza, typhoid, or bilious fever of horses, as it was then named, was observed at Schaffhausen (Switzerland) and at Baden in a very severe form. The symptoms did not differ in any marked feature from those already enumerated.2 Ammon describes the same disease as it appeared in 1832, in East Prussia, among the horses of the Russian and Polish army corps on the frontier of that country. Funke says this malady also appeared in 1832 and 1833 in many places in Saxony.3 Herr Willand, veterinary surgeon at Worrstadt, in the pro- vince of Hesse, makes us acquainted with a very curious epizooty, or rather enzooty, which (already briefly referred to in the last century), gradually increasing in severity and extent in that province, at last assumed so serious a character as to attract the attention of the Government. It consisted in a fragility of the bones in cattle, similar to what takes place 1 Prinz. Clams lend Radius. Beitrttge, vol. i. p. 136 2 Die Thierarzt. Schaffhausen, 1834. 3 Wirth. Op. cit. p. 157. Period from A.D. 1S30 to A.D. 1835. 213 in very old age, accompanied by marked symptoms of disease and suffering. This gentleman writes : ‘ So many instances of the prevalence of this disease among cattle having prevailed through the whole province of Hesse, I was commissioned by Government to travel through the Cantons of Allzei, YVorr- stadt, Wollestein, and Oppenheim, in order to observe the symptoms of the malady and the methods of cure employed. I found, in the course of my journey, eighty-two patients suffering from brittleness of the bones, and of these fifty-six were destroyed. According to my promise to those by whom I was employed, I shall describe the disease which prevailed in these cantons in 1833, and previously in the year 1830, and shall add to this description my opinion as to the prevention and cure of it. ‘ Fragilitas ossium in cattle is a lingering disease, originating from some altered state of the circulating fluid. It has some similarity to the effects of old age, and may be known by the gradual wasting away of the frame and the weakening and brittleness of the bones, which latter at length, and without any external mechanical force or cause, are suddenly snapped asunder by the mere weight of the body. Early in the month of May, 1830, when this disease prevailed at Dexheim, I had many opportunities of observing it. In the commencement of the complaint I always found that the animal was lame of one foot — and by this I was frequently deceived, for I attri- buted this lameness to some external or mechanical cause ; but it always increased, and gradually established itself in all four feet, and the animal could then scarcely stand. In general, I found the beast in very good condition, although there was always a slight degree of fever perceptible. She also continued to give her milk as well as ever, and was generally the best milker in the lot. But these deceitful ap- pearances soon vanish ; the animal wastes gradually away, shivers ; its teeth chatter ; its gait is weak and tottering ; its eyes are dull and watery ; the mucous membranes of the mouth are foul and pale ; she lies down, and is unable to rise again ; cough comes on ; she yields little or no milk ; her food is not properly digested ; she has violent diarrhoea ; and 2 14 History of Animal Plagues. 3.t length she dies, with or without some of her bones having snapped asunder. ‘ I never saw any oxen attacked by this disease. It always appealed in cows, and in the best of them ; and either in those that were pregnant, or that had calved three or four weeks previously. It was quite evident that every little noui ishment which the mother had yet the power of acquiring was appropriated by the young animal in iitero; for I not in- frequently found the new-born creature perfect and healthy, while the parent was weak and wasted. * On post-mortem examination of animals which had died of this disease, I found that the fat had nearly or quite vanished from the cellular tissue ; the flesh was flabby ; the bones brittle, easily broken, and covered with reddish-blue spots ; the inner side of the ribs very porous, and dark-red ; the marrow thin and fluid-like, and of a dirty reddish-yellow colour ; the substance of the spinal cord and the brain very soft, and of a greyish colour ; in the ventricles of the brain, and between it and the dura mater, was a quantity of fluid ; and in many animals there was a great deal of fluid in the chest and abdomen, especially in the latter ; in short, I found all the appearances which in general accompany a disturbed state of the animal fluids. ‘ Many writers assert that this disease is produced by sour fermentations, and food which generates an acid, as potatoes, turnips, clover, etc., and mouldy or unclean fodder, and also by sour pasture and many kinds of grasses ; but they who assert this should recollect that this disease has been prevalent on the Alps for nearly fifteen years, where no kind of grass grows, and impure mouldy fodder, which might generate acid fermentations, is scarcely ever given. They should also recol- lect that this disease has appeared in the cow-house in which many cattle were kept, all of whom had the same food, and to whom the same attention was paid. A very few suffered from the malady, and all the rest escaped. Lastly, they should recollect that this disease is equally prevalent through the whole province of Hesse, and showed itself in everyplace that I visited with but little difference, whether the animal was Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 215 well or ill fed, well attended to or neglected. From this wc are led to believe that some internal cause exists — somewhat that favours the formation of an acid in the intestinal canal ; for we know that in rumination the digestive organs are the predominating ones, while, on the contrary, the sensitive organs have little influence, and therefore diseases of the digestive organs are of the most frequent occurrence. To this may be added the different kinds of fodder, which are often prejudicial, both as to quantity and quality — especially when the season is bad and the different crops fail, and recourse is obliged to be had to some substitute. Another cause is the bad construction and total neglect of the cow-houses, and the absence of pure air in them ; and lastly, the absurd dislike which most owners of cattle have to allowing them to drink any cold water. All these things tend more or less to favour the production of this disease, although they cannot be posi- tively said to be the absolute causes of it. I am convinced that the foundation of the malady is laid by the giving of impure or mouldy food, or any kind of food which has a ten- dency to generate fermentation ; and the foundation being laid, the disease very soon appears. * How is this disease to be cured ? First, and most im- portant of all, are preventive measures, since it is far easier to prevent a disease than to cure it after it once has appeared.’ Various remedies were tried ; ‘ but although by these means I succeeded in curing several cows belonging to Herr Dahlen, of Dexheim, which were attacked by this disease in the early part of 1830, it returned again in the same year ; and, in spite of all our efforts, they died with the symptoms before men- tioned, and also very great swelling of the udder. I can assure you that in the province of Hesse the greater part of the cows are afflicted with this brittleness of the bones ; but the farmers say as little as possible about it, because they would not have the reputation of possessing diseased cattle.’1 As a strange coincidence, we have a disease of the bones of an entirely opposite character — ramollissement , or softening occurring as an epizooty at Antwerp, in Belgium. It was 1 IVilland : Magazin fur die Gesammte Thierhielkunde, 1832. - 16 History of Animal Plagues. until then unknown to the veterinary surgeons, and appears to be quite as remarkable as the epizooty in Hesse, to which it bears several very striking points of resemblance. ‘ About the month of May, 1833, a very remarkable disease, and one which, I believe, has nothing analogous to it among those de- scribed in veterinary medicine, manifested itself among a large number of beasts belonging to the free and constrained colonies of Merxplas and Ryckworsel, and, beyond these, to farmers in their environs. It seems to have broken out all at once in a great number of cows, and occasioned great dis- order and alarm in the cow-houses of the constrained colony, and showed itself some time after in the free one. . . . The abundant salivation is regarded by the cow-keepers as the first and principal premonitory sign. Besides this, the coat becomes rough and “ staring the animal exhibits a very marked stiff- ness of the extremities, moves them with difficulty, and can scarcely walk. A great tension of the muscles of the neck, and of those along the dorsal and lumbar spines, is observed, and this makes the cow lower her head with slowness and evident pain, as well as causing her to manifest extreme rigidity in retrogression. All these symptoms become aug- mented in intensity, with the exception of the salivation ; the animal lies down on her hind-quarters, but rests the anterior portion of the body on her knees — maintaining for a long time this position, and if not aided when endeavouring to get up, falls down again. Painful swellings take place on all the extremities ; especially have these been remarked on the articulations, such as the hocks, the hip-joints, the elbow, the fetlock, and the coronary joints ; they have also been noticed about the buttocks, the haunches, the middle of the ribs, and other places. In some cases, however, they will be found on only one limb, which becomes swollen, and the cow limps on it. There is general emaciation, and gradual loss of strength. The animal keeps a recumbent posture, and does not seek to get up ; the engorged parts are hot, become more and more swollen, until oftentimes they assume a monstrous size ; the economy becomes considerably debilitated ; the altered bones which serve as a basis for the soft, contractile textures become Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 217 fractured, and then the member hangs and dangles about. The movements that the animal makes show that it is suffering most fearful pain ; these contortions make it look disfigured. At last the fractured bone sometimes protrudes through the skin — an event I have often had occasion to observe on many animals. Although the cow is found in this afflicted condi- tion, yet it eats, drinks, and performs its principal functions ; and, if we except the commotions it makes, it appears little disturbed. ‘The autopsy reveals: In the abdomen all the digestive viscera are in their normal state and exhibit nothing parti- cular, with the exception of the mucous membrane of the fourth stomach ( 'caillette ), which has a slight reddish-blue tint ; the genital and urinary organs do not offer any appreciable lesion. In opening the thorax, I did not find any disorder ; the lungs were collapsed and shrunken, etc. The vessels of the cavity of the cranium were injected, and the membranes enveloping the brain were in their natural state. On cutting into the bony enlargements, traces of inflammation were dis- covered in all the textures in the vicinity of the fractured bones ; they exhaled a gangrenous odour, and showed infiltra- tions of a yellow colour, toning down to a livid black. In the middle of these engorgements were found fragments of necrosed bone of various sizes. The muscles were without consistence, and in their interstices there existed yellowish concretions. The bones that were fractured, but not yet de- tached, were soft, and their extremities tumefied ; these also exhaled a foetid odour ; the medullary substance was very fluid , the periosteum and the medullary membrane were engorged and thickened ; the vessels of these tissues con- tained black blood, resembling in their colour those of the neighbouring cellular tissue. At the centre of the articular cartilages, red or reddish-tinted patches were observed, and the synovial vessels appeared to be more engorged than in their natural state. ‘ The causes of the disease. These cows, nearly all of which were in calf, were fat enough, and nourished as in other stables. In examining with the greatest care the dry food 2lS History of Animal Plagues. they had to eat, as also the meadows, in search of poisonous plants, I could discover no cause capable of exciting this malady. The water they had to drink has been analyzed by a distinguished chemist, but it has afforded no trace of any injurious ingredient, and there has only been observed a deficiency of earthy salts. The cow-sheds were airy enough, and grooming with the hand had not been neglected. The animals were led to the meadows after the disease had made some progress in the stables, and then they were only taken there to favour the action of the muscles and remove the stiffness from the limbs. I am of opinion that the great dryness of the season, and the scarcity, even the total failure, of green food which is so necessary to animals during the summer, constitutes the veritable cause which has predis- posed these animals to this attack of disease, but the exciting cause of which is altogether unknown to me.’1 As in last year, some cases bearing a resemblance to cholera in man were observed among the lower animals. Mr. Youatt reports one of these as occurring in a zebra: ‘August 23, 1833. I was in the Zoological Gardens, and had been sitting for a considerable time over the paddock of the female zebra ; she was walking about as usual, with nothing about her to indicate disease. I was told afterwards that she had not eaten her food that afternoon ; but this occasionally happened. One of the keepers passing about seven o’clock thought that she heaved more than usual, and, as he watched her, she purged a thin yellowish fluid. He immediately started off for my house. . . . The purging continued — it was of a thin whey-like consistence, somewhat tinged with yellow. She was uneasy — occasionally pawing, striking at the belly, looking round at the flanks, stretching out every limb, as if cramped or in pain, grinding the teeth, lying down and getting up immediately, the flanks heaving laboriously ; the mouth and muzzle were cold, the limbs intensely so ; the pulse not to be felt at the jaw, and no at the side; prostra- tion of strength rapidly came on, and before he (the assistant) left her she began to stagger as she walked. Mr. Chapman JDe l’Osteite Aigrie Epizootique. Receuil de Med. Veter, vol. xiii. p. 337- Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 219 attempted to bleed her, but before half-a-pint of blood was withdrawn she fell. When she rose he tried again to get more blood, but she almost immediately fell again, and he gave it up. He represented the blood as trickling down the neck like so much treacle. I saw the blood on the following morning, and it did not give any indication of inflammation. . . . The purging continued, but the pain gradually abated ; the prostration of strength, however, rapidly increased ; about ten o’clock she began to be afraid to move, for she fell almost as soon as she stirred a limb. She, however, soon got up again ; but before eleven she was unable to accomplish this ; soon after that she ceased to make the attempt — she lay quiet, unconscious, and died without a struggle before twelve. She was not ill five hours. ... The stench, when she was first opened, was of a peculiarly oppressive character, and exceeded anything I had ever experienced. I do not recollect any foetor that approached to it. . . . When the contents of the abdomen were first exposed in situ , there was scarcely any difference in their appearance from that which might have been expected, considering that the animal had been dead nearly three days, except that there was a somewhat unusual pallid, blueish lividness. There were, here and there, spots, patches of a darker hue, but they did not wear the character of inflammation. The whole of the intestinal canal was evidently filled by some fluid, with an inconsiderable pro- portion of flatus. The intestines were then opened. The smaller ones were filled by a whey-coloured fluid, with a tinge of yellow, and of a most offensive smell. They also, and the jejunum particularly, contained at least a hundred worms, of the tcies species, but smaller than those usually found in the horse, and with some points of difference from them. There was not the slightest inflammation of any portion of the small intestines. A little quantity of half-masticated hay swam in the fluid. The larger intestines were filled with a fluid of a somewhat browner colour, and more offensive. A greater quantity of food was swimming in it. The inferior portion of the colon exhibited a few dark dull patches, but Dtherwise was more than usually free from infection. At the 2 20 History of Animal Plagues. commencement of the colon, and about the caput coli, there were externally more decisive marks of inflammation, but it was not examined internally. To all external appearance, the caecum was devoid of inflammation. The liver was of a livid blue colour, very friable, and the duct filled, not turgid, with bile. The spleen appeared to be enlarged, and was friable. The lungs were in the highest state of congestion, and the right side of the heart dilated with black blood. ‘ May it not be said that the symptoms during life, and the appearances after death, indicated a disease analogous to cholera in the human being ? She had been placed in a low and damp situation in the garden, and where, and where alone in the whole garden, disease, both thoracic and abdominal, had prevailed during the preceding five or six weeks.’1 In the next year (1834), Mr. Bull of Huntingdon communicates a case which the editor of the ‘Veterinarian’ has named cholera, from the similarity of many of its symptoms with that malady. The subject was a mare which Mr. B. was called to attend at five p.m. on the 1 5th of September. ‘ She was perfectly well in the morning, but I found her at the time stated very much tucked up, voiding copious watery stools, of a foetid smell and dark colour ; the pulse at the submaxillary artery quick and very feeble ; extremities very cold, the nose and ears particularly so ; the eyes very dull ; the breathing much oppressed ; and there seemed to be suppression of urine. I bled her, and obtained with difficulty three quarts of dark treacley blood. . . . On the morning of the 16th she was much worse. Eleven o’clock a.m. purging stopped ; pulse not to be felt ; breathing very difficult ; tongue blue, cold, clammy ; the lips also very blue. One o’clock p.m. she fell down as if cramped ; voided more faeces, of a much lighter colour, frothy, and with a putrid smell ; and there was much twitching of the legs. This gradually subsided, and about three o’clock she died very calm. ‘ Post-mortem Examuiation. — Bowels much distended with flatus, and congested in several places ; as also was the bladder, and especially the lungs, which were gorged with 1 Youatt. Th e. Veterinarian, vol. vii. p. 427. Period fro7ii A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 221 blood ; but there was nothing- like inflammation of them, or solidification, or effusion.’1 Mr. Lardner, M.R.C.S., states, that in the harbour of Oporto a racoon was removed in a perfectly healthy state from a ship in which there was no disease, into another alongside in which the cholera was raging, and the hold of which was very foul. In a few hours after, this animal was seized with vomiting and cramps, and died.’2 An Indian newspaper3 contains the following : Ghazeepore . August 27//;, 1833. — On the evening of the 26th of August two distinct shocks of an earthquake were sensibly felt here ; the first at eleven o’clock, the second at half-past eleven. The thermometer had risen a good deal through the day, which was closer and more sultry than usual. The natives say there has been nothing of the kind since 1820. It is worth remarking that in that year an epidemic raged among the stud horses, and carried off a great many. This year (June, 1833) the dreadful disease again broke out among them, and carried off about fifty noble steeds. The obituary also for Europeans fills a much larger space than usual, particularly as regards the children ; and of cholera cases not a few.’ In another paragraph is the following extract : ‘ A letter from Monghyr reports that on the 26th ult. a smart shock of an earthquake was felt a little before nine o’clock ; and that in the night of the following day a large flight of locusts passed over the station : the direction whence they came is not mentioned. We understand that a flight of locusts was seen at Jubalpore about a fortnight before.’ Mi. Bennett4 describes a series of heavy losses sustained in many sheep-farms 1 v Australia by the sheep devouring their lambs. This morbi d appetite of the breeding ewes was more particularly manifested about the Murrumbidgee country New South Wales. ‘On account of the morbid appetite existing in the sheep, their natural innocent dispositions are 1 G. C.Bull. The Veterinarian, vol. vii. p. 54S. •‘Bengal Hurkaru, November 6, 1833. 4 Bennett. Wanderings in New South Wales, vol. ii. p. 343. 