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QACON & COMPANV, PRINTEA3.

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

REJ^ORTS

ON THE

DISEASES OF CATTLE

IN

THE UNITED STATES,

MADE TO THE

COMMISSIONER OF AORICULTURE,

WITH

ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS.

u,

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
186 9.

CONTENTS.

Page.

Preface ^

Eeport ou the Lung Plague, by Professor Joliu Gamgee, M. D 7

Appeudix No. 1.— Tabular statement of Mortality in Cattle, by Mr. John Reid 73

Appendices Nos. 2 and 3.— Tables of Dutch experiments on Inoculation, 1st and

2d series '^4

Report on the 111 Effects of Smutty Corn on Cattle, by Professor John Gamgee, M. D. 78

Eeport on the Splenic or Periodic Fever of Cattle, by Professor John Gamgee, M. D. 90

General remarks on the cattle diseases reported on 162

Remarks on the Ixodes Bovis, by C. N. Riley, St. Louis, Missouri 168

Letter of Mr. H. W. Ravenel, South Carolina, on the Fungi of Texas 169

Eeport of results of examinations of Fluids of Diseased Cattle with reference to

presence of Cryptogamic Growth, by Doctors Billings and Curtis, U. S. A 174

ILLUSTRATIONS.

COPPERPLATE.

Fig. 1. — Micrococcus.

2.' — Bacteria.

3. — Cryptococcus, (common form.)

4. — Cryptococcus guttulatus, (Ch. Robin.)

5. — Penicillium crustaceum, (Fr. old.)

7. — Aspergillus.

8, 9, 10.— Mncor racemosus, (Fres.,) from Hoffman.
11. — Blood from splenic fever X 450.
12.— Bacteria from bile of splenic fever X 1,200.
13. — Mycelium with sporangial dilations, result of culture of splenic fever blood.

WOODCUTS.

14. — A vacuum tul)e.
15. — Isolation apparatus.
16. — Culture apparatus.
17. — Development apparatus.
18. — Ixodes Bovis.

112588

PREFACE.

About the middle of Jiiue, 18G8, a disease broke out at Cairo, Illinois,
at a point where large numbers of Texas cattle had been landed. It
was thought to resemble the disease of the old Spanish cattle on the
Gulf coast, and was thence called "Spanish fever" and "Texas cattle
disease." This spread into Southern Illinois and other districts in con-
nection with the grand depot at Cairo.

My attention was called to the serious natiu^e of this disease when
visiting the fair of the State Agricultural Society at Springfield, Illinois,
whereupon I secured the services of Professor Gamgee, of London,
England, who was at the time in this country, to make a full investiga-
tion, under the following instructions:

lu view of the alarming and continued ravages of the cattle disease in Illinois, known
poi^ularly as the " Spanish fever," and assumed to be communicated by cattle recently
from Texas, I hereby authorize you to make investigations into its cause and character,
and to ascertain and rei)ort, if possible, a practicable remedy or means of prevention.

In accordance with this letter, the i)rofessor visited the districts in
Illinois and vicinity which w^ere affected.

In the spring of this year, in comj)any with Mr. H. W. Eavenel, of
South Carolina, an accomplished botanist, he visited that part of Texas
on and near the Gulf coast, and examined into the conditions of food and
general mode of life of the native cattle of Texas at those points whence
transportation begins. The observations made are embodied in the
accompanying reports of Messrs. Gamgee and Eavenel.

It being desirable that some observations should be made upon the
. effect of fungi entering the system of animals in producing alterations
of the blood and other animal fluids, or general deviations from health
in stock, a request was made by this Department to Brevet Briga-
dier General J. K. Barnes, Surgeon General United States army, that
Doctors J. S. Billings and E. Curtis, assistant surgeons United States
army, might be authorized to assist Professor Gamgee in his experi.
ments upon the subject of the cryptogamic causes of disease. The
Surgeon General authorized these gentlemen to enter upon that duty,
and their report is ai^pended.

It is not to be presumed that this report renders further investigation
needless ; on the contrary, some practical points not yet reached urgently
demand examination. One of these is the best mode of arresting con-
tagion and the proper preparation of cattle for transportation north.
To carry out this investigation a further appropriation is needed.

(3 PREFACE.

Accompanying these reports are two series of micro-photographs of
great beauty and value, which are not roprortuced here. One is a series
of eight niicro-photographs, i)ainted, illustrative of diseased organs and
tissues of cattle laboring under pleuro-pneunionia. The second series is
a group of twelve micro-photographs of diseased tissues and organs of
cattle that have died of the Texas fever or of pleuro-pneumonia, which
latter series has been taken at the Army Medical Museum in this city,
under the supervision of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel J. J. Woodward,
United States army, from specimens of disease forwarded from various
points. An exi)lanatory report of the pathological indications, from the
pen of Dr. AYoodward, accompanies the plates, and it is to me a matter
of great regret that these portions of the work done for the Department
cannot appear with the reports in the present edition. The cost of repro-
ducing these as illustrations is so great that I have not felt authorized
to expend the Department appropriation in order that they might be
inserted here. As, however, they are essential parts of the report, and
necessary to complete the medical natural history of the diseases treated
of, it is hoped that a sum sufficient to cover the expense of engraving
will be appropriated by Congress, so that in another edition they may
be added, and the reports appear in complete form.

The rapid extension of pleiu'o-pneumonia during the summer of 18G8,
and its increased fatality at points where cattle were collected in num-
bers, made it the duty of the Department to ascertain its nature, extent,
and the possible means of checking or wholly obliterating it. 1 there-
fore authorized Professor Gamgee, in the autumn of 1868, to make a full
investigation of the disease then spreading through many States of the
Union. In December of that year Professor Gamgee presented a prelim-
nary report, which was published in the monthly reports of 1808. His
final report is herewith presejited.

HOEACE CAPEOX,

Commissioner of Agriculture.

c

THE LUNG PLAGUE,

BY JOHN GAMGEE, M. D.

INTEODUCTION.

The lung plague of cattle, developed alone as tlie result of contagion ,
recedes and is extinguished wherever the people are fully informed of
its origin and nature, and measures based on such knowledge are
adopted and enforced. Americans can learn this from Massachusetts.
It is, however, the most insidious and the most deceptive of all malig-
nant bovine disorders. It penetrates and travels far and wide, where
unsuspecting farmers and dairymen are far from skilled in the veterin-
ary art. It kills, and yet there are survivors which resist all further
attacks, and in the course of time they tend to form a small but useful
nucleus of insusceptible stock, which enables the i^eople to go on,
though in pov-erty, and hope for better luck. Everj^ one strives, but in
secret, lest the publication of facts should prevent the sale and transfer
of unhealthy or infected stock. Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia, furnish wide fields in
which to determine the truth of these statements.

In x)erusing the history of contagious pleuro-pneumouia, it will be
found that the experiences of the New World are but repetitions of those
recorded by Europeans.

In advising as to the most certain means whereby so destructive a
malady may be eradicated from this country, I have been actuated by
the belief that the diffusion of knowledge, in a form that will carry con-
viction home to every intelligent American, is the most certain means
whereby to deal a death blow to the lung plague. There are many pru-
dent and earnest leaders of the agricultural body in every State, who
can work, and will work, if armed with reliable information; and it is
my belief in this that has induced me to spare no labor in rendering
this as complete and satisfactory a record as possible, of all the knowl-
edge on the subject that is at present at our disposal. Farmers must
not be alarmed at the scientific garb which must necessarily invest such
a work. If they follow me through, without a dictionary, they will not
be left in doubt as to my meaning, and I hope not a few will rise, after
a perusal of what follows, even though they nuiy inhabit the far distant
I)rairies and the mountains of California, and exclaim that it is the duty of
every American, and especially of every American farmer, to manifest
his interest in the extinction of a malady that may for centuries, if

8 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

loft unlM'Oik'd now, harass the stook-iaisors of tho entire continent, anti
brin.y imverty and ruin to many thousands of families.