2 The Lancet, 1833, p. 301. London, 1S34, vol. i. p. 220, 2 2 2 History of Animal Plagues. changed ; they become carnivorous and savage ; and it is difficult to drive them away from the pits in which earth impregnated with alkaline salts may be situated ; although when taken to a fresh run , they proceed feeding as usual, until this salt earth is again discovered, when they become addicted to the unnatural custom of devouring their lambs. On discovering one of the pits, they rush to it with the activity of deer, licking and gnawing the earth with avidity. Among breeding-ewes, eating the earth was followed by their devouring the progeny of other ewes, when brought forth ; and, on the shepherds endeavouring to save the lambs just born from their voracity, they would rush upon them, biting their trousers, and making strenuous efforts to seize the lambs in the arms of the men. The different places about the Murrumbidgee country, where this took place, were shown me during my visit to that part of the colony. One place was a black bog earth, on which marks of the tongues of the animals, at those places where they had been licking, could be distinctly seen ; the second place was similar to the first, and two others consisted of a reddish clay. The situations were about limestone ranges ; and it has been remarked that the water holes, as they are termed (which, when dry, are the places frequented by the sheep for the purpose of licking and gnawing the earth), after standing for three or four days, acquire a peculiar sickly, sweetish taste : and it is in these pools, after the evaporation of the water, that the earth is situated, so eagerly devoured by breeding-ewes. When driven away, they are seen licking their mouths, as if enjoying the delicious treat of which they had just partaken, making every endeavour to return ; and men were required to be kept constantly on the watch, to prevent them ; but with every exertion it was almost impossible to keep them off, for one flock advanced as another was driven away, and the people are soon tired out. (It is said, if sheep have not bitten herbs in their pasturage, they will not thrive.) After eating the earth, they do not feed on the herbage in any regular manner ; they are restless, picking a bit of grass here and there, according to the statement of the shepherds, until, on Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 223 the approach of evening, they feed in a more regular manner. Sometimes six or eight ewes may be seen running to a particular spot on the pasturage, about the roots of clumps of grass, and sometimes those of fallen trees, licking and gnawing about the spot, as if it had a similar earth to that found in the water-holes. They will burrow underneath the bank to get the saline earth, at those places where it may be most moist. The quality of the ground is supposed by the shepherds to be more prevalent about limestone ranges than any other geological formation ; but I cannot consider this as satisfactorily proved. Although it has prevailed, for the most part, in places at which the limestone has formed the principal geological character, yet there are other parts of the country where sheep have manifested a similar morbid appetite, when no limestone has existed. A ewe being missing about some limestone ranges, was seen coming out of a small cavern, in which she seemed to have found some of the saline earth, as she had a quantity of earth about the mouth ; and the place was afterwards much frequented by other ewes, until they were removed from the spot. The sufferers in the loss of lambs and ewes from this morbid appetite of the latter, are principally Messrs. Dutton, O’Brien, Warby, Hurrje, Manton, etc., all having sheep-runs about the Murrumbidgee country. Mr. Dutton addressed a letter to the Government on the subject, with the intention of getting his grant of land, if possible, changed to some other part of the country. The following is an extract from his letter, which clearly points out the destructive effects produced among the flocks, the most valuable stock of the settler in this colony, and on which his prosperity greatly depends. “The disadvantages which I have thus to detail to you, arise from the novel disease with which the sheep are affected. It appeared after the first lambing, and within four months from the time of my occupation of the land in question. Its unaccountable and destructive nature renders my selection utterly useless. The nature of the disease, as far as I have yet remarked, is as follows: The sheep, in the first place, devour this earth ravenously, the pasture being at the same time luxuriant, principally 224 History of Animal Plagues. rib-grass, and other succulent herbs ; they become speedily emaciated from this unnatural diet, more particularly as the lambing season advances, and when lambing commences : the other ewes surround the one lambing, and devour the young as they emerge from the mother. The lambs saved through the care of the shepherds become poverty-stricken, from the low condition of the mothers, and generally die before they become a month old. Thus, instead of having twelve hundred lambs this season, as my regular increase, I do not count four hundred ; besides a very great decrease from mortality in the maiden sheep, originally purchased at high prices. The number of shepherds required being at the same time thrice beyond the proportion usual in the colony.” ‘ The result was, that as the regulations of the Government could not permit the grant to be changed, Mr. D. was obliged to sell it as a cattle-station, and purchase land in a more favourable part of the colony for his flocks. In December he removed them, as a temporary measure, to \ as Plains , some of the ewes lambed after they had been removed, but the morbid appetite had ceased with the exciting cause, and the lambs were not attacked by the other ewes. < At the Murrumbidgee country I saw one of the little lambs which had just been saved from the ravenous ewes, and had its tail bitten off before it was rescued. The circumstance was as follows, which shows the mode of attack : The ewe was lambing, when six or eight others rushed towaids hei,but were prevented from coming near by the shepheids , they would not, however, go away, but kept following, and as soon as the ewe dropped her lamb (the shepherds having been engaged for the moment in driving away another party from another lambing ewe) it was attacked, the tail was bitten, but they were prevented from proceeding further by the immediate return of the shepherds. ‘They also evince as much eagerness to devour th cleanings or after-birth, if not prevented ; but if the little animal has been licked clean by the mother, and is dry, it may be placed in the hurdles amongst the other ewes, without their being attacked or injured. Thus showing that the salt nature of Period from A.D. 1815 to A.D. 1830. 225 • the liquor amnii, which at that time covers the young one, is the principal exciting cause for this extraordinary propensity to destroy, that appetite being excited by having previously eaten the saline earth from the “water-holes.” At the places where this destruction to the hopes of the wool-grower takes place, the pasturage is luxuriant ; and the situations would be selected by a person ignorant of the before-mentioned circumstances as some of the finest sheep-runs in the colony. The mother will not devour her own progeny, but will sometimes (which is not unfrequent in maiden ewes) not take to the lambs, but forsake them, until the shepherds hurdling the mother and young one together, the mother at last acknowledges her young. It is not uncommon, however, for them to follow other ewes, attack and devour the lambs brought forth by them in as ravenous a manner as the others would have devoured their young. The ewes will not even wait until the young lamb is born, but when they see a ewe yearning will rush upon her, devour the young one as it proceeds from the mothei, and thus sometimes half the lamb is devoured before it is wholly born. Although the shepherds, by attention, endeavour to avert the evil as much as possible, yet when many ewes are lambing, the number of shepherds attached to the. flocks is too small to enable them to attend to every individual case. It may be asked, Does not the usual impulse of natural feeling induce the mother to prevent the destruction of her offspring ? In reply, it may be said that the poor, helpless, timid creature bleats, but makes no effort to defend her young one from the furious attacks of the “ mob.” The poorest and leanest ewes are those remarked as being most eager to devour the lambs of others ; they have been brought into that miserable state, from having previously been fine fat ewes, merely from the custom of devouring the saline earth The head shepherd of Mr. Dutton’s flocks told me that there was not a finer flock of sheep in the country than those, pre- vious to their devouring the salt clay and earth, after which t ey . fell off in condition,” until they became in the miserable state in which I now saw them. ‘ The following is another, among too many instances of 15 226 History of Animal Plagues. their voracity : A ewe had just commenced lambing, was in labour, but no portion of the young one had yet been born, when from fifteen to twenty ewes were seen running towards her. The shepherds perceiving this, rescued the ewe, and remained near her until she had done lambing ; the other ewes kept at a short distance, occasionally advancing to make an attack upon the young one. The lamb was brought forth, and when perfectly cleaned and dry was placed in the sheep- fold in the evening with the mother, as usual, but the other ewes then took no notice either of the mother or the young one. ‘Although the breeding-ewes suffer both in health and acquire this morbid appetite of devouring the progeny of others and their own cleanings, yet rams, wethers, and ewes not breeding fatten to an astonishing degree upon the same pasturage where breeding-ewes had become miserably lean, and died in numbers from being in so low a condition. On one of these spots, I saw a wether killed from a flock, which was so fat as to render the meat almost uneatable ; and Mr. Manton, who, from the cause before-mentioned, had been obliged to remove all his breeding-ewes from his pastures about the Murrumbidgee, would, nevertheless, send his rams and wethers on the luxuriant pasturage as the best place to fatten them ; indeed, all concurred that rams, wethers, and even the ewes, if not breeding, thrive and fatten upon that pasturage-land about the Murrumbidgee country which proves so destructive to breeding-ewes and their lambs. Mr. Manton had sheep on the limestone ranges, near the banks of the Murrumbidgee river ; they became impoverished, and acquired the morbid appetite for devouring the young lambs ; but when he removed them to a granite soil, in the vicinity of Yas Plains, they speedily recovered their former good condition, and the morbid appetite left them, more probably from their being no “ water-holes” containing saline earth about the place, than from the change of strata ; however, they never rcturne to the unnatural practices, as was so frequent on the sheep- runs at the former place. ‘ At Jugiong, Mr. O’Brien suffered in the loss of lambs from Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 227 the same cause ; but by occasionally changing the pasturage it was checked in some degree ; and aithough Iambs were sometimes lost, yet the destruction was much lessened. Even when the lambs are not devoured or destroyed by the other ewes, yet from the miserable condition of the mothers, the shepherds have been obliged to remove the young from their care, fiom inability to support them, when they endeavour to lear them by hand as “pet lambs.” In rearing lambs away fiom the mother many perish ; and besides, the shepherds object to raising pet lambs, if it could be avoided, because they are seldom good sheep; when turned out in the pasturage they become poverty-stricken, still looking for the fostering hand that reared them. ‘At Narangullen, a sheep station in the Murrumbidgee country, near Guadarigby, before the sheep discovered the spots in which the saline earth was situated, they brought forth the young in the usual manner, and the cleanings (if the delivery happened during the night) were found in the fold, and given as usual to the dogs ; but when the earth was discovered, the lambs were attacked at birth, and the cleaning were devoured, if not timely removed by the shepherds. At Darbylara (also situated on the banks of the Murrum- bidgee river) Mr. Warby, who has a fine farm at that place, suffered such losses among his flocks from this cause, that he was ° iged to sell those that remained ; yet at Brungal, a •station about eight miles distant near the Tumat river there was a small flock of sheep which had not shown any of this morbid appetite, and were in excellent condition. On visiting Mr. Warby s farm, the whole had the appearance of being excellent pasturage, and affording excellent sheep-runs ; but about the pastures there were several pools of brackish water o which the sheep resorted, and from which it was found at last impossible to keep them. At this place again, although so destructive to breeding-ewes, rams, wethers, and ewes not reeding would fatten, and become in the finest condition upon the same pasturage. The sheep at these places eagerly whol UI" f th a Pmnata' Whl’Ch gl'0WS abundantly in" the whole of the ponds and rivulets. At Guadarigby I remarked 1 5 — 2 228 History of Animal Plagues. that the cattle, after they had been turned out of the stock- yard, invariably came licking the ground about the huts. After some doubt as to the cause, it was found that the water in which salt meat had been boiled was thrown away about that place ; and this it was that attracted the cattle ; they would even attack one another to get at some places which had been more impregnated with salt than another. This inclination of animals for salt is by no means adduced as anything novel ; it is not confined to those domesticated among the herbaceous, but also among the wild in that class of animals ; for at Blowrin Flat, in the Tumat country, a water-hole, nearly dry in some parts, and at others perfectly so, and similar to those I had before seen frequented by sheep, abounded with the tracks of the kangaroo ; and, on a closer examination, the earth (which glittered in the sun as if impregnated with saline particles) was licked and gnawed, as was done by sheep in other parts of the country ; but it would be difficult to know whether similar results occurred with the breeding females of the kangaroos. ‘At Lomebraes (about thirty miles from Goulburn Plain, on the road to Yas Plains), the farm of Mr. John Hume, I was also informed that lambs and ewes had been lost from similar causes to those I have been relating. The water of the river which runs through his farm in the summer season, when the water is low, is hard , even so much so as to curdle the soap and prevent any washing with it ; but in the winter season, when the stream is increased, it becomes softer. It is curious that Mr. Warby mentioned that a number of his cows had “ slipped their calves,” or miscarried, and thought it proceeded from some poisonous herb they had eaten ; but Mr. Hume mentioned that his cows, which are accustomed when breeding to devour the earth impregnated with saline particles, “slip their calves,” and he could attribute it to no other cause. This occurred also at the farms of Gonnong, Mut-mut-billy ; and at all places where the same propensity of licking and gnawing the saline earth and devouring the lambs occurred among the ewes, “ slipping the calves ” occurred among the cows ; but I heard nothing of their devouring the young. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 229 A disease among cattle, of an epizootic character, was re- ported from Jamaica. It was very destructive, and appeared to be most prevalent in low, marshy situations, though it was frequent and fatal everywhere in the West Indies. It was in- curable, and as soon as an animal became affected it was slaughtered. The chief symptom was cough and consequent emaciation ; and droves of these ‘cough cattle,’ as they were named, were to be found on every plantation of any con- siderable size. The chief morbid appearances found after death were depositions of calcareous matter in the trachea, bronchi and pleurae, with tuberculous matter in the lungs and liver.1 Hydrophobia prevailed to an alarming extent among the canine race at Barbadoes.2 A.D. 1834. The year was very hot throughout the greater part of Europe, and plague was destructive in mankind at Constantinople, Cairo, Alexandria, and Smyrna. Cholera bioke out at Gibraltar, and attacked nearly everyone on the rock. A shower of fish was recorded as having been witnessed on the 17th of May in the neighbourhood of Allahabad, East Indies. Eye-witnesses attest that about noon, the wind being fiom the west, and a few distant clouds visible, there was a blast of high wind, accompanied with much dust of a reddish- yellow colour, with which the atmosphere was greatly charged. I he blast appeared to extend in breadth about four hundred >rards. Immense trees and large buildings were thrown down, and when the storm had passed away, the ground all about the village was found strewed with small fish to the extent of two bijahs. The fish were all of the chalwa species {Clupea cult rata) ; they were a span or rather less in length, and from one sear to one and a half in weight. When found they were all dead and dry. The Jumna runs about three miles south of the village, and the Ganges fourteen west by east. The fish were not fit for eating, and it was said that when put in the pan for dressing they turned to blood.3 ; The Veterinarian, vol. vi. p. 351. - Schomburgk. History o'f Barbadoes, p. 683. 3 Bascome. Op. cit. p. 163. 230 History of Animal Plagues. The cholera reached as far north as Sweden this year. At Gothenburg it was remarked: ‘The summer of 1834, when the contagion broke out, was remarkable for its great heat. During the month of July the thermometer ranged between 8o° and 90° of Fahrenheit, and no rain had fallen for a long time ; and it was remarkable that the leaves of the trees in the vicinity of the town turned yellow and dropped, as if the autumn had been far advanced — a sign that there was some- thing in the atmosphere that suited neither vegetable nor animal life.’1 In Belgium the breaking out of the cholera was preceded by a remarkable phenomenon in the presence of vast numbers of grubs {Aphis persicce). In the month of September the canals of Ghent were cleaned out, and the mud and slime lay for a long time on the quays and in the streets. The Medical Society had predicted the breaking out of cholera, and in scarcely two days afterwards that disease appeared. All at once, and at the same time, innumerable legions of the peach- grub appeared. On the 28th of September they were seen in tremendous swarms at Maria-Kerke, between Bruges and Ghent ; on the 29th they were so numerous at the latter place that they intercepted the light of the sun when they rose in clouds from the ground, and their swarms were constantly passing from seven o’clock in the morning until the evening. The walls of the ramparts were entirely covered with them, and they appeared to make the vegetation of the country quite black. On the 5th of October only a few were seen at Antwerp ; but on passing the Escant, towards the Tete de Flandre, they were seen again in great clouds, all the road from Antwerp to Ghent being black with them. At the same time they travelled in formidable swarms towards Enclos ; and people, to guard themselves from them, were obliged to wear spectacles and to cover their mouths with handkerchiefs. On the 9th of October they had reached to Alost ; and until now not one of these creatures had been seen at Brussels, theii dense and lengthened masses having accumulated at the bottoms of the valleys which separate Brabant from Flanders. 1 L. Lloyd. Scandinavian Adventures, vol. i. p. 4 32* Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 231 They spread themselves thence from the south towards the north, and from the west to the east, and also from the north to the south ; for on the 13th they were already in large numbers at Tournay. On the 12th of October they covered Brussels, and on the same day they arrived at Mons ; from Brussels they spread to Louvain. On the 15th a great storm occurred, and many days of rain followed. From this time these insects disappeared from Liege, and their dead bodies covered the windows, the furniture, etc.1 As usual when the weather is hot, anthracoid diseases were frequent among the lower animals ; but the aphthongular epizobty (foot-and-mouth disease) was as yet the most notice- able of all. It was present in Switzerland and in many parts of France. In the latter country it was seen in the depart- ment of the Vosges : ‘The aphthous fever, named also aphthous stomatitis, since the month of February last has attacked horned cattle in the department of the Vosges. It first broke out at Archettes, then among the farms in the mountains, and finished by invading the communes on the plain. According to the oldest cattle-breeders, a similar disease had been known there for about thirty years. Of but little importance as to its consequences, this epizooty nevertheless causes much apprehension among the farmers ; for its appearance in a stable is an almost certain indication that all the animals, no matter what their sex or age may be, will become affected. Its causes, like those of other epidemics and epizooties, yet remain unknown. Some believe it to be due to the im- moderate use of potatoes or beech-mast cake ; but our obser- vations are far from confirming this. The disease showing itself in the winter as well as in the summer, the influence of temperature cannot be invoked as a cause ; and it is the same with regard to stables and regime. As to its contagious nature, this is also doubtful. It appears that in certain localities the same influences under which the aphthous fever may be developed among cattle have been such as to affect other animals, and hence the cry of contagion. It has even 1 Morren. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 1836. -3- History of Animal Plagues. been advanced that people who have drunk the milk of diseased cows have been indisposed thereby.’1 In Courland, in consequence of the very hot weather and rains, milzbrand prevailed with great severity. It was, how- ever, confined to the places where it broke out, and to the animals primarily affected (and which died very quickly), by removing the healthy, putting them in stables, and using cold applications to them. Only one hundred and forty-eight cows, sixty-four swine, twenty-two sheep, and thirty-one horses died in the whole government, notwithstanding the epizooty breaking out simultaneously in several localities. With cold weather all traces of it vanished ; but rheumatic affections were then very prevalent, especially among horses, and tetanus was more frequent than in previous years.2 In Galicia, epizootic diseases were very prevalent, but the most destructive of all was the rinderpest ( Toserdiirre ) among cattle, as out of 22,402 attacked by it, 16,081 died. This time the districts lying on the eastern border, and through which foreign cattle usually passed, suffered less than the western and northern districts. At the same time there raged epizootically among cattle the milzbrand, the foot-and- mouth disease, and a peculiarly rapid and destructive ophthal- mia ( augensteife ). Milzbrand also appeared among pigs in the form of throat anthrax, and among sheep as splenic apoplexy ( blutseuche ) with carbuncles. The rinderpest in cattle was not compli- cated with any other diseases, and it was remarked that in the autumn it carried off those animals which in the spring and summer had been attacked, and had perfectly recovered from epizootic ekzema.3 In Styria there was a drought and scarcity of fodder, but the only malady was the ‘ foot-and-mouth disease,’ which pre- vailed in a mild form in the district of Pettau.4 In the Tyrol the chief disease was the universal ‘ ekzema epizootica,’ which, besides attacking cattle, manifested itself 1 Matliieu . Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. xii. p. 64. 