The report has been subdivided, for convenience of reference, nnder
the followin*'- heads:

I. Names by which the lung plague is or has been known in different
parts of the world.

II. History of the lung plague from the remotest to the present time.

III. Signs or symptoms by which the disease is recognized during life.

IV. Signs or appearances l)y which it is recognized after death.

Y. How the disease is induced, with special reference to predis-
posing causes and the nature of contagion.

VI. The pathology or nature of Inng plague.

VII. Medical or curative treatment of the lung plague.

VIII. Prevention of the lung plague.

NOMENCLATURE.

The popular term murrain was applied, in times past, to all fatal cattle
diseases that prevailed in an epizootic form. The lii'st satisfactory de-
scription of the lung plague, written by Boiu'gelat, in 1769, teaches us
that the malady had been known for some years in Franche-Comte,
under the name "miuie." The expression "pulmonary murrain" has
been somewhat extensively used in Great Britain of late years, espe-
cially when reference has been made to the outbreaks of the last century,
which has been considered as due to the simultaneous introduction in
the British Isles of the Steppe murrain, commonly known as rinderpest
and cattle plague, and contagious lung disease.

When free trade first admitted continental cattle and the lung
plague into the British Isles, this century, the dairyman who first
observed the now fatal foot and mouth disease at once became alarmed
at the " new disease," which proved incurable. Professor Hertwig, of
Berlin, and correspondents of agricultural papers, soon enabled our
veterinarians to recognize in the " new disease " the Lungensciiche, or,
literally, lungs' plague of cattle, which had been studied with great
ability by the veterinary surgeons of Germany. Haller had termed it
Viehseuclie, and expressed his astonishment that it had not been recog-
nized as a disease of the lungs.

German writers w^ere so numerous that attempts were not rare to give
a scientific name to the disease, and Sauberg (juotes seven Latin sen-
tences em])loyed by different authorities in accordance with the views
of the nature and origin of the disease. They are :

Peripneumonia pecorum epizootica typhosa—Veith,Tscheulin,Biirger.

Perii>neumonia exsudativa contagiosa— By chner. Van Hertum.
Peripneumonia exsudativa enzootica et contagiosa — Gielen.
Periinieumonia s. pleuroi)neumonia pecorum enzootica — Dieterichs,

Vix.

I'leuritis rheumatico-exsudativa — Wagenfeld.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 9

Pleuropneumonia interlobnlaris exsndativa — Gluge.

Pneumonia catarrlialis gastrica astlienica — Numann.

Haller's title of Vichseuche is now almost ahvays restricted to tlie
Eussian murrain, and tbe name in universal use in Germany is the
j)opular one of Lungenseuche, and on the title pages of monographs the
ordinary expression employed is Lungenseuche des Bindviehes. It has,
howevCT, also been termed Lungenfdule and Krebsartige Lungenfiinle.

Of the French authors, Chabert first names the malady PeHpneumo-
nie, oil affection gangreneiise du Pomnon. Huzard describes it under
ihOi \\q,a(\. Peripneiimonie Chronique, ou pMhisie pulmonalre, and in 1844:
Delafond designated it Peripneumonie contagieuse du gros Betail.

The Dutch called it Kivaadaardige SlymzieMe, Hecrscliende or Besmet-
ielyhe Longzielcte, Slymzielcfe, SlymlongzieMe, and BotacJitige Longzielde.

In Italy it has been known by the names Pulmonea del Bovini, and
Pleuropneu monia essudafiva.

I am disposed to favor, as a popular name, that of "lung plague," in
order to avoid any confusion with sporadic and non-contagious affec-
tions of the chest. Many years ago Mr. Sarginson, of Westmoreland,
England, spoke of it as an epizootic influenza among cattle, and Mr.
Barlow, afterwards a much respected profess.or in the Edinburgh Veterin-
ary College, was among the first to draw attention to the disease under
the head Epizootic Pleuropneumonia.

HISTORY OF THE LUNG PLAGUE.

Ancient traditions and imperfect records rather tend to bewilder those
who, from the inferences warranted by a comj^lete knowledge of recent
events, are anxious to place before the world evidence of the laws of
nature having been immutable from time immemorial. Our ideas of
creation, and the facts bearing on the origin of all things, are too meager
to warrant us in being confident of our interpretations of the past ; and
yet glimpses of light seem to promise a better understanding of even
antediluvian phenomena in almost every branch of natural history.

The assertion that plagues known now to be propagated alone by conta-
gion have thus been transmitted from the remotest antiquity, is usually
met by objectors with the declaration that the first case must have devel-
oped spontaneously. Professor Haubner, of Dresden,* accepting the
proposition, says : " It is correct that the lung plague was once devel-
oped spontaneously, for no one can suppose that Noah had it with him
in the ark." But we can point to a contagious disease, scab in sheep,
which, if the words of the Bible are to be accepted, indicate the preser-
vation of the scab insect. It is not my desire to enter on discussions
which have no direct practical bearing, and I shall dismiss the objec-
tions of those who spare themselves the labor of inquiry after posi-
tive truth, by declaring that, so far as science has yet taught us, the great
law, that like produces like, operates in the increase of certain animal poi-

* Die Entstehuug und Tilguug tier Luugeuseuclie des Riudes, vou Dr. Karl Haubuer,
Leipzig, ItiGL

10 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

sons or forms of specific virus, just as in the case of other livinji' entities
whose reproduction is undoubted. Spontaneous veneration — tin- tlu'ory
otdeveh)i)nieut hvan aeei<U'ntal coliesion and vivifying- oi' inert matter —
ably as it lias been defended up to the present day, is fast passing into
oblivion. We are, and must probably remain, in ignorance of that final
cause which once molded and gave life to all that is living. All that
is living, however, owes that life to parents, ever since the globe 43ecame
inhabited; and there are no facts to iiulicatc that one form of living mat-
ter grew out of another, and a totally different, form, and that there were
successive stages in the creation of animals or parts of animals. Animal
poisons are only known to us, it is true, as parts of animals. They are
undistinguishable, except from the results produced by them on the
creatures they infest, and yet they are as foreign to them as the count-
less parasites that are only known to us as abiding in the living tissues of
living beings. Indeed animal poisons may be regarded as i)arasitic pro-
ductions, and their difference from the more apparent types of organized
entities may be due more to imperfect means of observation than to act-
ual diversity.

Eftbrts are indeed being made to demonstrate the vegetable origin of
many animal poisons, and it is supposed by some that crytogamic plants,
fuugi, &c., not only approach more the nature of many forms of specific
virus, but actually constitute the contagium or active principle which
breeds and propagates in the development of small-pox, cholera, the
plagues of the lower animals, &c. There is one grave objection to all
that has yet been done in this interesting field of inquiry. The vegeta-
ble forms into which poisons are said to pullulate have not, in a single
instance, been successfully emploj^ed iu the reproduction of the diseases
they have been supposed to generate.

Delafond* quotes Aristotle, who wrote his work on the History of
Animals three hundred and fifty-four years before Christ, iu proof of
cattle being then known to suffer from a disease of the lungs. " The
cattle," he says, "which live iu herds are subject to a malady, during
which the breathing becomes hot and frequent. The ears droop, and
they cannot eat. They die rapidly, and on opening them the lungs are
found spoiled."'

in the collection of extracts and writings of the Greek veterinarians
made by order of the Emperor Constantine, descriptions of the lung
diseases of cattle are given Avhich may lead us to infer the prevalence
even then of the lung plague.t

It would l>e simply waste of time to discuss the merits of unsatisfac-
tory hints — for tliey are not records — which have been traced in the
writings of Livy, Vegetius, Sylvius Italicus, Columella, Virgil, ami

*Tn>it<^ snr In ^lalinlif ilc Poitriiio dii Gros T^c^t.ul, cruinue sons 1o noiii do Poripiu'u.
iiionie C'oiitii;ii»'iisc, [cir (). ]>il;itoiiil, I'aii.s, 1814.

tGcupoiiicoiuni, sen dc re Rustica, Lib. XX — «(lit((l by Peter NfcilliMiii, Ciunbridgo,
17U4— Quoted by .Saubery.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 11

others; liints wliicli no doubt demoustrate that wliicli tew will question —
that ijulnionary disorders have existed throughout all time.