2 Possart. Russische Ostseeprovinzen, vol. i. p. 201. 3 Neuhauser. GEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xxiv. p. 340. 4 Von Vest. Ibid. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 233 also among swine. Disease of the joints and brittleness of the bones arc also noticed as frequent.1 In Pomerania the forage was so scarce that the cattle had to be driven out in many districts to pasture, almost befoie the snow was off the ground, when they had nothing to cat but the old rotten herbage of the winter, and nothing to drink but muddy brackish water. The consequence was that in the month of June they suffered from the milzbrand, and from the foot-and-mouth disease. In the same month the Anemone nemorosa grew so abundantly in the pastures that many cattle were poisoned by it. Glanders and worm diseases were more than usually common among horses, and the departmental veterinary surgeon, Plildebrand, observed that catarrh fre- quently degenerated into glanders, which destroyed many horses. Dr. Fauniger attempted inoculation for ‘ ekzema epizootica.’ Matter was taken from the feet of the diseased and transferred to the ears of healthy animals, and in a short time pustules containing a cheesy-like pus were formed. These animals were not, however, in the least degree protected by it, but many of them had the malady twice, and even thrice after the operation. The disease was remarkably prevalent and severe, and sheep, goats, and swine were affected. The feet were seldom attacked without the mouth being also involved ; indeed, the mouth was most frequently the seat of disease. It generally broke out first among cattle, at other times among swine, and afterwards among the sheep and goats. It was thought to have been caused by the heat and drought, which altered the nature of the forage and herbage. Milzbrand was exceedingly rife, and was supposed to be due to the same causes. In the district of Cosliner it was particularly fatal, and when it first broke out death quickly ensued ; but after a while it became modified, and the animals lingered a longer time — usually from four to eight days. The symptoms then were loss of appetite and suspension of rumination, tucking up of the belly, a swelling between the jaws, which rapidly extended to the breast, and along to the udder. Extreme 1 Von Vest. CEsterreich, Med. Jahrbuch, vcl. xxiv. p. 340. 234 History of Animal Plagues. languor and prostration set in, and the animals died in con- vulsions. These were the symptoms noted in June. An examination of the dead bodies showed the blood to be black and tarry-looking ; about the throat there was much yellow serum ; the spleen was softened and pulpy and like treacle, and in the chest and abdomen there was much blood-coloured fluid. Cow-pox was observed in fifteen cows which stood all in one row in a stable. Contagious pleuro-pneumonia was epi- zootic, and so was sheep small-pox. The district veterinary surgeon Schellhaase reports an unusual epizootic ophthalmia among cattle, which suddenly attacked about twenty animals, of whom several died.1 In Brandenburg, the winter and spring diseases were of a herumatic and catarrhal character. The summer had been unusually hot, and there had been a great drought, which gave rise to gastric and bilious complaints, with a special tendency to diseases of a nervous kind. Milzbrand was not unfrequent in the autumn among mares in foal, or those which had foaled, when these were depastured in low-lying marshy regions with no protection from the sun. Glanders and worm diseases were common : the former malady often followed neglected strangles ; thirty-seven horses were destroyed in one district. The mouth-and-foot disease spread over the whole of Frankfurt, and attacked all the herds which had escaped it the previous year, and many of those which had already been affected. It did not pursue any definite course, as in the last year, but broke out here and there, and occurred much earlier in the season, breaking out in March and in May. In the summer months, favoured by the continued heat and drought, it became very general. The epizootic ophthalmia showed itself among the herds in a great many districts, and raged most severely where the ‘ ekzema epizootica ’ was least prevalent. It attacked animals of all ages and both sexes, and only ceased its ravages when both eyes of an animal were des- troyed, when no aid was given. There was a wonderful agree- ment in the symptoms as given in the various reports. The causeswere generallysupposed to be the great heat anddiought, 1 Sanitatsbericht der Provinz Pommern, 1834. 235 Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. the long-continued dry winds, some peculiar and indescrib- able constitution of the atmosphere, and the many dust-storms which mechanically irritated the eyes very much. 1 he disease was similar in its earlier symptoms to those of a rheumatic-catarrhal affection. On the second day the eyes were closed, tears flowed down the cheeks, and on opening the eyelids the conjunctiva appeared much inflamed. The cornea became opaque, as if covered with a skin, and upon the pupil there was formed a bullet- shaped excrescence of a yellowish colour, surrounded by a reddish ring. After a few days this mass burst, and gave vent to a transparent fluid, which left a small cavity behind it. In the more aggravated cases, there appeared luxuriant fleshy granulations, and pro- fuse suppuration into the anterior chamber of the eye. The conjunctiva remained considerably inflamed, the globe of the eye gradually diminished in size, and within a fortnight or three weeks a large fleshy mass projected from it between the eyelids. Another description may here be noticed : ‘ In the Veterinary Sanitary Report for the third quarter of 1834, there is a notice by the district veterinary surgeon, Ziegenbein, of Ampfurt, of the catarrhal inflammation of the conjunctiva among cattle. He says that it was remarkable for its pre- valence, especially towards the end of July. They closed their weeping eyes, avoided the light, the inflamed conjunctiva bulged from between the eyelids, and was frequently covered with phlyctense, which also showed themselves on the con- junctiva covering the eye, near the cornea, and often caused an opacity of this portion.’)1 Lung disease was extremely prevalent in a number of districts. Owing to the continued heat of the spring and summer months, this peculiar lung disease was complicated with bilious-gastric symptoms, due to the diminished biliary se- cretion, manifested by diarrhoea or constipation, meteorization, and yellowness of the mucous membranes. In many districts the sheep-pox was rather general, and its origin could not be traced, inasmuch as beyond a circumference of several miles the disease had not existed, and no strange animals had 1 Curll und IJerlwig. Magazin, vol. i. p. 454. History of Animal Plagues. 236 entered the neighbourhood. Sheep were also attacked with splenic apoplexy, the best-conditioned ewes suffering most ; seldom were the rams or yearlings attacked, never lambs. Death was exceedingly rapid, the animals suddenly falling, and in less than a minute were dead. When removed to a less nutritious pasture, and Glauber’s salt, and saltpetre mixed with the water, given them to drink, the mortality ceased. To human beings handling these diseased sheep the risk was as great as in milzbrand. Among pigs foot disease was common, and those driven to markets suffered exceedingly. Where treatment and rest were allowed they soon recovered. Among dogs rabies was prevalent in many districts of the Frankfurt department. Among fowls there was noticed, in and around Berlin, an epizooty which has been described by the veterinarian Hal- bach. It affected hens, geese, and ducks. They became dull, moved with difficulty, separated themselves from the healthy, and retired to out-of-the-way places ; they crouched down, ate but little ; their red combs became pale or blue ; the feathers became soiled ; the eyes sank in their orbits , and from the beginning of the disease till their death there was diarrhoea of a grey, white, green, and watery matter, accom- panied by painful straining. Great thirst was manifested. Death took place in • many in a few hours ; in others, in twenty-four, thirty, or forty-eight hours ; but they seldom lived longer than three days, or, if they did, convalescence took place, which was most unusual. An examination soon after death showed the skin to be as in health— the flesh firm and red ; the crops and stomachs were more or less filled with food of a natural consistency ; the whole of the intestines ex- ternally looked as if injected with blood, but their interior was healthy, the mucous membrane only being softened, and covered with a dirty grey mucus. The contained fluid was of a variety of colours and consistency, and mixed with much mucus. The liver was healthy, so were the other viscera. The pathognomonic features of this deadly disease were the never-ceasing diarrhoea, and the rapid sinking of the \ita powers. It appeared in March and Apiil, and nothing was Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 237 known as to its causes or its contagiousness. Remedial measures were of no avail.1 Professor Prinz says of Saxony : ‘ The febrile foot-and- mouth disease among cattle, sheep, and swine was noticed at first among the home cattle only as an infectious disease, but later it spread over the whole land. The infection followed the introduction of droves of strange swine from Bohemia and Silesia at the end of May and beginning of June, which con- taminated the animals they met. The selling these animals in small lots caused the malady to break out in numerous farms, often wide apart, where they were bought for fattening. The only thing that favoured the rapid suppression of the disease was the fact of the cattle not having yet been turned out to graze in the fields, which allowed proper isolation to be effected. In September and October the same disease broke out among the cattle in many places, sometimes only in indi- vidual farms, and at other times among all the farms in a locality, without any infection from without — at least, not by strange swine. The outbreaks occurred in the stalls where many animals stood, though not simultaneously, but gradu- ally, as with contagious diseases. The symptoms were dif- ferent slightly to those in which infection could be traced. The animals — particularly the cows — eight days before they were seized, refused their food for a short time, and gave a smaller quantity of thick milk. When they again began to recover their appetite, and the other symptoms of gastric irritation had disappeared, they commenced within a given time to slaver and go lame ; so that now the local signs of the affection became apparent in the mouth and feet. Fre- quently in well-fed milking cows an eruption of vesicles appeared on the teats of the udder. The origin of this later seizure was attributed to the animals having eaten the white cabbage ( Brassica oleracea capitata ), especially the leaves. This vegetable had been grown in the fields this year, and rapidly became putrid. The reporter of this asserts that in many stables the milk cows took the disease when fed on 1 Sanitiitsbericht der Provinz Brandenburg, 1S34. 238 History of Animal Plagues. these cabbages, which their owners had stacked for winter fodder. ‘ The cow-pox, if one may judge from the nature of the fictitious inoculations, appeared in the month of July inde- pendently of the foot-and-mouth disease, or other mammary eruptions. Young cows which had but lately calved were most frequently attacked ; they were first dull and languid for some days ; then there appeared upon the teat and upon the udder hard round knots of a deep red colour, which were painful and about the size of a half hazel-nut. On the second or third day after the formation of these tumours the epidermis was raised in the shape of a flat pustule, which contained a blueish-grey lymph. These pustules on the day after they had appeared often burst, and gave vent to a thick ropy pus. On the fifth day the teats were very sensitive, especially when the animals were milked, and the pustules become covered with thick scabs. In addition to this there arose on the teats and the mammary gland small pustules which soon dis- appeared, often to be succeeded by other crops in other places. From the eighth day after the appearance of the first pock the sensitiveness began to disappear, and the scabs to fall off, leaving deep red depressions. The animals then showed much itchiness in this region, and eagerly licked their udders, and after several weeks there came small bristly warts, which were permanent. The course of this cow-pox was therefore shorter than the real cow-pox, which, according to old authorities, is the case. Some modern veterinarians who will not admit this invariableness in the nature and course of the true pock, are somewhat borne out by the fact that it broke out in some gradually and repeatedly. Nevertheless, several doctors in this neighbourhood have attempted the vaccination of children with the matter obtained from these pocks, but without result; and the same failure has been noted when cattle were inocu- lated.’1 On the Elbe, at Magdeburg, the following report is made. ‘ In the summer of 1834, the milzbrand, frequent as it usually is in this busy region, bore this year so virulent a 1 Frinz. Clarus und Radius. Beitrage, vol. ii. p. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 239 character, and ran so rapid a course, as no one remembers. It attacked animals of all classes, ages, and sex ; and in many instances even mankind. At its commencement it was most acute, for the first victims died without showing the least symptoms of disease. This was the case not only among cattle, but also among horses and sheep. Even the game in the woods was not spared, and in the forest more than one hundred stags are said to have been found dead from this disease. Later, its course was less rapid ; the animals were for a longer time ill without manifesting any striking symp- toms, holding out for from twelve to twenty-four hours or two days ; one horse died on the fifth day. Low-lying places such as those situated on the borders of rivers and streams, or morasses— suffered most, while other places not far from these, but whose situation was more favourable, were more tendcily visited. As to the time, in July only a few isolated cases occurred ; with the arrival of August the mortality was more considerable, and towards the end of that month and beginning of September it assumed its greatest virulency. Most of those seized died during the night or in the morning; fewer died at midday. Late in the afternoon the early symptoms showed themselves, especially among cattle at pasture, and these succumbed that evening or during the night. The causes of this fearful disease cannot possibly be attributed to such unimportant influences as would be found in low-lying places— they deserve more attentive investigation than they have hitherto received, in order to discover them. The difficulties, however, are so great that they have not yet been overcome ; hence the various opinions as to the origin of the milzbrand ; at one time it is sought for in the weather at another in the locality, the fodder, the water they drink, or even in unknown cosmical influences. ‘ In regard to this disease, according to the opinion of the reporter, the continuous heat and drought of the summer of 1S34 was only a predisposing cause; for the weather was everywhere in the month of May of an equable character and the disease first began to show itself in a malignant manner in August, and increased by degrees until in September it had 240 History of Animal Plagues. attained its greatest severity. There were, nevertheless, many places which, during the raging of the malady, were spared. In severely attacked localities there were herds which did not lose a single head of cattle. It is clear, therefore, that the pestilence only showed itself in those quarters where, in addition to the predisposing causes, some special exciting cause was brought to bear. This, however, lay, as Herr Zieeenbein avers, in the state of the fodder which the animals consumed, both at pasture and in their stables ; for to all appearance this everywhere was in an unhealthy state through the bad weather, being as if mildewed. A special indication as to the operation of this fodder on animals is made plain to the attentive observer by the frequent occurrence of colic, diarrhoea, and a state bordering closely on inflammation of the intestines when they were fed on it j and in other cases there arose but too frequently all the varied forms of anthrax. In an out- lying farm where cattle and three-year-old hoises weie fed on green and mildewed lucerne for three or foui days, two of the oxen died from milzbrand, and three of the horses were attacked, of which one only was saved with gieat difficulty. When the remaininganimals again received their healthyfoddei the malady did not return. In another farm, where young cattle from one and a half to two years old were fed upon dry forage, they remained healthy ; but when, however, they were sent to pasture for three days after the harvest, one morning two were found dead in the stable. On being once more brought to dry fodder and kept from the pasture, no further casualties occurred. On one domain the disease broke out amono- the herds through their being fed on damaged clover, although it was varied with buckwheat, and later with tender CTi-een vetches ; and preventive bleedings, with some other measures, were resorted to, such as setons, the animals being bathed and made to swim, and all kinds of internal remedies eiven. It was not until all these precautionary means had been set aside, the setons removed, and the cattle were receiving one half allowance of green fodder and another of good hay, with plenty of good water in their stables, that the disease suddenly ceased.’1 ' Gurlt und Hertwig. Magazin, vol. i. p. 45^- Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 241 In the Russian steppes, from 1833 to 1835, Flcrow noticed an epizootic disease among cattle which the Tartars termed vialik , and which he thought a different malady to the Cattle Plague. ‘ Malik is a Kalmuck word, which, according to Plcrow, means a malignant or inflammatory fever ( febris maligna , typhus putndus cpizooticus ) that does not attack isolated animals, but large numbers, and passes from one place to another. If it breaks out in a district, it spreads over the whole country until it has run its course, when it directly passes to another, and from thence travels to another place. This is the character of the plague named “ Malik.” Such conditions attended the disease which Herr Flerow witnessed in 1832, in a district of the town of Serpuchow, and which prevailed as far as the Astrackan border, where the cattle were yet quite healthy. When, however, in consequence of the failure in the crops, the inhabitants of Little Russia were compelled to drive their cattle to the more distant steppes to winter, the disease showed itself; but at the approach of spring m 1834, and owing to the profusion of good herbage, it entirely ceased. In the same manner, according to the reports of Flerow, the “ malik ” broke out in an equally destructive form along the Caucasian frontier, following the course of the river Terek and Malki. Here it was so virulent that of the animals attacked with it more than one half died. In the first period fk”ithe Cattle aPPear much depressed, remain behind the herd, lose their appetite, hang their heads and ears have profuse salivation, but are otherwise to all appearance healthy. The breathing is slow and feeble, and in all their movements debility and languor are plainly perceptible In the inflammatory stage or period, the symptoms are more palpable and violent. The loss of power is very remarkable • so much so, indeed, that the sick animal never gets up if lying-’ or if standing never moves from the spot. The breathing becomes quickened, but short, strong, and jerking ; the eyes look inflamed and are tearful ; the gaze is fixed on any object ; from the mouth and nostrils flows mucus, which how ever, has no smell ; the tongue is white but not coated • the gums and palate arc inflamed ; the animal exhibits violent 16 242 History of Animal Plagues. thirst, the horns and ears are hot ; in a word, there is violent fever. In this stage there is already diarrhoea, which is some- times mixed with blood — or, on the contrary, constipation or meteorization. In the third stage the animal is continually lying with the limbs contracted, the head drooping, and closed and suppurating eyes ; the breathing is difficult and intermittent ; there is much groaning, and the breath is stinking ; the saliva is profuse and is also strong-smelling ; from the nostrils flows a fluid which is often mixed with blood ; the mucous mem- brane peels off the tongue in considerable pieces ; the urine is foul-smelling ; the faeces are stinking, and black or yellow- coloured, consistent or fluid, and mixed with mucus. If there is constipation much tympanitis is observed, w'hich is relieved by the passage of flatus. In this condition, which betokens an utter suspension of all the functions of the intestinal canal, the animals usually die. Even before death the birds of prey fly about the unfortunate animal and peck out its eyes, or tear any other parts which they can get at. The principal appear- ances which were noticed after death, were the following : the muscular system was much redder than in healthy animals, especially in the vicinity of the bloodvessels. The blood had a very dark colour like tar ; in the brain the vessels were con- gested with dark red blood. The lungs, externally and internally, were of a yellowish colour, and softened as well as filled with a frothy blood, but more usually with a foamy mucus. The nostrils and air-passages in general were filled with a blood-tinted frothy mucus, especially about the larynx. Both the heart and large vessels contained black coagulated blood ; in the mouth, upon the gums and palate, as well as about the tongue, the mucous membrane was normal, but upon the lips it had become separated. This membrane within the oesophagus was very much inflamed ; in the first three divisions of the stomach there was a quantity of pulpy food, but no other noticeable object or sign ; in the smaller intestines of some animals there were traces of gangrene, particularly in the duodenum; the large intestines in those animals which had suffered from diarrhoea or dysentery were much more inflamed than is usually the case. The liver was inordinately Period from A.D . 1830 to A.D. 1835. 