The evidence we need is that definite record of outbreaks of a malady
marked by the leading characteristics of the lung plague. We have to
skip the age of pure quackerj-, when nothing but the unsatisfactory pre-
scriptions of ignorant pretenders in veterinary medicine were handed
down as valuable additions to human knowledge. A purpose is served,
however, by referring to these dark ages, when, in their blindness, men
sought to arrest the unrelenting torrents of fierce contagious by pills,
draughts, charms, and incantatio as. It makes one blush for the errors
and superstitions Avhich, in the Old World and the Kew, prevail up to
the xu'csent hour. For seven and twenty years, at least, my countrymen
have, in the main, favored nothing but quackery in this respect just as
much as continental nations that suffered in ignorance did in the seven-
teen hundred years succeeding the birth of Christ. So late as 18G5 the
outbreak of a virulent cattle plague in England developed in its train
the compounders of drugs and filth and the believers in the treatment
of isolated cases of a plague; of a plague, indeed, which advances in
direct ratio to the delay in extinguishing its virulent poison, and the
rapidity of whose spread may be likened to that of the confluent moun-
tain waters that form inland seas and navigable streams. Let the peo-
ple learn from the ancient history of veterinary medicine, as they can
learn from recent events, that to dam the Mississippi and annihilate its
waters is quite as easy a process as attempting to save a country from
incalculable loss by the medical treatment of isolated cases of a si^ecific
and contagious cattle x)lague.

That is the lesson which the want of knowledge regarding the lung
IDlague in the first seventeen hundred years of the Christian era impresses
upon us to-day. The wisdom of that conclusion may be demonstrated
by tracing up the progress of the malady from 1G03 to 1869.

The first notice, that may be declared less im satisfactory than all pre-
ceding ones, of the ravages produced by an epizootic bovine pleuro-
pneumonia, we owe to Yalentini.* There is a fact of great importance
in relation to the history and i)rogress of pleuropneumonia that writers

* Writing with l)ut a small selection of books from my lil)rary, I am only in a position
to give a second-hand reference to Valentiui's observations, and their importance induces
me to reprodnce Hensiuger's quotation: "Pnecedente hyeme pluvioso, sed in line geli-
dissimo, sub primo vere et insolitus aeris fervor ingruebat, qualis et iwv omnem a'statis
cursum observabatur ; quie mutatio subitanea nou potcrat uou iutequalem et pra>ter-
naturalem humorum et siiirituum motum causare, quem et hominum et brutoruni
strages insecuta est. Boves sane et vacciB catervatim succumbebant, cujus rei causa
statucbatur inter alia ros cotTOsivus, lintea maculis plus minus lutois conspurcans, et
omnino corrodcns. Ex carnilicumoliscrvatione plcrunu[iie plitliisi pulmonali ii('("i))an-
tur, ad <iuam sine dubio haustus frigidiie copiosior post icstum iuteusissiniuui niiiltum
contribucre potcrat. n()niinil)us ])r;cter dyscntcriani ct febrcs maligna sub linciii .Iimii
et initium Angusti liic locorum infciisa erat febris qua'dam intermittens, ut ])hirimum
tcrtiana." Ephem. Nat. Cui". et Sydeiduim. opp. ed Geneva, 1, ji. 276 — quoted in Ee-
cherches de Pathologic Comi)aree — Cassel, 1853.

12 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

jicnorally have overlooked. Valcntiiii's remarks, incomplete as tliey are,
had beeu anticipated by numerous reports concerning the spread of the
foot and mouth disease, or epizootic aphtlue, from east to west. As
contagious cattle diseases travel in the lines of communication estab-
lished by war or trade, so do they appear together or in succession
according to their nature, the length of their period of incubation, and
the circumstances under which the movement of cattle is conducted.

It will serve to clear up many points of doubt if this point is under-
stood. Epizootic aphtluv, or the foot and mouth disease, {Maul n. Klanen-
seiiche of the Germans,) has a short latent stage of two or three days.
It moreover spreads to all warm blooded animals, so that herds infected
with contagious diseases might on their travels, as they often are, be
seized by tliis malady, and then the steppe murrain or rinderpest, which
has a latent stage of a week, or the lung plague which remains latent
for a month, six weeks, or more, may break out wherever signs of com-
munication between cattle of different parts have been furnished by
the rapidly-evolving and curable aphthiB. Tlie poison of one disease
does not counteract or prevent the accession of either of the two others,
and one animal may in succession have the three maladies. In Ger-
many, France, Holland, and England, the foot and mouth disease has
usually preceded outbreaks of lung disease and even rinderpest. In
America, this has not been the case, inasmuch as the voyage across the
Athintic has usually been sufQcient to purge animals of the conta-
gium of epizootic aphthae, even if they had been shipped with the disease
on them, which is not likely, from its very obvious and rapid manifest-
ations.

It is necessary to make one more remark here, which may serve to
facilitate the accm-ate reading of the history of cattle plagues. Although
the lung plague has undoubtedly prevailed more constantly, and pro-
duced a total mortality greater than that due to the steppe murrain,
nevertheless the rapid slaughter of cattle by rinderpest at once sets
peoi)le to adopt repressive measures, and, both by killing and isolating
the di sease itself, tends to supersede other cattle plagues. When it enters
a country like Great Britain, where all animals which had a slight chance
of contamination from public markets were more or less infected with
the virus of lung plague, rinderpest naturally reached those spots first,
cleared the cattle out, and extinguished pleuropneumonia.

Now we shall see that the history of the three maladies I have alluded
to are in many points practically inseparable, so far as their dissemina-
tion in Europe is concerned, and this fact alone would suffice to induce
me to refer to the American outbreaks separately.

In ir).S(>-'87 the foot and mouth disease was noticed in Silesia and
other ]»aits of ICastcrn l^irope. In 1<J!)5 Valentini described the coin-
cident inllanijuation of the feet of cattle and aphtlue in man.* And

* Sub ajquinoctio antuiiiii:ili:i, augusto decrt'into, inllaiinuatio <,niis;ivaniin. linguae et
orisiuhoiuiiiibus, in Inutis vcruni pedum intUuuuiatiuuc!s,observavi liinc imlc. — Loc.Cit.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 13

thus is it establislied, beyond doubt, tliat tlie influences operating in the
transmission of contagious pleuropneumonia were at work then. Val-
entini committed the common error of attributing the king plague to
the weather, but hfs reference to a wide-spread pulmonary disorder
among cattle is sufiaciently distinct to warrant our dissenting from Del-
afond when he says that nothing can authorize the conclusion that the
disease described by Valentini was the pleuro-pneumonia which prevails
to-day among horned cattle.

Sauberg, whose prize essay on the lung plague is worthy of the highest
praise, draws attention to the fact that the propagation westward of
the Eussian murrain, at the commencement of the eighteenth century,
directed the attention of the most learned naturalists and physicians
to the investigation of the plagues of animals, and thus a marked
influence was exerted in the development of veterinary science.