243 enlarged, dark within and without, looking as if it had been cooked, and containing black thickened blood in its capillaries. Ihe gall-bladder was much distended with black, or greenish- yellow-coloured bile. The Kalmucks assured H. Flerow that rupture of this viscus occasionally took place. The spleen, like the liver, had an unusually dark colour, was softened, and on being cut into exuded a spumy blood. The kidneys and bladder were not changed, but the urine contained in the latter had a bad odour/1 Mi. F. Good describes an epizootic disease among deer in England, which from time immemorial had broken out at irregular intervals and swept off thousands of these animals. It appears to have been an inflammatory fever, more particu- larly implicating the brain and its coverings. ‘ Colonel Horner, of Mells Park, about twelve miles from hence, has fine herds of deei, but since April last no less than sixty head of them have died of a malady of a very peculiar nature. Yesterday I received a letter from the medical practitioner of that place, desiring me to come over and examine into the affair. I im- mediately proceeded thither. The first subject I was shown was a fine buck, which had died in the climax of the disease the previous evening near a stream of water. The keeper in- formed me that, when attacked with the disease, the animal ran furiously at everything, butting his antlers and head against the paling, trees, walls, or whatever opposed his onward course, and expired in three days from the commencement of t le disease. He also informed me that the appearances were the same in every case which he had examined after death excepting in the larynx. ‘I then proceeded to a post-mortem examination. I first dissected out a portion of the trachea, and found the mem- brane lining the larynx very highly inflamed, and the inflam- mation extending as far down as the bronchi. The epiglottis was similar to a piece of scorched leather; the root of the tongue was also highly inflamed. I then proceeded to the stomachs, and I found the rumen fully distended with food-, viz., grass, leaves, pieces of chestnuts, sprigs of trees, etc.-with 1 Fkrm. Gurlt und Hertwig. Magazin, vol. iv. p. 2g3. l6 — 2 244 History of Animal Plagzies. a patch of slight inflammation on the cuticular coat, but not fully developed. There was also a quantity of food in the duodenum ; the termination of that and the commencement of the jejunum were also inflamed ; and in the other intestines, which were quite empty, I found patches of inflammation in detached places. I believe there had existed an obstruction in the bowels. The liver I found very much inflamed, particu- larly on the concave surface of the right lobe, where there were two or three enlargements of the ducts containing a quantity of flukes. The heart was very much enlarged, and the lungs exhibited patches of inflammation ; the kidneys were in an unhealthy state. Lastly, I proceeded to the brain, and observed between the tunica arachnoides and pia mater patches of extravasation and inflammation, both on the cerebrum and cerebellum. I did not observe anything peculiar in the ventricles, nor in the spinal cord. « The next subject I was shown was a live buck strongly affected with the disease. He was recumbent when we ap- proached him, looking wistfully round, and nibbling his side near the abdomen, as if in violent pain. As I approached he sprang up, looked very wildly, made a gurgling noise in the throat, and bolted at the top of his speed over and against everything in his course. We pursued him on horseback for a considerable distance, and when we reached him we found him near a stream, butting furiously against the ground, foaming at his mouth, and apparently endeavouring to drink, but I think he could not. As we neared him he bolted for- ward again amongst the herd, still making this gurgling noise: the herd immediately separated in great terror. We still pursued him, and ultimately he was ordered to be shot for my inspection. He was accordingly shot through the heart from behind the left shoulder. I then proceeded to dissect and examine him also, and found the appearances much the same, excepting that the membrane lining the larynx was not so highly inflamed as in the former subject. ‘ The park has been stocked with deer for the last fifty years, so that it cannot be thought that the herbage had any effect. A suspicion had arisen that they were poisoned, but Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 245 from the slight appearance of inflammation in the stomach I could not entertain that opinion ; yet I did not analyse the contents of the rumen. There were Scotch cattle and sheep grazing on the same herbage, but none of these have exhibited the slightest symptoms of the disease. I should mention that the practitioner I have spoken of had examined many brains previously to my visit, and had found them all more or less inflamed. The keeper told me that one of the diseased animals had bitten him in the hand.’1 Influenza was epizootic among horses in England this year. Mr. Spooner, of Southampton, writes : ‘ In the early part of the summer of 1834 I had an opportunity of seeing its ravages, chiefly amongst coach -horses, to a great extent. The weather in May of that year, it will be remembered, was unusually hot, and to this cause in great measure I attribute the spread of the disease, as well as the peculiar character it then displayed. The symptoms were almost invariably at first a failure in the appetite, to which succeeded a dull and heavy appearance ; and if the animal was put to work, it was with difficulty he reached his journey’s end. The pulse was found quicker than common, sometimes slightly so, at other times in a greater degree, and it was often full and distinct. In a very few hours the symptoms all became greatly aggravated : the mouth felt burning hot ; the eyes half closed ; the pulse increased fre- quently , and the appetite entirely gone. The mucous mem- branes appeared highly injected, and the dung slimy. The owner had had a great number of horses ill, the majority of which had died. These cases occurred at a distance from my residence, and were under the care of another practitioner. I saw some of them, and examined a few after death. The post-mortem appearances of these, as well as others that died undei my own care, invariably presented inflammation of the mucous coat of the bowels ; this membrane, indeed, could be rubbed off with the slightest touch. The liver in three cases out of four was considerably affected, of a pale texture, and easily broken down. The kidneys were very frequently ex- tensively diseased, and in some cases their substance was 1 F. Good. The Veterinarian, vol. vii. p. 496. 246 History of Animal Plagues. altogether disorganized. The windpipe and larynx, particu- larly the latter, generally presented some degree of inflamma- tion, but not to any great extent ; indeed, the inflammation of these parts seemed to be of a secondary character, or otherwise to have been relieved by the metastasies of the disease to other parts. In some of the cases nearly all the lesions I have mentioned were noticeable, presenting disease of four or five organs, each of which would have apparently been sufficient to have produced death.’1 In Saxony, distemper was extremely widespread and fatal among dogs, and they also suffered to a like degree from a bilious fever and rabies.2 In Ireland it was reported : ‘ The sheep are suffering from the rot, and large numbers of them dying’3 in the counties of Galway and Roscommon. An epizooty appeared among swine in Aveyron and its neighbourhood. It was rapidly fatal, often killing all the inhabitants of a piggery in from twelve to fourteen hours, often in less than half that time. The symptoms were sudden loss of appetite, small and frequent pulse, haggard eyes, inflamed conjunctivse, mouth open, red, and filled with foam ; the respiration laborious ; the cries plaintive ; convulsions, paralysis of the hinder extremities, and involuntary discharge of highly foetid faeces. When these symptoms were present, death was inevitable in a short time ; but when the disease was less rapid, the symptoms were milder, and medical aid was useful. Pregnant sows escaped the attacks, but as soon as they had farrowed they lost their immunity, and they and their young were seized. Leprous swine were exempted. The epizooty appeared at all seasons of the year, but^ was most malignant in the summer and autumn. Highly contagious it was supposed to be, and from experiments then made, it was found that it could be reproduced in sheep and other animals by inoculation. The flesh when given to dogs caused no ill effects. The causes were supposed to be 1 Spooner. On the Influenza of Horses, p. 15. 2 Prinz. Clarus und Radius. Beitriige, vol. ii. p. 85. 3 The Morning Register. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 247 unwholesome food, ill-ventilated sties, want of attention to cleanliness ; and exposure to heat, wet, or cold, were supposed to be predisposing causes. Some peculiar miasmatic influence was believed to excite the development of the malady.1 A.D. 1835. An eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In England, in the month of June, hail and thunder storms did much damage, and in August the shock of an earthquake was felt in the county of Lancaster. Earthquakes were very frequent on the Continent, and caused much destruction of life and property. A shower of meteorolites fell on the frontiers of Wallachia. Epidemics were rife among the human species in Europe, and North and South America ; cholera in particular was fatal at Leghorn. The diseases of the domestic animals were not- very uncommon or wide-spread. In Lithuania, in the years 1835 and 1836, the prevalent epizooties were hsematuria, angina, and contagious pleuro-pneumonia among cattle, variola among sheep, and milzbrand — a disease which rages as the most formidable malady every year in the Minsk Government. Filaria in the bronchial tubes destroyed great numbers of calves.2 In Eastern Prussia there were some unfavourable reports as to the health of the lower animals. In Friedland and Mohrunger, the milzbrand spared scarcely any class of animals, and sheep were far more than usually attacked by f raphania.’ Swine perished in large numbers from a rapid and deadly quinsy. Wild animals suffered equally with the domestic, and according to Dr. Hansbrand, of Braunsberg, it was a disease analogous to milzbrand which destroyed great quantities of moose-deer. Dr. Glede, at Heilsberg, attributes the frequent occurrence of milzbrand to the drought of 1834, which dried up the ponds and water-courses, and caused a scarcity of fodder. At the same time the animals employed in agricultural operations were severely strained, in having to plough up the scorched, hard-baked land. To these causes weie added the driving the cattle to the low-lying woody 1 Recueil de Med. Veter. 1834. - Gurlt und Her twig. Magazin, vol. vi. p. 447. -4-8 History of Animal Plagues. pastures which had previously been marshy land, but were now dried up, and these had sometimes to be reached by taking them along dusty roads for two or three miles. But other causes must have been at work, for Dr. Gisevius found that in the parish of Elsau, even among those animals which were kept in stable, cases of milzbrand were frequent, and that the mortality was more considerable in this district than in any other ; for out of one herd of one hundred and twenty- eight cattle ten died in two nights, and in the village of Porsitten out of a herd of seventy-one there died seven. In this place the disease attacked the village herd, and nineteen fatal cases occurred. This milzbrand attacked horses less frequently than other animals, and though due, it was said, to telluric and atmospheric influences, yet it was allowed that contagion had much to do with its extension. In August and September many geese died from a kind of anthrax. In a village of Ortelsburg, according to the report of Dr. Zuch, all the fowls and ducks, and no less than three hundred geese, died suddenly, after suffering for some days from violent diarrhoea. They often died when eating with an apparently good appetite : they gave a painful cry, bent their head and neck to the earth, threw themselves upon their back, convulsively moved their feet and wings, and died within eight or ten minutes. On dissection the liver was found enlarged, and a remarkable inflammation of the intestinal tract and brain was notice- able.1 In Pomerania the health of the domestic animals was satisfactory, though, owing to the drought, cows gave less milk and were more difficult to fatten. Only towards the close of the year were catarrhal and gastric diseases remarked. In Brandenburg, in January, abortions among cattle were usually frequent in the brandy districts, in consequence of the forage given them being mixed up with brandy lees. During the frosty weather pigs died from throat-anthrax. Rabies was prevalent among dogs in several districts in this 1 Sanitatsbericht Konigsberger, 1S35. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 2 49 month. In February, small-pox and the foot disease raged among sheep, and the lung disease in cattle. In March the same diseases were prevalent. In April rheumatic inflamma- tions, coughs and catarrh were prevalent, coincidently with the foregoing disease. In May, in addition to the above- mentioned diseases among sheep, horses were affected with mange, and glanders. Lambs had tape-worms, and mad dogs were still common. In June, small-pox was very rife among sheep. In July pleuro-pneumonia raged among cattle, and small- pox and foot disease among sheep. Milzbrand was not unfre- quent among cattle and swine. In August pleuro-pneumonia was epizootic among cattle ; these animals also suffered, with swine, from anthrax, and canine madness was yet frequent. In September acute rheumatism and laminitis were especially noted among horses, from over-feeding on new rye. Among cows, theie occurred that inflammation of the skin termed grease, with foul exudations from the skin, which inflamma- tion extended above the knees and hocks, and as far as the udder ; it was accompanied by loss of milk and great emacia- tion. Dysentery, foot disease, and ‘ turn-sick ’ were common among sheep. The lung disease yet raged among cattle, and some mad dogs were seen. In October the lung disease among cattle continued at Berlin, and a mortality appeared among poultry, ducks, and other fowls. The lung disease was still spreading among cattle. In November the foot disease prevailed among sheep, the staggers among lambs, and the pleuro-pneumonia among cattle. To such an extent, indeed, did the lattef malady prevail that an interdict was placed upon cattle and fodder in the town of Bernau and several villages. In December the lung disease continued in some villages of the Frankfurt district, and the improved flocks of sheep suffered from the foot disease. Sheep-pox also showed itself in several places As in former years t c milzbrand appeared, though not so seriously as might have. been exPected, and seemed to be more dependent on the influence of the weather, only appearing in July and disappearing when the cool season set in. . . . The Df-nl 250 History of Animal Plagues. plagues which for some years have been observed to attack poultry, showed 'themselves again this year. Nothing could be learned as to the nature or the causes of these maladies, and therefore nothing could be devised in the way of pre- ventive or remedial measures. The foot-and-mouth disease and the epizootic ophthalmia which were so frequent and wide- spread in previous years, were in this year very rare, and only mentioned in the reports from two districts.1 2 In Prague it is recorded : ‘ No intelligence of unusual dis- eases among the domestic animals was received, and the only epizooty of any moment was the lung disease among cattle. Among poultry I noticed anthracoid disease. In a house where these animals were well cared for, fat capons and other fowls died as if struck by lightning. The examination showed in the plainest manner that they had perished from this affec- tion. The blood was as black as a coal, and coagulated in the veins of the abdominal organs ; the crop and stomach were filled with soft, but undigested grain, and the lining mem- brane of these organs was black and softened, and the bodies had an extremely foul smell ; the muscles were pulpy and dark-brown, and the muscles of the abdomen wreie oveilaid with yellow, gelatinous, unhealthy fat. Accoiding to reports, on the 7th April anthrax disease broke out in several villages, and a considerable number of poultry, geese, etc., died. It may calm the public mind, however, to know that it is impossible to sell these diseased animals in the town, for immediately after death the flesh of the fowls becomes so disorganized and bad-looking, and they have such a foul odour, that the sellers are defeated in their object. - In Saxony, Prinz reports : ‘ Among ruminants and swine, the “ foot-and-mouth disease,” which had been so wide-spread in the past year, did not recur in this, probably because the traffic in foreign, and especially in Hungarian, swine was stopped ; and also partly because the traders took more pre- cautions, while the price of young home-fed pigs was much depressed in consequence of the scarcity of food 11 1 Sanitatsbericht der Provinz Brandenburg, 1S35. 2 Clams und Radius. Beitrage, vol. in. p- 105. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 251 January the epizootic diseases bore a catarrhal rheumatic character, particularly among dogs, and were complicated with bilious affections. The prevalent maladies were catarrhal fever, rheumatic ophthalmia, and colic among horses ; anginous complaints among various classes of animals, and herpetic eruptions among dogs and cats. In February the character of the affections was more purely catarrhal, or only com- plicated with disorders of the lymphatic system — so that besides the feverish and inflammatory complaints, there especially appeared among horses the so-called strangles {druse) or angina, which was accompanied by the formation of abscesses about the throat, and even under the chest and abdomen. In March diseases bore the same character during the first half of the month, but during the second half they were of a catarrhal, rheumatic, and bilious type. Among horses there appeared a bilious chest quinsy ( brustbrdune ), or the so-called chest disease (< hrustseucJie ), which, in animals already predisposed, was very fatal : sometimes by general paralysis of the bloodvessels and decomposition of the blood, sometimes by effusion and congestion of the blood in the pleura, or sometimes by a determination of the blood towards the kidneys, or even to the organs of generation, through the medium of the lumbar vessels, or by internal haemorrhage induced by rupture of the liver or spleen ; or it combined itself with erysipelas of the skin, and then were developed grease, thrush, and herpetic affections {flcchteii). This influenza, though it may have disappeared from the larger stables, yet maintained itself in the smaller establishments of the town and neighbourhood until the month of August, and even in December it recurred again. In April the operation of the above-described constitution extended itself to cattle, so that inflammation of the womb {metritis, gebcirmutterbrand) was not rare among cows after calving. In May the same characteristics were predominant. In horses rheumatic colic was frequent, and this rapidly passed into a gangrenous inflammation of the mucous membrane of the intestines. This phenomenon was also noted among poultry. In the months of June and July there appeared, besides the above-named 252 History of Animal Plagues. feverish and protracted affections, a mucous discharge from the ears, nose, and vagina of many dogs. Glanders appeared in four horses. In August and September catarrhal affections still prevailed, but more of the digestive than of the respiratory passages. Vomiting and dysentery were prevalent, especially among dogs ; among horses, colic ; and among all animals, diarrhoea. In October and November the sickness was un- important, and had no special characteristic. As, however, in December winter weather set in, contrary to expectation, and frequent changes of temperature were noticed, with alternating winds and dampness, catarrhal rheumatic affections were again rife, and among the horses of the large stables the pecu- liarities and course of the spring influenza were again per- ceptible.’1 For Austria, Knolz reports : ‘ The health of the working domestic animals was not so satisfactory this year (1835) as in the past year. The most destructive, and therefore the epizooty which caused most uneasiness, was the rinderpest, which raged in the districts bordering upon Moravia and Hungary, in fourteen places, from the 10th of May, 1835, to the 30th January, 1836. Milzbrand was sporadic during the excessive summer heat towards the end of July and beginning of August, but in a very narrow circle. Among sheep variola raged in ten localities.’2 (It was also prevalent in man- kind.) In Styria, Von Vest reports : ‘Three persons were bitten by a mad wolf in July, in the medical district of Windisch - Feistritz. Of these, two died of hydrophobia fourteen days afterwards. There was no epizooty of any importance among domestic animals, with the exception of a bilious fevei among pigs. The few cases of milzbrand which occurred among cattle, and of quinsy among pigs, were purely sporadic. 3 In the Tyrol, Ehrhart says that the epizooties were contagious lung disease among cattle in the Upper and Low ei Innthal, and an inflammatory lung affection in the districts of 1 Prim. Clarus und Radius. Beitrage, vol. iii. p. 1 r3- 3 Knolz. CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xxv. p. 1S6. 