Kanold, Steurlin, Ramazzini, Lancisi, Bates, Lanzoni, Sebroek,
Fischer, Scheuchzer, Bottani, Muratori, Camper, Haller, and numerous
others, have contributed to enrich the science of comparative pathology
by references to outbreaks of epizootic aphthiP, lung plague, rinderpest,
variolous fevers, carbuncular and other diseases, which committed great
havoc up to the time that an illustrious Frenchman, Bourgelat, resolved
to establish a college for the education of veterinary surgeons. All
references to the contagious pleuro-pneumonia are of little practical
moment until we come to the labors of Bourgelat himself. He did not,
it is true— as nobody ever did— on first studying this disease, recognize
its contagious character. He met with it in Franche-Compte, where it
had been known for years under the name of "murie." He described it
as distinguished by a short dry cough, much fever, great oppression,
especially after an animal has eaten anything, loss of appetite, fetor
of breath, dryness of nose, and sometimes discharge of thick whitish
matter from the nostrils. His description of the pleuritic adhesions,
the deposits of gelatinous layers of different colors around the lungs,
the lividity and engorgement of the lungs, and distension of the chest
by a reddish, frothy, sanious, or purulent liquid, is entirely satisftictory,
and indicates how much in advance of his times Bourgelat was in his
description of this malady. As there has been a disposition to revive
the treatment of the lung plague by fumigations, I may mention that,
among other remedies, Bourgelat recommended acetic acid to be used
in this way.

The malady which had thus stationed itself in France, had also estab-
lished secure hold in other parts of Europe, and we learn of its preva-
lence in 1743 in Zurich and the adjacent cantons of Switzerland. It
continued to invade that country by importations from the grand duchy
of Baden, and in 1773 the great physiologist, Haller, published the
ablest memoir on this disease that appeared during the eighteenth
century.* He spoke of it as a lung disease, beginning as an inflanuna-

*Abhaucllunff von tier Viehseuclie. Vou Herru. Alb. Haller. Beru, 1773.

14 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

tioii, whit'li passes into gangrene, or at other times into abscess and ends
in a true marasmus. "It is very wonderful," lie adds, "that among
the many modern physicians Avho have written ou^this plague, which
has been observed so generally and for so long, that they have not
noticed the seat of the disease to be in the lungs." Haller determined
its cause and said, "o/vore all, ice must abandon all liope that the lung
disease is not a contaffions disease. ***** At all events, it is
certain that in our land, as often as the lung plague has appeared
among cattle, the origin of the disease has always been traced to the
purchase of an animal from a suspected market, or to one brought
from an infected district into our land. At other times our country
people have fattened cattle with other cattle from infected parts,"

It is hard to trace the course of a disease during periods when little
attention was paid to comparative pathology. From 1774 to 177G the
lung plague prevailed in Istria and Dalmatia.* Epizootic aphtha? made
steady inroads from eastern Europe into Austria and other parts of the
continent. From 1778 to 1781 pleuro-pneumonia, no doubt very common
in many countries, is specially referred to by Kauset and Orus as in
Silesia and Istria. Its coiu'se during this and subsequent periods was
involved in much obscurity, owing to the more alarming outbreaks of
rinderpest, which absorbed the attention of scientific men, and also
tended, by the wholesale and rapid destruction of herds, to supersede the
more insidious pleuro-pneumonia. Huzard and Vicq d'Azyr studied the
malady in 1791, and report that in the years 1772, 1776, 1780, 1787,
1789, 1791, and 1792 it raged among the milch cows of Paris and its
neighborhood. Chabert described the malady in 1793, and recognized
its contagious character, cautioning people against placing healthy
cattle in communication with sick ones. loggia at that time studied
the malady in Italy, and it prevailed in Baden during the years 1787,
1788, 1792, 1791, and 1798. It is to be regretted that little or nothing
was known of this disease, which no doubt prevailed in Eussia during
the last century ; and we are left to draw our own inference as to its
prol)able prevalence there, from indications of its introduction through
Poland to Prussia, but more frequently into Austria, Wurtemberg,
Switzerland, into northern Italy and France.

Records of outbreaks during the present century are more satisfac-
tory. Boganus studied the nudady in Lithuania, and Jeueu firsjb saAV
it in Kussia in 1821. Ilaupt witnessed it repeatedly in Siberia, and
Busse observed it in the neighborhood of St. Petersburg in 1813, 1811,
1845, and 1850.