3 Vest. Ibid. Pa'iod from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 253 Botzen and Tyrol.1 In Dalmatia milzbrand and haematuria were epizootic among cattle, and rot and small-pox among sheep.2 In Lombardy the ‘foot disease,’ ‘mouth disease,’ milzbrand, and haematuria, were the maladies prevalent among the domestic animals.3 On the 15th of February of this year, the government of the Thurgau Canton ordered the destruction of all the foxes, in consequence of rabies having appeared among them since 1834. ‘One morning, towards the end of September, 1834, a fox entered a field belonging to a farmer at Bischoffzell, and seized the shepherd boy by the breeches and shook him ; afterwards it attacked an ox, and was subsequently shot by the farmer. In the beginning of October I shot a fox near Neukirch. I was particularly struck with the behaviour of this animal, and with its tameness ; for it either could not, or would not, run away, and appeared to have partially lost the use of its hind-legs. Johann Wartenweiler, of Schweirsholz, found a fox near Bischoffzell, which he killed with his stick. It could not drag its hind-legs after it. On removing the skin, no trace of shot or other injury was visible. Two days later, Joseph Diepold, of Hackborn, also found a dead fox, which, however, he believed had been shot. Jacob Muller, a servant of the district judge ICropf von Buhweil, killed a fox in the Sulgerau, in November, with his whip-stock. On removing the skin, he found no trace of any injury beyond that caused by himself. On the 20th of November I found a dead fox in a morass near Buhweil, rolled up like a ball, and frozen in the grass. I examined it carefully, but found no trace of any wound. It had several pieces of old wood in its mouth, and had been seen by a woman ten days before at Schonholzersweiler, gnawing old timber. The animal placed itself in a threatening attitude towards this woman, and was only driven off when her husband appeared. Lieutenant Habisreutinger found a very large fox near Hosenruck, which was lying dead in a ditch, and without any wounds The same gentleman shot a fox near Wuppenau, which showed a 2S?a^Tu?Sterreich* Med- JaHrbuch, vol. xxv. p. 186. Weber' Ibld- 3 Comolli. Ibid. 254 History of Animal Plagues. disposition to bite his dog ; nothing abnormal was found about this animal. Jacob Alispach, of Hciligcnbrunn, Buhweil, found a dead fox on the 3rd of December. On the removal of the skin no trace of injury could be detected. Herr Muller, in Sorrenthal, four weeks ago, shot a fox before the doors of his factory, the animal having shown a disposition to attack the work-people.’1 In the Canton of Zurich rabies was observed in a cat and a horse, and in Lausanne sheep suffered from this disease.2 At Lyons and its neighbourhood, though the diseases of the domestic animals were not very numerous, yet it is remarked that bronchitis or pulmonary catarrh had attacked many horses and dogs during the springtime and commencement of the summer. It was not a simple affection, but was often complicated with coryza and swelling of the submaxillary glands, parotidean abscess, and angina. A mucous or gastric fever also affected horses from the autumn until the spring, and then the hot weather setting in, it assumed a new charac- ter in the visible mucous membrane taking on an icteric or bilious tint, and the disease then bearing all the symptoms of a bilious fever.3 Becker, veterinary surgeon to the 8th regiment of Prussian cavalry, observed an interesting epizooty of the so-called ‘ yellow ’ or ‘ bilious fever ’ of dogs, in the valley of Luxem- burg. His description is particularly worthy of notice, from its bearing upon the great epizooty of 1761, and Prinz’s description of the Dresden outbreak of 1827. He remarks that epizootic inflammation of the liver is a disease which frequently attacks dogs in southern climates, and particularly those which have sudden alternations from damp and cold to heat. His observations were made from April to August ; when in the valley there was an oppressive sultry damp temperature, and on the hills a cold penetrating wind and chilling currents of air.4 An epizooty appeared among fowls in Eastern Prussia, in 1 Habisreut'mger. Archiv. f. Thierh. Schweiz, thierarzt. vol. vii. 2 Ibid. 3 Recucil de Med. Veter, vol. xiii. p. I. 4 Becker. Magazin fur die gesammte Thierheilkunde. 1838. Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 255 the districts of Rosenburg and Strasbourg, which destroyed many geese in the months of August and September. In France a similar disease was prevalent. ‘ From the month of October, 1835, we were aware that in many com- munes in the neighbourhood of Alfort a remarkable mortality among poultry had declared itself ; many proprietors having assured us that they had lost great quantities even before they knew they were ill. But from the following month we heard no more of this fatality, and it was not until the end of March and the commencement of April of this year (1836) that we learned the disease had recommenced, and until the month of October it had made great ravages. We have also been informed, by the letters addressed to us, that during the months of March and April last it has reigned in many of the communes of the departments of the Seine, the Seine- et-Oise, the Eure-et-Loire, the Seine-et-Marne, etc. ... It attacked all fowls, yet the hens appeared to be much more easily and frequently affected than the ducks or geese ; the pigeons were not often affected. The invasion of the disease was sudden— so much so, that a fowl often died before anyone had time to suspect it of being ill. In some instances the disease lasted for some hours, or even for a day ; but its ter- mination was always fatal, except in very rare cases. When a sick fowl was observed, the following were the symptoms : slow movements, dulness, diminution of the appetite, or some- times complete loss of it ; ardent thirst, and the animal often seeking to appease it ; the wings trailing on the ground, the head carried low, and the neck flaccid ; the crest a little darker in colour than usual ; nothing particular in the defeca- tions. In some localities, among all the fowls affected there has been observed a particular noise in the breathing. After these symptoms which in some cases only last a few minutes in others some hours— succeed the phenomena of coma and* complete insensibility ; the crop, distended by the last-ingested food, protrudes beyond the breast, and becomes the"5 most ccrtam symptom of approaching death ; indeed, death takes place very promptly, and without much struggling Manv people have remarked that the affected fowls die much more 25& History of Animal Plagues. frequently during the night than the clay. With the ducks, geese, and pigeons the disease offers pretty much the same symptoms ; only in its duration is there any difference, it lasting longer in them than in hens. An examination of many fowls which have died from the disease discloses the following results : The flesh and the fatty tissues are a little discoloured, but yet firm enough ; the crest is a bright-red, and not a dark- violet colour, as in many other epizooties ; no matters flow from the natural apertures. The mucous membrane of the oesophagus and the crop are much reddened, and the last- named receptacle is filled with grains or other aliment which has undergone no alteration. The succenteric ventricle shows less redness than the crop, and contains no food. The gizzard is, as is usual in health, full of grains and small pebbles ; its walls do not offer any alteration. Some faint red patches are observed in the intestinal tube. Nothing particular is found in the oviduct, nor yet in the organs of generation. The lungs in some animals appear infiltrated with a blood-coloured serosity, yet when put in water they float. There is no notable alteration in the heart, pericardium, liver, etc. The brain is pale, and looks infiltrated. All that we can say regarding its etiology is, that if, as all are inclined to believe, it is due to general causes, the same as other epizooties, some particular circumstances singularly influence its development ; for in some localities it is far more severe where the fowls have been exposed to damp and bad management, and, above all, where they have nothing to drink but foul water, the drainings of dung-pits, than where they have been subjected to an opposite treatment.’1 In the month of May, 1836, Dupuy observed an epizooty among geese near Toulouse. The post-mortem appearances were : A large number of circular patches of variable extent in the rectum, varying in size from that of a lentil to a five- sous piece, and projecting about a line beyond the surface of the mucous membrane. The other portions of this membrane were remarkable for the great development of its villosities. The whole of the intestinal canal from the gizzard was full of 1 Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. xiii. p. 300, Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 25 7 puriform mucosities, and did not contain any food. The liver \yas of a bright rose-colour, but preserved its ordinary con- sistency.1 Some months before the cholera broke out at Munich, during the summer, a fatal disease appeared among the geese of an extensive breeder in that town, of which three hundred died. When the cholera arrived, this man and his family were attacked, and one hundred and forty-two geese perished. The best-conditioned birds, in returning from feeding, fell, and were unable to rise again, evacuated by the anus a white or greenish fluid, and usually succumbed in about a quarter of an hour.2 An interesting- epizooty is recorded as appearing among the horses of the Queen’s regiment of cavalry at Naples It IS thus described by Mr. Cantiello, the veterinary surgeon of the regiment: 'Pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs has been often and well described by veterinary surgeons ■ but there was a peculiarity about that which prevailed during the ast year (1S35) which deserves to be recorded. It was sadly prevalent and fatal and a great many of the horses that were attacked by it died in a very short space of time. During the month of October, 1835, the greater part of the horses attackedgbv° W™"1 °f Ca™lry Were sudd™ly ttackcd by an epidemic disease, and they were generally th'e youngest and those in highest condition that first failed The earliest symptom, and very sudden in its appearance was great difficulty of respiration and total loss of appetite ’The labou, of breathing was sometimes’so great, that the animal rheums ‘ thCeaitenf, WUh SUff°Cat;on >• ^e legs seemed animal was Tm^ ^ ^ his weight. The mouth was open and itP k SUSta1'" a dark colour, almost approaching to black tT"! °f oreathmg rapidly increased ; the^anks beat M W' °f lostrils were dilated , the tongue and £ \]ZTX riy- V6t'r- theoret- et pratique, vol vii App‘ Cholera-Epidemie in Mlinchen, p. ^9. ’ ' 17 258 History of Animal Plagues. of a still darker hue ; the breath hot and feet id ; the conjunc- tival membrane deeply injected ; the pupil dilated, the ears pendent and cold, and the veins of the face distended. There were other peculiarities : the tail was immovable, the mane coming off at the slightest touch ; the hair erect ; the skin dry, and adhering to the subjacent parts; the urine small in quantity ; the bowels constipated ; the extremities cold ; cold sweats about the flanks and scrotum ; erection of the penis, and general immobility of the animal. The pulse was hard, and little developed at first, but it soon became full and strong. To these symptoms soon supervened a foetid discharge from the nose, the breath also becoming still more foetid ; the mouth and body generally cold ; the countenance of the animal having a piteous expression ; the hair standing on end ; the head depressed ; the pupils dilated, and the eyes fixed. The pulse now became small, intermitting, and soft ; the perspiration at the flanks ceased, and death evidently approached. Little could be prognosticated with regard to the duration of the disease, from either the nature or the succession of the symptoms. Some horses died on the third, others on the fourth, and others not until the eighth day from the first attack. There were many, however, which did not survive the first day; and some, while they were feeding, and with every appearance of health about them, dropped and died as if from apoplexy. * Post-mortem Appearances. — The mucous membrane of the trachea and bronchi was ulcerated, eroded, and filled with pus. The bronchial glands were enlarged, and turgid with blood, or sometimes suppurating. The substance of the lungs was hepatized and enlarged, and then ulcerated, and softened so that it might be torn with the greatest ease. Its exposed cells were filled either with serous fluid, or with grumous blood and purulent matter, of almost a black colour. The inflamma- tion extended to the pleura, and even to the pericardium and diaphragm. In every lingering case effusion was discovered in the thorax. These lesions sufficiently proved that the disease was essentially inflammation of the lungs, had the difficult breathing, the peculiar character of the pulse, the Period f rom A.D. 1 830 to A.D. i^35- 259 coldness of the extremities, and the attitude and motion of the patient left any doubt on the subject. . . . ‘ Causes. — It may appear singular to some readers that I take this division of my subject last ; but I must confess that I have no certain proof with regard to the cause. It arose not from any peculiarity of temperament, of situation, or of food. This was put most strictly to the test. The water, and the provender, as well green as dry, were scrupulously examined, and proved to be altogether without fault. There was no unusually hard work, no want of cleanliness in the stables. The disease was, however, very materially connected with the situation of the stables. It was confined to those horses alone that were exposed to the mountain wind, and the wind blew with unusual coldness and violence from the mountains at that time. This might be taken as a predisposing cause ; it might, as frequently as otherwise, be the exciting cause. In many places in the country, where there was the same exposure to these winds, there were similar diseases ; and as soon as the wind changed, and the weather became milder, the disease gradually declined, and at length ceased altogether. In cases of a milder form we can often readily trace this atmospheric agency, and the vital organs are not exempt.’1 There was a disease among fresh-water fish during this and the two following years. The following is the account furmshed by Mr. Thompson : ‘ I have been informed by Mr. Wm. Todhunter, formerly resident at Portumna, on the anks of Lough Derg (Galway), that about the 20th of June 1835, three eagles visited the shores of that lake, attracted apparently by immense quantities of perch, which, with some rout and pike, ascended in a sick state to the surface of the water and died there. Early in the month of July, in 1836 an 1S37, when the fish likewise died in numbers, two eagles visited the place, and continued a similar time. In 1838, but ew fish died, and the eagles, which made their appearance a out t ie end of July, stayed but for a short period My informant attributed the fatality of the fish to the “ hot cl^e^apoL 1 18^“’ (l§39)’ P> ^ Gi°rnale deIle 17 — 2 26o History of Animal Plagues. weather,” stating that where they died the water was but from one to three feet in depth, and consequently would be much acted on by the heat. The lake generally is shallow, its average depth being about eight feet, and there is no apparent current through it.’1 To this is added the following note: ‘ This fatality was probably owing to an extraordinary diminution of the proportion of oxygen in the water of the lake. MM. Aug. and Ch. Morren, in their most interesting “ Recherches sur la Rubdfaction des Eaux et leur Oxygenation par les Animalcules et les Algues,” state, to quote the words used in noticing their memoir in the “Annals of Natural History,” vol. xii. p. 207, that “At times they have found the proportion (of oxygen) so low as eighteen, nineteen, or twenty per cent., and the consequence has been the destruction of the greater part of the fish by asphyxia. On the 18th of June, 1835 (the very time when the fatality was greatest in Lough Derg), the greater part of the fish in the Maine perished from this cause ; and the same circumstance was observed twice in the pond, which first directed the attention of the authors to the subject of the memoir.” ’ An earthquake at Concepcion, South America, and great death of fish. ‘At the time of the ruin, and until after the great waves, the water in the bay appeared to be everywhere boiling ; bubbles of air, or gas, were rapidly escaping ; the water also became black, and exhaled a most disagreeable sulphureous smell. Dead fish were afterwards thrown ashore in quantities ; they seem to have been poisoned, or suffocated ; and for days together the shores of the bay were covered with fine corvinos, and numerous small fish.’2 Many cattle were rolled down the sides of the steep mountains into the sea and drowned.3 The same observer informs us that hydrophobia was very prevalent in Northern Chili. When in the valley of Copiapo he writes : ‘ An order had recently been issued that all stray dogs should be killed, and we saw many carcases 1 Thompson. Natural History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 25. s Fitzroy. Voyages of the Adventurer and Beagle, vol. ii. p. 410. 3 Darwin. Ibid. vol. iii. p. 37°* Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 261 lying on the high-road. A great number had lately been affected with hydrophobia, and several men had been bitten, and had died in consequence. On other occasions hydro- phobia has prevailed in this valley.’1 He then adds: ‘It is remarkable thus to find so strange and dreadful a disease appearing time after time in the same isolated spot. It has been remarked that certain villages in England are in like manner more subject to this visitation than others. Hydro- phobia must be extremely rare on the eastern side of the Andes, for Azara thought it was unknown in America ; 2 and Ulloa says the same with respect to Quito.3 I could not hear of a case having occurred in Van Diemen’s Land, or in Australia ; and Burchell says, during the five years he was at the Cape of Good Hope, he never heard an instance of it.4 Webster again asserts that at the Azores, hydrophobia has never occurred ;5 and the same observation has been made with respect to Mauritius,6 and St. Helena. In so strange a disease some information might possibly be gained by con- sidering the circumstances under which it originates in distant climates.’ Burchell s statement is as follows : ‘ The hydrophobia, or canine madness, is unknown in these regions ; and indeed in the whole of the southernmost part of Africa. Even in the Cape Colony this dreadful disorder is so rare, that I never heaid of an instance of it during the five years of my being in that part of the globe.’ This evidence appears to be cor- roborated by that of other writers. A Dutch traveller7 at the Cape of Good Hope, in the beginning of this century, alludes to the dogs there: ‘The English have brought over New- foundland dogs, as well as others of the large and hardy breeds ; but it appears as if the climate will not agree with them, since it is universally observed that they are soon seized with a sort of murrain, from which very few recover. Mr 1 Darwin. Voyages of the Adventurer and Beagle, vol iii p 436 :iZarai /T15’ ,VoL i P' 3*1- 3 Ulloa. Voyage, vol. ii. p/28. r Dure hell. Travels in Southern Africa, vol. ii. p. 524. 5 Webster. Description of the Azores, p. 124. 6 Voyage a l’lsle de France. Par un Officier du Roi. vol. i p 248 ' Lichtenstein. Travels in Southern Africa. London, 1815, p. 14.' 262 History of Animal Plagues. Duckett, a well-informed English agriculturist, has made many experiments to introduce other breeds of dogs, but they have uniformly failed. It is very remarkable that no example of madness among the dogs was ever known in the colony ; an additional proof that this disease does not so much originate in the temperature of the atmosphere, as in other properties belonging to the climate.’ Livingstone1 also adds his testi- mony : ‘ In conversation with some of my friends here (South Africa), I learned that Maleke, a chief of the Bakwains, who formerly lived on the hill Litubaruba, had been killed by the bite of a mad dog. My curiosity was strongly excited by this statement, as rabies is so rare in this country. I never heard of another case, and could not satisfy myself that this was real hydrophobia. While I was at Mabotsa some dogs became affected by a disease which led them to run about in an incoherent state, but I doubt whether it was anything but an affection of the brain. No individual or animal got the complaint by inoculation from the animals* teeth ; and from all that I could hear, the prevailing idea of hydrophobia not existing within the tropics seems to be quite correct.’ For West Africa we have the evidence of M. du Chaillu :2 ‘ Though most of the West African villages have crowds of dogs, I never could learn of a case of hydrophobia, nor did the natives even know of such a disease as madness in dogs.’ Elsewhere, at a later period, he confirms the truth of this observation by quite recent experience, and adds that heat cannot be adduced as a cause of the malady, else it would be prevalent in that part of the world.3 Mr. Clarke,4 in 1861, says of the Gold Coast: ‘During the whole period of my service in West Africa, no instance of hydrophobia occurred, although hundreds of half-starved mangy curs patrol the streets of the towns and villages on the Gold Coast, and at Sierra Leone.’ For the Northern Hejaz, Arabia, we find Burton5 writing : ‘ Hydrophobia is rare, and the people have 1 Travels and Researches in South Africa, p. 127. 2 Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa. London, 1S61, p. 221. 3 Journey to Ashango Land. * Topography and Diseases of the Gold Coast, p. 48. 5 Burton. A Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, vol. i. p. 372< Period from A.D. 1830 to A. D. 1835. 263 many superstitions about it. They suppose that a bit of meat falls from the sky, and that the dog who eats it becomes mad. I was assured by respectable persons, that when a man is bitten, they shut him up with food in a solitary chamber for four days, and that if at the end of that time he still howls like a dog, they expel the Ghul (devil) from him by pouring over him boiling water mixed with ashes — a certain cure I can easily believe.’ The disease has been witnessed in North Africa. Volncy1 asserted that it was unknown in Egypt, but in recent times it has been seen in that country by Dr. Pruner.2 In Algeria it was extremely rare during the first ten years of the French occupation ; now it is very frequent.3 Larrey and Professor Alpinus say it was not known in Syria ; but in the present time this is not correct, for while I was at Damascus and Beyrout, in 1867, I made frequent inquiries, and was informed that the malady sometimes caused much mischief. When a person chanced to be bitten, he was shut up in a room, given but little food, and not allowed to look upon any red-coloured object ; after a certain number of days he was immersed in cold water, and then permitted to go at large. With regard to the Mauritius, Pridham,4 so late as 1846, when speaking of the dogs of that island, adds : 4 It Is said they have never been known to go mad in this island.’ But since that period it is stated that this frightful disease has been imported thence from Bengal.5 We have, however, shown that the malady was imported in 1813. Hydrophobia is a somewhat common disease in India. The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone,6 when describing Afghanistan and its climate, says of the pestilential wind — the simoom : This wind is said to blast trees in its passage ; and the hydrophobia which affects the wolves, jackals, and dogs in some parts of the country is attributed to it.’ 1 Volney. Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte. Paris, 1787. 2 Die Krankheiten cles Orientes, 1847. 3 Boudin. Geographic, etc., Medicales, 1857. Pridham. The Mauritius and its Dependencies, vol. i. p. 237. 5 Friorep. Notizen, No. 48. 6 Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, vol. i. p. 185. 264 History of Animal Plagzics. Mi. Maisden1 remarks of the dog in the great island of Sumatia. those brought from Europe lose in a few years their distinctive qualities, and degenerate at length into the cur with erect ears, Kuyu, vulgarly called the “ pariah dog.” An instance did not occur of anyone going mad during the period of my residence. Many of them are affected with a kind of gonorrhoea.’ In Ceylon, hydrophobia sometimes rages very extensively, and hyaenas are frequently affected.2 Forbes3 writes : ‘ The native doctors acknowledge their inability to cure hydro- phobia, saying they can heal the bites, but the gods must do the rest. Three months is the time, after which they consider anyone safe who has been bitten by a mad dog. . . . At one time, when mad dogs were very numerous in the Matale district, mad jackals were also to be met with ; and two men who had lain down to rest in an open shed were severely bitten by a jackal, which, from their description, was evidently in a rabid state. As these men were travellers, I did not learn their fate ; but I have known an instance of a horse dying from the bite of a mad jackal. One day, in that same season, I discovered that three terriers, which I had inherited from the commandant who preceded me, were wandering about the house, all of them suffering from hydrophobia, and one of them so far gone as to be unable to close his mouth They were destroyed without having done any mischief. A few days after this, a servant standing near the door of a room in which my family were sitting, seeing a strange dog rushing in, snatched up a rice-pounder, which fortunately lay within his reach, and killed the animal at a blow ; soon after, a half- armed crowd appeared, and recognised this as the mad dog of which they were in pursuit. It was about the same time that, when riding out one evening, I met a moorman who had been severely lacerated by a mad dog ; but the wounds healed up in about three weeks.’ This man died about six weeks afterwards.4 1 Marsden. History of Sumatra, p. 1 1 5. 2 Pridham. Op. cit. 3 Eleven Years in Ceylon, vol. i. p. 363. 4 The dread of this malady causes the authorities to resort to a cruel mode of extermination of this devoted creature. Tennent notices this : ‘ There is no native Period from A.D. 1830 to A.D. 1835. 265 Hydrophobia is oftentimes prevalent in North and South China. While I was stationed with the British Army of Occupation at Tientsin, North China, in 1860-61, several cases of the disease occurred in the human species. We have already seen that Peru was visited by this formidable malady in 1803, and that in North America it was well known, as well as in other parts of that region of the world. Spix and Martius speak of its being observed in Brazil, though rarely.1 A very recent observer in Mexico, M. Liguistin,2 in his notes on that country, gives us the following remarks : ‘Rabies, thought not very frequent in Mexico, is yet known there. It has been seen from time to time, particularly in the dog and cat species. It is a matter of public notoriety that rabies attacks by preference European dogs just imported into the country. For ourselves especially, since we have been in Mexico, we have had occasion to kill two European dogs which were affected with confirmed rabies, in a period of three months. The first of these animals belonged to Marshal Bazaine, and exhibited all the characteristic symptoms of primitive or spontaneous madness. The other belonged to an officer on the staff, and became hydrophobic in conse- wild dog in Ceylon, but every village and town is haunted by mongrels of European descent, which are known by the generic name of Pariahs. They are a miserable race, acknowledged by no owners, living on the garbage of the streets and sewers, lean, wretched and mangy, and if spoken to unexpectedly shrinking with an almost involuntary cry. Yet in these persecuted outcasts there survives that germ of instinctive affection which binds the dog to the human race, and a gentle word, even a look of compassionate kindness, is sufficient foundation for a lasting attach- ment. The Singhalese, from their religious aversion to taking away life in any form, permit the increase of these desolate creatures, till in the hot season they become so numerous as to be a nuisance ; and the only expedient hitherto devised by the civil government to reduce their numbers is once in each year to offer a reward for their destruction, when the Tamils and Malays pursue them in the streets with clubs (guns being forbidden by the police for fear of accidents), and the unresisting dogs are beaten to death on the side-paths and door-steps, where they had been taught to resort for food. Lord Torrington, during his tenure of office, attempted the more civilized experiment of putting some check on their numbers by imposing a dog-tax, the effect of which would have been to lead to the drowning of puppies ; whereas there is reason to believe that dogs arc at present bred by the horse-keepers to be killed for the sake of the reward.’— ‘Ceylon,’ vol. i. p. 144. 1 Travels in Brazil, vol. ii. 2 Annales de Med. Veter. Militaire, vol. v. December, 1866. 266 History of Animal Plagues. qucnce of a bite it had received from the first-mentioned doe 1 -some days before it was killed.’ This writer gives three very interesting cases of rabies in mankind, two of which were cured by the extract of ‘ huaco,’ a native plant In the coldest regions this much-dreaded malady would appear to be somewhat unfrequent, if not altogether absent. A recent observer believes it to be uncommon in Sweden : ‘ Distemper is as common among dogs here as in England but it takes a rather different form. Madness is, I fancy^rarej but the regulations respecting loose dogs in the town are very stringent during the summer season.’1 In Greenland and Kamtschatka it is said to be quite unknown. Erman,2 de- scribing the Ostyaks of Siberia and their dog-sledges, notices this fact : ‘ Madness among the dogs would be in this country a most formidable scourge, and would infallibly cause the de- struction of whole races of men ; but everyone here (Obdorsk) assuied us that the disease is wholly unknown to them. Steller has stated the same thing respecting the dogs of Kamtschatka ; so that hydrophobia would seem to be one of the European (?) results of living in towns. One essential and unfailing distinction between the dogs of Siberia and those of Europe, lies in the very moderate food of the former ; whence it might be inferred that it is excess, and not want, which generates the morbid habit.’ ^’Dr. Kane, in 1854, when frozen up in the Arctic regions (lat. 78 41 ), alludes to a disease appearing among his dogs, which much resembled hydrophobia. The description he gives of the symptoms is very interesting. The absence of light during the long intense darkness and cold of the Arctic winter may have been a cause in exciting the morbid disposi- tion which proved fatal to many cf these animals, no fewer than fifty-seven having perished.3 Mr. McDougall also speaks of the dogs belonging to the Resolute, in the Arctic regions in 1 S5 3, having serious fits, none, of which, however, proved fatal.4 1 Ten Years in Sweden. By an Old Bushman, p. 169. 2 Travels in Siberia, vol. ii. p. 34. 3 Kane. Arctic Explorations, vol. i. pp. 106, 123, 156, 163, 459. 4 McDougall. Voyage of H.M.S. Resolute to the Arctic Regions, pp. 369, 376. 267 CHAPTER IV. PERIOD FROM A.D. 1836 TO A.D. 1840. A.D. 1836. In England the spring months were stormy. In October one of the most splendid of those phenomena known as the aurorae boreales, or northern lights, was visible one evening. Insects were unusually prevalent over the whole of Europe. In England, Dr. Holland says: ‘In October, 1836, a vast swarm of minute aphides (whether one of the numerous species was not ascertained) passed over a wide district in Cheshire, Derbyshire, and the southern parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The air was so thickly filled with them that the clothes and faces of persons walking out of doors were completely covered. When getting into the eyes they excited considerable inflammation. The height to which the column reached could not be known. From the best observations in one locality, its superficial extent must have been at least twelve miles in one direction by five miles in another ; but the detached notices from other places make it certain that the continuous swarm was much more widely spread. No sufficient comparison appears to have been made of local observations to furnish proof as to the rate and direction of movement ; but it is worthy of notice that the town of Man- chester was infested by these insects for two or three successive days. Wherever generated, or by whatsoever instinct carried on, there is cause to suppose that the swarm was in a transit from one place to another, and possibly brought nearer to the earth by some peculiar state of atmosphere existing at the time.’1 These creatures appear to have made their appear- 1 Holland. Medical Notes and Reflections, second edition, p. 587. 268 History of Animal Plagues. ance in Germany at the beginning of the year. It is reported fiom Schandau, near Dresden : ‘A very strange phenomenon was observed in the month of January, which month was re- maikablc for its dense clouds brought by the south-west wind Millions of small black insects appeared everywhere, lying thickly upon the snow, covering the roads, or swimming upon the brooks. They disappeared with the cold weather and the north winds of February ; there could not be a doubt but that the south-west winds brought them also.’1 In Wurtemberg the maybug was a perfect pest, and grasshoppers were frequent invaders. Towards the end of this and the beginning of the next year, the great European influenza raged among mankind. It broke out suddenly after a heavy snowstorm and a sudden thaw. In England and Scotland horses suffered severely from an epi- zooty, which was also termed influenza. ‘ Influenza has been very prevalent in this part of the country (Carmarthen) for these last three years, and great numbers of horses have been swept off by it on the borders of Cardiganshire and Pembroke- shire ; that partof the country being much exposed to damp and to fogs, and the farmers rather poor, which latter circumstance has caused many an animal to be lost through want of proper treatment. In 1834 and 1835 it made its appearance only in the spring and fall ; but in the present year scarcely a week has passed in which I have not had several fresh cases. The first symptom which I usually observe is a dead, unhealthy appearance of the coat ; the head hanging under the manger; the eyes nearly closed, and filled with tears ; the ears and legs cold ; the mouth dry and feverish ; the pulse accelerated to about 55 t° 60 in a minute; the dung voided in small quan- tities ; loss of appetite ; the membranes of the nose much reddened, and generally accompanied by a discharge of yellow viscid matter ; sore throat, swelled legs, great debility, and sometimes considerable cough.’2 ‘ This epidemic disorder has for several months past been very prevalent in this neighbour- hood. The principal features have been inflammation and 1 Pctruz. Clams und Radius. Beitrage, vol. iv. p. 331. 2 Gutteridge. The Veterinarian, vol. ix. Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 269 tumefaction about the eyes, with considerable effluxion running down the cheeks ; the head drooping ; the mouth hot and dry ; the animal is off his feed — in short, there has been con- siderable fever ; the flanks were tucked up ; the pulse quick- ened more or less ; the legs swelled, and in some cases very painful to the touch ; a general stiffness of the whole muscular system prevailed, accompanied by extreme weakness, a great disinclination to turn in the stall, or to go through a door- way, unless it was large and the threshold low. If relief was not obtained at the outset, every symptom assumed a more intense character. There was usually increased fever or in- flammation of the brain in particular ; the nervous influence was more or less suspended ; the animal quite staggered in his attempt to move, and now and then fell down.’1 In Scotland the disease is more lengthily described by Professor Stewart, of Glasgow : ‘ For three or four months back the influenza has been very prevalent all over the west of Scotland. In the east, I understand, it has been compara- tively scarce. In this quarter we are never entirely quit of it at any time. During the first nine or ten months of 1836 the cases were much more numerous than usual ; but in November, December, and January the disease raged to an unexampled extent. It suddenly invaded stables in all parts of the town ; and wherever it appeared it generally spread over the whole stud. Some escaped, but not many. It is now on the de- cline (March, 1837) ; the last fortnight has afforded few cases. As it has prevailed here and hereabout, the influenza is not a new disease. It is the same influenza that we always have, especially in spring and in autumn. If it was not contagious before, it is so now ; but its increased or its new tendency to spread does not entitle us to regard it as a strange disease. There may be a little difference, but the resemblance is general. The disease has been very common in the country, but not so generally contagious. In some stables there has been only one patient ; but in the town, all, or nearly all, the horses have been attacked wherever the disease has been in- troduced. There are two kinds of influenza. In both the 1 Beeson (Amersham). The Veterinarian, vol. ix. 2 7° History of Animal Plagues. horse is fevered ; in both there is inflammation of the mucous membranes ; and in both the fever, or some other abnormal state of the system— which I shall call pre-febrile— precedes or follows the inflammation. In the one kind the inflamma- tion attacks the eyes, the nostrils, or the throat ; it is confined to the head, and may be termed the cephalic influenza. In the other kind there is inflammation in the lining membrane of the bronchi j this may be called the thoracic influenza. ‘ The pre-febrile stage is very often overlooked or neglected. I have never seen it described. For two, three, or four days, and occasionally for so many as eight, the horse is dull, feeble, sluggish, staggering in his gait ; his coat is dry, and it starts on end after drinking, or upon the least exposure to cold ; he sweats soon ; a little exertion quickens the breathing ; the pulse is very little if at all altered ; the eye and nostrils are not redder (often they are paler) than usual ; the horse eats his corn, but refuses a part or all of his hay ; he is eager for water ; when closely watched in the stable, he may be ob- served to yawn frequently ; and at intervals he makes a deep inspiration, like a sigh. These are the first symptoms. Their duration is uncertain ; it varies from one to eight days, but in general there is a change on the third or fourth. Fever suc- ceeds, accompanied or soon followed by inflammation. What is going on in this pre-febrile stage cannot be told. In vulgar language, the disease is said to be working or brewing ; and I know not that science can give a more expressive name. I have sometimes thought I could detect inflammation lurking about the throat or the bronchi. The throat, at least, is often tender, and the nasal membrane flushed, immediately before the fever is developed. Rigor, as an antecedent of influenza, has not, to my recollection, come under my notice for two or three months. ‘ The febrile symptoms are well known. The hot mouth, hot surface, quick pulse, scanty secretions from the bowels, kidneys, mouth, skin, lungs, and other organs ; the flushed eye and the scarlet nostril ; the prostration of strength, and the aversion to food, require no description. When these symptoms are present the horse is fevered. They belong to all fevers ; but Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 271 in influenza, especially the thoracic influenza, the debility is > excessive and characteristic. The horse is weak from the beginning-, and debility increases as the disease advances. The fever is seldom, perhaps never, fully developed till in- flammation is established ; but in some cases the inflammation ! is not apparent, possibly it does not exist, till the horse is fevered for one or two days. In some the fever comes on very suddenly, runs high, and soon reaches its acme ; in others, it advances by slow degrees, and is not fully developed till after four, five, or six days. In these cases the febrile commotion is not generally so great as in the others, but convalescence is slower. In a great number of cases the horse is so slightly * fevered that he requires no medical treatment. In one stable : there were above fourteen horses attacked. Eight or ten of : these did a portion or the whole of their usual work, which was slow and not very laborious. They all lost flesh very rapidly, and were, indeed, shamefully emaciated. The fever was gone when a practitioner was called to treat the emaciation. They recovered, however, some of them receiving cordials and continuing their work. Some of the others were bled ; one or two were laid up ; but I believe the result would have been nearly or quite the same although nothing had been done. The disease was in a mild form, and there have been very many cases of the same kind. Progress of Cephalic Influenza. — The pre-febrile stage is of short duration ; very often it is not observed ; perhaps it does not always occur ; sometimes a shivering fit is the immediate and possibly the only antecedent of the fever. The fever itself 1 is suddenly developed, accompanied, or rapidly followed by in- flammation of the eye, the nostril, or the throat— one or all. The i conjunctiva becomes intensely red, the eyelid swollen, everted, closed ; tears run down the face, and light is painful. This in- flammation of the conjunctiva is never permanently injurious. It usually declines as rapidly as it rises. When the nasal membrane is inflamed, it becomes red or scarlet ; water flows from the nostiils, and scalds the skin. In two or three cases there have been patches of ecchymosis, and, though not lately abrasions and ulcerations, all, I suppose, arising from intense 272 History of Animal Plagues. inflammation. It frequently proceeds to suppuration, producing a copious discharge, which is generally yellow, but sometimes greenish or bloody, and offensive. So soon as suppuration is established, the fever declines, and the horse recovers his strength and spirits almost immediately. The discharge has sometimes continued for several weeks, but has been permanent in none. . . . When the throat is inflamed, there is cough, or difficulty in swallowing ; one or both, with or without enlarge- ment of the parotids. In two cases the pharynx alone seemed to be inflamed. Deglutition was suspended, but there was no cough. When the larynx is the principal or sole seat of in- flammation, the cough is distressing, but free and loud. It often remains for a long time. Several have it now that are at work and quite well. I feel that in some of them it is settled. In several cases the eye, throat, and nostrils have all been intensely inflamed at the same time. But in general one has been much worse than the other two. Of late, the in- flammation of cephalic influenza has attacked the nostrils and the throat more, a great deal, than the eye The cephalic influenza is often combined with the thoracic, or the latter follows the former. Still, each occurs as an individual disease. I have never seen the cephalic produce death. But if the horse go to fast work with the fever on him, a little destroys him. He dies, overworked, from work that would not have destroyed him had he been well. ‘ Thoracic Influenza. — It is this kind that has prevailed so much of late. . . . The pre-febrile symptoms are well marked. If the horse be at work, they must be seen. In general they are visible from one to four or five days before the fever appears ; that is, before the eye reddens and the pulse quickens. The rider or driver complains that his horse is dull and weak ; upon inquiry it is found that he has not been eating his hay, and perhaps not all his corn. The other symptoms are more or less marked. The duration of this stage is shortened by putting a working horse to rest. At • slow work, I have often seen a horse ill for three or four days, without any sign of fever, which was suddenly developed after he was laid up for twenty-four hours. Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 273 ‘Most frequently the fever steals upon the horse. In the ? cephalic influenza, the horse is well at night, and eats his corn ; next morning he is ill, and refuses his food. But the fever of . thoracic influenza advances in slower measure. Most usually ■ the horse eats a portion of two or three feeds before he abstains entirely ; and it is some days before the pulse reaches its | greatest quickness. It may continue to rise for three or four ■ days, till it reach 70 or 80. In the cephalic disease it often i rises so high in one night, the heat of the body is always i greater, and the debility is not in such excess. The quick ! pulse, the weakness, and the comparatively low tempera- : ture of the skin, are characteristic of thoracic influenza. The j skin is always warmer than usual, but it is not so hot as in 1 other diseases, when the pulse is equally quick. As the fever 'advances, symptom after symptom becomes more clearly (established. The redness of the eye and the nostril deepens ; the prostration of strength amounts almost to palsy; the pulse runs up to 75, 80, and in severe attacks to 90 or 95 ; it :is small, and not easily counted, yet the artery is sufficiently 'perceptible. At the beginning, the breathing is often undis- turbed, and in a few cases it never becomes very quick. In Tiany, it becomes excessively hurried in the height of the ever, or immediately before death. ‘ In all cases it is more or less quickened from the time the Dulse rises, but in some there will be only 12 respirations ner minute, while in others there will be 35 or 40. The i wreathing is always quickest when the inflammation spreads Tom the head, oris seated chiefly in the large branches of the vindpipe. When it is confined to the minute branches, espiiation is comparatively slow. The extremities are usually warm. Sometimes three will be hot, and one cold ; lt other times, one or two will be hot, and the remainder cold ; >ften they are all cold in the morning and hot at night. The' uorse always drinks a good deal, but he is not seriously ill Then he eats either mashes or hay. He may, however, be 'ften tempted to eat articles of which he is very fond, such as arrots, furze, boiled barley, beans, etc. The mouth is hot, ry, clammy, red, and occasionally tinged with yellow. The 18 274 History of Animal Plagues. eyes also are often yellowish, particularly at the beginning. The evacuations are not altered in colour or consistence ; at least they present no appearance which may not be observed in health. They are often retained, the horse, perhaps, pass- ing a whole day without emptying cither bladder or rectum. There is rarely any cough ; when there is, or when coughing is excited by compression of the larynx, the sound is low, stifled, gurgling, interrupted, and sometimes the effort is painful. The horse rarely lies down. For a few minutes he may, at an early period, especially if he does any work after he is ill ; and at a later stage of the disease he sometimes lies down from abdominal pain ; but in nine cases out of ten he stands night and day, from first to last. The blood, when drawn, is always dark-coloured ; it is so even in the pre-febrile stage, though not very decidedly. In fatal cases, the blood is absolutely black, and thick as treacle for some time before the horse dies. The vein fills slowly, and the blood escapes in drops. It is exceedingly cohesive, sticking to the fingers, and uniting with the hair like glue. When the horse is to live, the symptoms, after an uncertain period, remain stationary. He is in much the same state for two, three, or four days. Then he becomes more lively, the eye less red, the pulse softer, the artery not so easily felt, yet broader and softer when it is felt. The heart may continue to be very irritable for several days longer. Before the number of pulsations decrease, there is usually some irregularity in the action of the heart. It beats as quickly as before, but it pauses, omits several strokes every now and then, perhaps at every twentieth stroke. This is a good sign, and in this disease is entirely independent of medicine. The horse gradually returns to his food, moves about, recovers some portion of his strength, but seldom lies down till eight or ten days after he appears to be out of danger. When the horse is to die, his pulse con- tinues to rise till it passes ioo ; the breathing gets quicker; the horse expresses no pain, yet his countenance indicates extreme dejection. He stands for hours together without moving a limb, heedless of all external objects, and showing no desire for anything, except perhaps for water, when he Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 275 ! casts a languid glance behind him upon hearing a pail in j motion. If very heavy, he sometimes lies down, and in this j stage he requires assistance to rise. He seldom lies so long ; as fifteen minutes. As death approaches, the pulse becomes ; exceedingly small, hard, and quick. It can be counted only from the heart. A few hours before death, the horse usually becomes uneasy ; his breathing is very laborious, and perhaps he has pain elsewhere. He is restless, thrusts his muzzle against the keeper, as if he desired to attract attention or implore relief. The eye betrays suffering as plainly as speech could tell it. The horse generally retains his senses till he dies ; but sometimes his vision and hearing appear to be affected, and he executes movements indicative of delirium. At the last hour his breathing is laborious in an extreme degree; he trembles, staggers, reels about, sinks on his haunches, rises, prepares to lie down, again recovers his feet, endeavours to stand, falls, gasps, and after a few struggles to rise, he expires. ‘Upon dissection the cellular, muscular, glandular, nervous, all the vascular tissues of the body are tender, easily torn, and gorged or stained with thick black blood. This is particularly the case when the horse has died without bleeding. When he has died purging, the discolouration is not so general, but the soft, flabby, tender state of the muscular fibre is still more apparent. The bladder is seldom empty. 4 he stomach and bowels always contain much fluid, as much, to all appearance, as the horse has drunk for several days before. The kidneys are never diseased, neither is the liver. This organ, indeed, is tender, and full of blood ; but it is the seat of no more disease than the muscles. The lungs present various lesions. When the inflammation has been confined chiefly to the large bronchi, the lungs are large, much larger than usual; they fill all the chest ; their external surface is little altered. Upon opening the bronchi they are found full of white or reddish froth, which often extends along the whole course of the zrachea, and into the head, filling all the cavities. When the Morse is not examined till twenty-four hours or more after death, this foamy froth escapes by the nostrils, and forms a 18 — 2 276 History of Animal Plagues. pool around the muzzle. It is forced out as the body cools. In addition to this, the bronchi usually contain some bloody purulent matter. The lining membrane is always intensely inflamed ; in some places it is black, in some green, and it is red only where the inflammation has been least. In cases of this kind the horse is never very ill till within a day or two of his death. He dies suddenly, and gasping with his mouth wide open. When the inflammation has been confined to the minute ramifications of the windpipe, the lungs are not larger; their external surface is very dark; they look as if they had been inflamed ; some parts are solid, the bronchia obliterated, or full of bloody pus, mingled with a little air. When the lung is solid, some of the bronchial tubes may be traced, and their lining membrane found in union with a dirty reddish or yellow lymph, by which they are filled up. In those places where the inflammation has not proceeded so far, the membrane is distinct, and intensely inflamed or gangrenous, covered with bloody pus. ‘When the horse lingers, which he frequently does, the inflammation being intense, but not extensive, the lungs are tuberculated, studded with tubercles in different stages of their progress to suppuration, and of different sizes. Some- times no tubercles are to be found ; the lung is black, soft, short, the finger makes a cavity in its substance, and that cavity fills immediately with pus and blood ; the air-tubes are full of lymph, the bloodvessels are full of coagulated blood ; perhaps the pus comes from very minute branches, not seen by the naked eye. The heart contains thick black, semi- fluid blood on both sides, and a little is found in the aorta. The brain I have never examined. The state of the lungs almost forbids further inquiry. ‘ Regarding the seat of the disease, there cannot, surely, be any dispute The inflammation of the bronchial mem- brane sufficiently accounts for the state of the blood. The membrane by which it should be purified is unfit to perfoim its function ; and the blood passes through the lung little altered. The extreme debility, the torpid state of the muscles, of the bowels, of every part ; the diminution of sensation, Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 277 organic and animal ; the absence of pain ; the comparative tranquillity of respiration, and coolness of the skin, are all to be attributed to the state of the blood. . Defaecation does not * take place, and the muscles cannot contract ; the nerves can- not feel, and the glands cannot secrete. 1 o the symptoms produced by impure blood, add those that would accompany an equal degree of inflammation in any other important organ, and you have all the constituents of thoracic inflamma- tion. The cause I do not know. Contagion is a fertile source, and I cannot say that I have been able to trace the disease to any other. Sometimes I have blamed exposure, bad stables, general bad management and other agents ; but I have seen horses again and again under the influence of suspected agents without suffering as I expected they would suffer. Wherever the disease has appeared, it has, with a few exceptions, gone over the whole stud. In many large studs, quite contiguous, but not connected with diseased stables, there has been no influenza. In one containing twelve horses, ten took the disease ; it was double-headed, and the disease went over one side before it invaded the other ; at least, only one on the first side remained well when the others began to be affected. In another stable fourteen out of sixteen horses took it ; and, in the majority of smaller stables, none have escaped. There is often, however, a considerable interval between the first and last. In one stable of about one hundred and twenty horses, one came off a journey with the disease. He was kept out of the yard, and he was the only sufferer The complications and unusual results of influenza are rather numerous : I can do little more than mention them. The cephalic and the thoracic are often com- bined from the beginning, and very often the latter follows the former at the distance of several days. When the bronchial inflammation becomes intense, that of the head usually declines. But if the patient dies, the cavities of the head, frontal and nasal, the trachea, and the large branches of it, are all much inflamed and filled with froth. This com- bination is very common, and easily understood. Pneumonia appears to be present in all the cases that have rapidly run 2/8 History of Animal Plagues. to a fatal termination. But the inflammation is frequently said to be in the lungs when the discolouration arises chiefly or entirely from inflammation in the minute bronchi. Founder (laminitis) has not been so common as it usually is in purely pneumonic attacks. I have had only two cases ; they were, however, of great weight. Abdominal pain has occurred very frequently. I have seen no case in which it existed at the beginning. The horse has always entered the febrile stage, and has been in it for a day or two. Sometimes the pain is very acute ; sometimes merely a passing pang, producing no mischief. When severe and lasting, the pain always quickens and hardens the pulse ; and, unless quickly removed, it destroys the horse. . . . Perhaps the large quantity of fluid contained in the bowels may excite distension or spasm at particular places where it accumulates. There is no gaseous distension. Pleuritis has occurred in three or four cases ; in two, the patients were neglected. They were far gone before they came under treatment. But they seemed to be doing very well for two or three days, till, all at once, the pulse rose, hardened, and the breathing became pleuritic — the costal cartilages forming a ridge along the flank, the expiration prolonged, the inspiration incomplete, the flank not fairly let down. Both died. The pleura was much diseased ; in one the bronchi were gangrenous ; in the other, which lingered for a good while, the bronchi were nearly or quite sound ; but a portion of the lungs was solid, apparently from obliteration of the air-tubes. Except from relapse or neglect, there has been no case of influenza in combination with pleuritis and hydrothorax. Diabetes has occurred in several cases, always at the decline of the disease Hepatitis has not been seen by me : I have heard of it from others, but I do not believe that the engorgement and tenderness of the liver have any connection with inflammation in its substance. Cellular effusion has been very rare. In a few cases the legs, sheath, and brisket have swelled, but in a much less degree than usual after a sharp attack of pneumonia or influenza as it prevails in spring and autumn. I do not understand thc.se serous effusions ; but I am disposed to believe that hydro- Period from A.D. 1S36 to A.D. 1S40. 2 79 I thorax, ascites, cellular effusion, and perhaps diabetes, all arise from a particular state of the system, more than of the organ by which the fluid is furnished. This, however, is merely conjecture. Glanders and farcy , in a very acute form, have been connected with influenza. The fatality of the disease has not been very great, considering the number of cases. In my own practice I have only lost eight. I do not know how many have come under treatment ; I have no list, and cannot remember more than between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and sixty. But between neglect and the bad treatment of quackery, the deaths have been suffi- ciently numerous ; so many have died, that, notwithstanding the high price of provender, all kinds of horses are dearer than usual.’1 In London, Veterinary Surgeon Percivall, 1st Life Guards, writes: ‘Disease has prevailed to an extraordinary .extent among horses during the summer and autumn of the present year. Two distinct epidemics have come under my notice at different times, nowise alike, and seemingly in nowise con- nected. The first made its appearance in the month of May, and declined and ceased in June. It was characterized by dulness and dejection ; by complete and often long-continued aversion to food of all kinds ; by sore throat, and in some instances by catarrhal symptoms ; by celerity of pulse ; by the speedy accession of debility ; and by an insidious prone- ness to run into chronic pneumonia. In fine, altogether, it did not materially differ from many former epidemics. ‘But the second, which commenced in July, and still in the metropolis (October) and probably in many country situations continues to prevail, though its prevalence appears much abated, has assumed altogether a different aspect from the ordinary epidemic. It has manifested this one, among other peculiarities, that in no instance has it presented the appear- ance of catarrh. ‘ Symptoms. — Dulness, and indications of pain in the head ; disinclination to take food ; partial closure, with slight puffy tumours of one or both eyelids ; intolerance of light ; a trifling lJ. Stewart. The Veterinarian, vol. x. p. 1 19. 28o History of Animal Plagues. issue of tears from the inner canthus ; mouth hot, but moist ; fulness of the skin under the jaw ; legs, most commonly all four, swollen and tender to pressure ; sheath infiltrated ; gait stiff, straddling, and, in some instances so difficult in the hind- quarters as to excite suspicion that the loins were affected ; pulse about 60 ; alvine and urinary excretions, if sensibly altered, diminished, there being a disposition to constipa- tion. ‘ The Peculiarities of the present prevailing epidemic consist, first, in its singular uniformity of character : in upwards of one hundred and thirty cases that have occurred immediately under my own observation, it has preserved, with slight variations, identical distinctive signs ; the eyes, the legs, the gait, the sheath, the submaxillary interspace, have, one or other, or all of them, in conjunction with febrile symptoms, too plainly demonstrated the identity of the disorder to admit of a moment’s doubt. And these characteristics, I have since learned, have been as promptly recognisable upon the Surrey hills, farthest from London, as in the very heart of the metropolis itself. The second peculiarity observable has been the absence of catarrhal symptoms ; most influenzae have been noted for affecting severely the mucous membrane of the air-passages ; in the present instance nothing has occurred of the kind that has attracted notice. Thirdly, the present epidemic has been of a remarkably curable nature — it has, with very few exceptions, speedily yielded to mild and simple treatment ; and although its tendency, after the primary attack, to run into debility has been strong and rapid, still that debility has not of itself proved ultimately hurtful further than the ill-conditioned state to which the animal has been reduced by it. Its Tendency or Termination has been, with a little assistance from art, sooner or later, into the return of health and strength. To this, however, there have been some — in comparison to the numbers attacked, very few — fatal exceptions. Out of the one hundred and thirty cases that have occurred in the regiment to which I belong, two have terminated in pneumonia, two in hydrothorax, and one in farcy and glanders : the farcy originated in and spread Pe7'iod from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 281 from the hind extremities ; glanders ensued. In some rare instances the attack has been so slight and evanescent as to pass off after simply a change of diet, without medicine. In the generality of cases, from a week to a fortnight has suf- ficed to restore the animals to health. In some instances a lingering low fever, characterized by languor and debility, with or without swollen legs and sheath, and weak eyes, has supervened, which has called for the administration of tonics and diuretics and stimulants, and required from one week to a %month to overcome. In one case, after the expiration of a month, an abscess formed in the throat, which proved critical, as from that period the animal went on well. ‘ Causes. — My regiment did not move from the Regent’s Park Barracks until the first week in July, up to which period not a single case had occurred of this latter description of epidemic. The first and second weeks in July were marked by oppressively sultry weather, and in the third the influenza made its appearance, of which I have been attempting a description. Soon after its onset it rapidly spread, not from one horse to another standing by his side, or even always in the same stable or part of the barracks ; but it selected as its subjects the young, the three and four-year-old horses, leaving hardly one of them unaffected, and scarcely ever fastening upon an aged horse. I have kept several old horses in 8 situations where they have been surrounded by others affected with influenza, and they have not caught the disorder : for these reasons I have pronounced the disease not contagious. Had I once entertained a different notion, I should have considered it my imperative duty to have used every precau- tion to prevent its spreading: I took none, and I have not had the slightest reason to repent of it. . . . ‘ Relapse . — Rare, but marked, instances have presented them- selves of relapse : about half a dozen horses experienced a second attack, differing only from the first in being milder. In one or two subjects a third attack seemed demonstrable. Pathology. — The parts principally affected appear to be, as far as we are enabled by the symptoms to point them out, the brain and nerves, the spinal marrow, and the serous or exhalent 282 History of Animal Plagues. structures. The dispiritedness and indications of headache, together with the augmented sensibility of many parts, are sufficient to warrant us in inferring cerebral and nervous derangement or excitation ; while the infiltration of the legs, the sheath, the submaxillary space, and the eyelids — all parts redundant in cellular structure, and more or less dependent in their position — make it manifest that the exhalent system altogether is in an inordinate state of activity. This seems to be the result of the cerebral excitation ; or, in other words, a fever is set up in the constitution in consequence of some alarm or irritation the cerebral or nervous system has experienced from some external influence, supposed to be atmospheric, which we neither know nor profess to know, anything about. And indeed, of the nature of the fever we understand as little as we do about the cause : we see it first in an inflammatory form ; next, in a state of decline, as though it were about to take its departure altogether, and in some cases actually doing so ; but in others, instead of leaving, changing into a low debilitative character, and in that form hanging about the animal for quite an indefinite length of time, giving rise, on occasions, to fresh grievances, such as local inflammations or swellings, abscesses, diseased lungs, etc. That the fever is specific or uncommon is shown by various peculiar local disorders attending it, by its couise and tendency, and by the little power we have over it by medicine. That it is not either infectious or contagious is made evident from the manner in which it affects horses standing congregated in large bodies. That it is neither destructive nor malignant in its influence is proved by its evanescent character, and by the speedy return of health. That its production is connected with atmospheric causes seems most probable from the cir- cumstance of its being found to prevail so extensively and generally at the same season, and, in all localities in the centre of London and upon the Surrey hills— to present one uniform aspect.’1 . Mr. Cherry, after stating that he observed the malady first in Berkshire, then at Brixton Hill, Surrey, and about two 1 Percivall. The Veterinarian, vol. x. p. 132. Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 283 r< months afterwards in London, asserts that it spread from cast to west. In July and August its character became rapidly developed, and in the following January it had attained such dimensions that it excited great alarm. ‘ The frost, which was rather severe, brought it out with terrific violence, and the whole kingdom was suffering from it.’1 * Mr. Harrison, of Lancaster, says all horses, from the foal to the most aged, participated in the general sickness." Mr. Gloag, ioth Hussars, in garrison at Nottingham, reports that out of forty horses of that regiment attacked with this influenza, fifteen died.3 On the Continent there are some interesting notices to be found for this year, and among the diseases mentioned we also find this horse influenza. In Pomerania, the milzbrand appears to have been, as usual, the predominant malady. In Brandenburg, the chief characteristic of the prevailing diseases among animals was catarrhal rheumatism, with a constant tendency to nervous derangement, and often with gastric complications. Domestic poultry sickened and died of the same pestilence-like symptoms which have been described for last year. These were mostly noticed among hens during the months of January, April, August, September, and October. The cause of this disease was not reported, and its rapid course gave no opportunity for the trial of remedial measures. It had been observed that during the latter part of the last century and the commencement of this, there had raged among horses for many consecutive years throughout the whole of Germany, and even in other countries to a greater or less extent, a catarrhal nervous fever, with various complications, to which medical writers had given several designations, such as ‘horse-plague’ ( pferdseuche ), ‘nervous catarrhal fever,’ ‘ chest disease’ {brustseuche), ‘ epizootic lung-and-liver inflam- mation,’ and ‘influenza.’ ‘Since 1821 this disease has broken out again, now here, now there, in a variety of forms, and has caused great loss in studs, in the public and cavalry stables. In the year 1836 it raged in the province of Brandenburg over 1 Cherry. The Veterinarian, vol. xx. - Harrison . Ibid. vol. x. p. 8. 3 Gloag. Ibid. p. 12. Many more notices of this epizooty will be found in Mr. Spooner’s (of Southampton) work on the Influenza of Horses. London, 1837. 284 History of Animal Plagues. a tolerably wide district, and especially in the months of January, February, May, and June. In the third quarter of the year it appeared only in isolated cases among horses. In the latter part of the autumn it became more frequent again, and manifested itself as a combination of lung-and-liver inflammation of an asthenical character, but was not very malignant. It was most frequent in stables where large numbers of horses stood ; and from this circumstance, joined to the state of the weather under which it usually occurred, we may learn that one of the principal causes of the disease was the damp, cold, changeable season, and foul air inhaled in the stables. Long rest and good fodder after severe labour seems to have been conducive to the disease, and occasionally even to make it contagious. The symptoms of this malady were : A yellow colour of the conjunctiva and the mucous membrane of the mouth ; sudden and great lassitude — in many cases even stupor ; loss of appetite, especially for corn. There was increasing fever ; and rapid and often soft pulse (from 60 to 100 a minute); quick, short breathing, with fre- quently increased temperature of the breath; pain on pressure in the region of the chest ; a dry cough ; continuous standing posture ; pale-yellow and small-balled dung ; thin urine. The disease lasted from ten to sixteen days. Its termination was frequently accompanied by the passage of a very bilious- looking, dark-brown coloured excrement ; by thick brown urine, and occasionally by a profuse secretion of mucus in the respiratory organs. ‘ Glanders and farcy occurred at all times of the year, but less through infection than through the unfavourable termination of the catarrh {druse), which was so common in its vaiious complications. Among cattle, the milzbrand showed itself first in May, among the herds of Jeserich, near Brandenburg, after the animals had been six days at pasture. Soon aftei- wards it appeared at Golzau, and then in Lutte (in the Piin- cipality of Potsdam). At the latter place it raged at the same time among sheep, and with these, as with the cattle, it assumed in most cases the apoplectic form. Want of water could not have occasioned the disease in these places, and it Period from A.D. 1S36 to A.D. 1840. 285 appears rather to have been induced through the animals having been driven by sandy paths and through clouds of dust to the pastures, which were low and swampy, and the miasma from which had probably a prejudicial influence on health. In July and August the disease showed itself here and there, but only in isolated cases, among cattle, sheep, and swine. In the month of September, however, it appeared among the horned stock of different neighbourhoods of the province, but chiefly in several villages of the Principality of Potsdam almost simultaneously, causing great devastation, especially in the village herds of Stechow (Westhavelland district). In October several head of cattle in the herds at Neuendorf (Cottbusser district) suddenly fell dead. On the 5th of November, at the same place, two head died. The principal cause of this was supposed to be the pasturing the cattle in ponds drained in the spring, and where during the heat of the summer a miasma was disengaged from the slime and decayed vegetable matter ; for all the other cattle re- mained healthy, although not protected from the weather. On the whole, only eight head died, and the disease was stayed on the removal of the cattle from this pasture, and feeding them upon good hay, potatoes, turnips, and pure s spring-water. ‘ The lung disease appeared in about fifteen different places, but nowhere attained such proportions as might have been anticipated by the unfavourable state of the weather. Lccksucht 1 (a desire to lick), and brittleness of the bones — a 1 This affection ( Rosio vaccarum) in which the cow has a tendency to lick and nibble everything, especially saline, calcareous, or earthy substances, is always the sign of a cachexia, which may be compared to the picking [pica) of chlorotic children ( Heusinger ). A similar affection has been observed in sheep in countries where they are housed in winter. These animals not only acquire a morbid dis- position to lick walls and swallow various solid substances, but to lick themselves or other sheep, and tear off the wool, which they ingest. This unnatural condition is said to be due to feeding sheep too exclusively on sloppy food, and not allowing them the dried vegetation natural to them at this season of the year. Hair and other concretions form in the stomachs ; the animals do not thrive, and destroy their fleeces. All this is obviated by allowing them hay. When the habit becomes confirmed, it is often necessary to separate the animals, and dress the wool with nauseous substances. In Germany the disease has also been termed pica, as in children. 286 History of Animal Plagues. disease of late rare in this neighbourhood, became so frequent in the neighbourhood of Sprcmbcrg, Seuftenberg, Calau, and Lackau, from March to the end of September, that it might be considered a true plague ( seuche ). The veterinarian Dietrich ascribed it to the poverty and scarcity of the fodder. ‘Among sheep, anthrax ( blutstaupe ) usually attacks the best- thriving and best-fed ewes in the rich pastures, but especially in the stubble fields, in the summer and autumn. In the year 1836 it appeared under similar circumstances in August, September, and October in several places ; but it nowhere attained any considerable spread, because the owners at once applied the remedy which experience had taught them to use, viz. changing them to a poorer pasture. The veterin- arian Hahn, in Ztillichau, saw the disease break out among a fine flock of four hundred ewes, from the shepherds giving them, for several consecutive nights, musty and damaged rye. The malady showed itself in an apoplectic form, and was of such a dangerous character that a sheep attacked by it rarely lived longer than a quarter of an hour. The animals were usually attacked with trembling and giddiness ovei the whole body, as they were standing at the rack and eating hay or other forage ; then appeared violent convulsions with slimy saliva flowing from the mouth ; death under convulsive con- tortions of the whole body rapidly followed. The variola ovina ( Pockenseuche ) showed itself in the principality of Potsdam, as in that of Frankfurt, and caused very consider- able loss where it broke out during the winter and summer months. A black goat upon a farm at Tzschetznow, neai Frankfurt, where the disease had appeared among the wethers, and which herded with the sick animals, was so violently attacked that the pustules covered the whole of its body, and even spread over its mouth, so that it looked as if sown with them. It recovered by careful nursing, and the course of the malady in it was precisely the same as with the sheep. ‘ Cases of rabies, and dogs suspected of rabies, were unusually frequent this year from January until the beginning of June, and in the months of November and December in several districts, many people and a considerable number of animals Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1840. 287 (horses, cattle, and sheep) were bitten and infected by them. It almost seemed as if the frequent change of weather in the before-mentioned months had some considerable influence in developing the disease.’1 A very deadly epizooty of subacute anthrax was observed among lambs at Pless, in Silesia, from the 20th of May. Mr. Lowack says, regarding the etiology of the outbreak : ‘ The weather in the month of April was cold and damp ; at the beginning of May we had the first warm days. On the 10th of May the temperature was warmer still, and in the afternoon appeared storm and heavy rain clouds, which expended themselves in violent tempests of thunder, lightning, and rain, until the 14th, on which day the weather was clear, and the heat was very remarkable — even oppressive, until after a very severe storm of hail and rain, when the tempera- ture fell and the heavens were clear, but only to the following mid-day. Then masses of clouds gathered and obscured the sun, rendering the eclipse which took place between three and four o’clock p.m. quite invisible. On the 16th, 17th, and 19th of May the air was sultry, with thunder and occasional showers ; from the 20th to the end of May the weather was fine. ‘ These important electrical phenomena have, it is highly probable, brought on the anthrax disease among lambs ; that such powerful electric disturbances in the atmosphere affected the healthy condition of living creatures is shown by the fact, that during an oppressive state of the air the irritability of all organs becomes depressed, and a drowsiness of the whole body takes place ; so that the animal functions do not continue with their usual energy ; the blood in an animal whose death was caused by the anthrax disease is black, and in certain organs greatly accumulated. This dark colour of the blood is caused by an incomplete process of decarbonization, and as the air comes into close contact with the blood through the lungs, such as electric tension of the air must cause similar disturbances in the functions of the lungs, which makes a decreased nervous power conditional upon it. Also the de- 1 Sanitatsberichte d. Provinz Brandenburg, 1836. 288 History of Animal Plagues. creased force of the air before a storm may contribute to this, inasmuch as the blood in the veins does not flow with the usual energy towards the central organ, and an accumulation of blood in certain organs is more likely to arise.’1 2 Glanders, which had been during this and the preceding ycai very prevalent in the Prussian provinces, was also un- commonly frequent in Mecklenburg. ‘ Glanders appeared usually in a sporadic form, but was not seldom widely spread by infection, especially among cavalry horses, etc. In the same manner the glanders raged almost epizootically in the years 1835 and 1836 in Mecklenburg.’* ^ In Dalmatia the rinderpest raged this year in the Spalato Kreise. In the district of Sign it destroyed four hundred head. The disease was introduced from Bosnia. In the other Kreisen no particular diseases were recorded.3 In the Tyrol the epizootic diseases of this year were milz- brand, and then inflammatory and typhoid lung disease among the horned stock of Unterinnthal and Botzen.4 In Lombardy contagious pleuro-pneumonia was very deadly, killing in one instance one hundred and thirty-eight cattle out of two hundred and fifty-six. Carbuncular fever in a district destroyed seventeen out of twenty-four attacked. Epizootic aphtha affected eight hundred and twenty-two cattle and swine, of which number only eight died.5 In Upper Austria the contagious lung disease and Cattle Plague ( loserdiirre ) were prevalent, and between them destroyed one hundred and thirty-one head.6 In this year Professor Jessen, of Dorpat, relates having observed in a goat symptoms which so clearly resembled those of Cattle Plague, as to lead him to infer that the animal was suffering from this malady.7 In Lower Austria, it is reported that the rinderpest was 1 Gurlt und Heriwig. Magazin, vol. vi. p. 17. 2 Versmann. Uber Rotz-und Wurmkrankheit, p. 9. 3 CEsterreich. Med. Jahrbuch, vol. xxvi. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. vol. xxiv. 1 Jessen. Notizen iiber die Lungenseuche und die Rinderpest. Gurlt und Heriwig. Magazin, 1S36, p. 219. Period from A.D. 1836 to A.D. 1S40. 289 somewhat prevalent, and the lung disease of cattle showed itself as an annual epizooty. Trinz reports from Dresden, Saxony, that there was no striking tendency to disease among the domestic animals, and those occurring were due to external influences. The existing maladies were yet sufficiently remarkable to be noticed, from their ordinary features being complicated with others of an unusual character, but chiefly of a bilious kind. At the same time there was a great tendency to nervous disturbance, accompanied by debility, in which a tendency to gangrene was manifest, causing wounds and inflammations to assume an unhealthy aspect. In January appeared catarrhal and rheumatic diseases among horses and dogs, often complicated with mild bilious symptoms. Among lambs, on some sheep- faims, there was a bilious fever which frequently became deadly through softening of the liver and subsequent dropsy ; among older sheep which had ‘rot,’ death was caused by diairheea. In February, rheumatic diseases among horses, cattle, swine, and pigs, were frequent ; among horses and dogs these were often followed by abscesses on the skin. With dogs, dysentery was sometimes observed ; four dogs died of J dumb madness. In March, there appeared at the commence- ment of the month a general attack of sore-throat amongst | horses, which terminated in oedema of the hind-legs. Several horses were also attacked with anthrax fever, which com- menced with rigidity of the neck, but soon ended in gangrene of the intestinal canal. In many horses there also appeared gangi enous swellings at the inferior parts of the limbs. Amono- dogs bilious fever with marked symptoms of jaundice pre- vailed, and five died of rabies. In April anthrax fever was still more prevalent amongst horses, and terminated in gangrene of the intestinal tract or gangrene of the feet— particularly the hinder ones. Among dogs the catarrhal fever was often of a nervous kind, and many fowls died of a bilious inflammation of the intestines. In May there frequently appeared among horses spasmodic colic and rheumatic affections, as well as specific ophthalmia in horses ' an dogs. In June horses were often attacked with inflam- 19 290 History of Animal Plagues. mation of the lungs ; many also died of lymphatic diseases, particularly glanders, after catarrhal affections. In July a gangrenous inflammation of the intestines was frequent amongst horses, with ulceration of the mucous membrane lining the large intestine ; gangrene was common in wounds. Among swine quinsy appeared, and in dogs catarrhal fever, accompanied by an aphthous eruption on the skin ; young poultry often died of debility. In August rheumatic diseases were prevalent amongst horses and dogs ; the former often suffered from gangrenous inflammation of the feet or enteritis, with gangrenous vesicles on the mucous membrane of the mouth. Cats were often attacked during this and the follow- ing months with catarrhal fever, which readily assumed a nervous type, or terminated in a mangy eruption on the skin. In the month of September the catarrhal diseases were less complicated than in the earlier months. Among cattle false cow-pox was observed, and at pasture the young cows suffered from articular rheumatism in the fore-limbs. In October the catarrhal fever was frequently accompanied in horses and dogs with inflammation of the salivary glands, j particularly the sublingual ones. It was also observed that, owing, it was supposed, to being allowed to eat potato-tops, the cows gave what is known as ropy milk. Amongst foreign cows, in consequence of housing (?), the real anthrax fever appeared, with swellings under the skin. In November bilious j catarrhal fevers prevailed amongst horses, with inflammation of the sublingual salivary ducts, and rheumatic colic. In December there appeared amongst swine quinsy, and amongst dogs gangrenous sore mouth, and diarrhoea amongst I all animals.1 At Paris, rabies in the dog had been extremely common throughout the year.2 During the plague in mankind at Marvar, East Indies, j Forbes records a strange mortality among animals. Speaking of that place he writes : ‘ Although the whole of that province 1 had been for long in rather an insecure and disturbed state, 1 Prim. Clarus und Radius. Beitriige, iv. p. 209. 2 Recueil de Med. Veter, vol. xiv. p. 473* Period from A.D. 1S36 to A.D. 1840. 29 r it did not affect, to any degree, the circumstances of the bulk of the people, and food was cheap and abundant ; neither had there been any unusual peculiarity in the seasons. It was said, and I believe with truth, that there had been a great mortality among the cattle, not only throughout Marvar, but in Mullani, and the desert country to the westward, occasioned by a complaint differing from the epizooties usually observed (the name given to this epizooty in Mullani, or the south- western part of Marvar, was “ Mttnk,” i.e. the mouth, the most prominent and characteristic symptom being a copious dis- charge of viscid fluid from the mouth and fauces, resembling a profuse salivary flux) ; but these reports were often vague and unsusceptible of sufficient proof to be quite satisfactory (About Balwir an unusual mortality among poultry was remarked during the years 1836-7.) The most singular phenomena remarked in connection with the breaking out of the disease, and adverted to in Mr. White’s report, was the death of all the rats in the village of Taiwali, during the latter jalf of April, and just before its first appearance. He says : 1 hey lay dead in all places and directions, in the streets ouses, and hiding-places of the walls and that this death of the animals attended or preceded the disease in every town hat was attacked in Marvar, ‘‘so that the inhabitants of any house instantly quitted it on seeing a dead rat.” ’ The epidemic which prevailed in Kumaon, in 1834-5 was preceded, according to Mr. Gowan the commissioner, by a great mortality among the rats in the villages.1 The contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle made its appear- ance a Hasselt, in Belgium, in this year. Dr. Willems writes - This disease was introduced to us from Flanders, in 1836 bv some beasts purchased of the merchant Moras, and first brought to my father's stables, and to those of M Plate! distiller. From that time to the present (1853), all the “rhaavieb ered crderabiy by *■ and mers have been entirely ruined. The disease at first epizootic amongst us, has become enzootic, and decimates a Prov^nc« ofi°„di*p. 34!”' an<1 niS‘0ry °‘ Plas“e the North-Western 292 History of Animal^ Plagues. considerable number of beasts of the bovine race every year.’ 1 In Ireland, a disease in pigs ‘ under the name of cholera, on account of the black colour the animal assumed/ was reported from the county of Cavan and other parts of the island. It was also described under the name of morbus niger ; and was a form of fever attended with symptoms of inflammation of the bowels. Dr. Callanan of Cork, who investigated the disease, says that ‘shortly after the epidemic of cholera, a malignant disease attacked the swine, and swept them off in immense numbers.’ In England, what was designated by Mr. Rawlings of Bristol as ‘ a novel, interesting, and severe disease in a flock of ewes and lambs ’ is reported. Many ewes and lambs had died, and no less than seventy of the latter were ill when this veterinary surgeon was called in. ‘ Their mouths presented a mass of disease, being one complete ulcer. ... I found a large fungus issuing from all around the lower gum, envelop- ing the teeth, and protruding over the lip to a very consider- able extent. . . . The disease clearly originated in the lower gum, and when it was matured to any extent, the ewes refused to allow the lamb to suck, and it gradually pined away. At this stage of the disease, the lamb communicates it to the ewe’s udder. As soon as she is affected, she begins to lose flesh most rapidly ; the udder becomes tumefied. In some of the extreme cases the udder suppurated, and parts of it, with one or both teats, sloughed, and the ewe was rendered useless for a stock ewe.’ The disease also appealed upon another farm, but being looked upon as contagious, and the diseased separated from the healthy, it did not spread. Every inquiry made on the Cotswold Hills proved that such a malady had never been seen among the sheep before this time.2 An excellent essay on the canine distemper in Bengal ap- peared in this year, in which the writer says that imported dogs do not exhibit the same symptoms as the semi-savage pariah dog. In that country it appeared to be due to hea 1 Dr. Willems. Op. cit. 2 Rawlings. The Veterinarian, vol. x. p. 205. ■ ■ «■ I , Period from A.D. 1S36 to A.D. 1840. 293 and moisture, as well as contagion. Jackals suffering from this disease have been shot. ‘ My experience enables me to say that foxes also are liable to a number of diseases in this 1 country, for I have met mangy and emaciated ones very often in the jungles of India. I cannot answer for the wolf, but suspect that, with the other members of the canine tribe, he is also liable to distemper. . . . Distemper is a disease which puts on a variety of forms, and is blended with other ailments, such as enteritis, diarrhoea, and mange.1 ... I have seen a kind of distemper here which lasts for some months during the rainy and cold season, and disappears in the hot weather ; it is most frequently attended with cough, pulmonary conges- tion, and lankness. Another type of the disease comes on in the very hottest months, chiefly in imported strong dogs ; it is acute for a few days, and terminates fatally, when the victim dies in great agony.’2 * 4 A.D. 1837. This year is chiefly remarkable for the epidemy of influenza, which prevailed in many countries. The malady appeared in London during the first weeks in January. For the four preceding months the weather had been singularly wet, cold, and stormy, large quantities of snow having fallen ; ) even in the streets of London it lay for weeks. The evapora- tion of this, when subsequently thawed, rendered the air cold 1 This mange may be the pustular or vesicular eruption which sometimes | accompanies distemper in the dog in this country. 2 Indian Journal of Medical and Physical Science, April, 1863. Nearly all animals is are affected by some form of febrile catarrh, which, though bearing a close analogy I to the catarrhal affection of mankind, has yet, in each species of animal, a strange >, tendency to assume a particular and specific character. The horse, cow, sheep, dog, u goat and cat species have their special form, and each form is liable to assume a S peculiar character. Even monkeys do not escape ; and in them swelling and even [ suppuration of the lymphatic glands has been observed, in this respect resembling the so-called ‘ strangles’ or pyogenic fever of the horse. All catarrhal diseases in the lower animals have a great tendency to become contagious, and sometimes, as * 11 woul