The nmlady invaded Prussia from 1802 to 1810, and was described by
Sick in llud(>li>hi's Ohscrvaticms in Natural History and Medicine,
])ublishe(l in Uerlin, in ISOl. Dieterichs witnessed it from 1815 to 1820,
and Nogenfeld published in his work on the disease, official reports of

*A I'liiiti, sopiii I'opizooy.iiX hoviiui ill iilnini lui>nlii di-lla Dahuazia. Moilciia, 1776.
HciJ.singiT also (iiiotcs nu'iaoirs of Orus and Lntti.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 15

its manifestations in the Dantzig district from 1821 to 1831. Gielen saw
the lung plague in 1832, at Blaudenburg, and later, from 1837 to 1843^
in Saclisen. Sauberg, whose prize essay I have so often quoted, enters
into very minute details concerning the outbreaks of pleuropneumonia
in the Ehine pro\inces of Prussia, from 1830 to 1840. Some idea of the
extent of the losses he had to report on may be derived from the fact
that in the single district of Diisseldorf ten thousand head of cattle
were lost from pleuropneumonia in the eight years from 1832 to 1840.
Gerlach has drawn attention to this subject in Prussia with peculiar dili-
gence since 1835, and remarks that he has watched personally so many
cases, in conjunction with historical researches, that he unhesitatingly
pronounces in favor of the view that pleuropneumonia is never devel-
oped spontaneously.

The lung plag-ue prevailed severely in Hanover in the years 1807,1808,
1809, 1810, 1812, 1817, 1818. In 1819 Hausmann suggested and per-
formed experiments in the inoculation of the disease, which never
resulted in practical good. Outbreaks continued to be recorded in Han-
over at short intervals from 1820 to 1843, and it has never been alto-
gether free since.

The malady appeared in Saxony in 1827, and has often raged there
since, as shown in the writings of Haubner, and the observations made
by Leisering, &g.

In 1862 I made a careful study of the progress of pleuro-pneumonia
towards the British isles through Holland, and it is from these two
countries that the New World, Africa, and the Australian colonies have
been contaminated within the past quarter of a century.

The disease entered Holland, according to Numann, the director of
the veterinary school at Utrecht, in 1833, by the importation of cattle
affected with the disease from Prussia, and purchased by a distiller,
Yandenbosch, in Gelderland, In 1835 it was transmitted from Gelder-
land to Utrecht, thence into South Holland, and it raged especially near
the great markets of Eotterdam and Schiedam. The island of Zeeland
then began to suffer wherever cattle were injudiciously imported from
South Holland, and some outbreaks were attributed to infected cattle
from South Holland, Xorth Brabant, and West Flanders. From im-
j)ortations of infected cattle, the lung disease attacked the stock on a few
farms scattered through the provinces of Drenthe, Groningen, and Over-
yssel. It was as late as 1842 that Frieslaud was attacked. British ports
were thrown open to the cattle trade by Sir Eobert Peel, and the demands
of our markets caused a rush of stock through and from the northern
provinces of Holland, which infected them in this year. The first traces
of pleuro-pneumonia were observed at Nejiga and Wurms. The Dutcli
government ordered the slaughter of nil the infected cattle, and Friesland
again remained free of the disease until 1845. Then the British trade
again increased ; cattle were passing from Overyssel to Ilarlingen, and
in the month of December, 1845, the malady appeared at St. Nicolunsga,

16 DErARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

the foUowingf March at Minis, aud soon after at Eiikhuysen. Prevention,
by slau^^litering diseased cattle, was enforced; the authorities in Over-
yssel were asked to adopt siinihir measures, that there shoukl be no re-
newed introduction of disease from that province. The cattle trade was
too active, and no sooner was the malady extinguished in one spot than
it appeared at others. In the last half of the year 1847, the disease broke
out in sixteen stables in sixteen different districts. A last attempt was
made to arrest the malady, and seven hundred and three sick or sus-
pected animals were killed and bmied. Larger and larger did the num-
ber of infected stables become as the cattle dealers' movements increased.
In 1848 fifty-eight different outbreaks occurred. By 1863 between five
and six thousand out of the fourteen thousand stables in which cattle
are kept in Friesland had been visited by the disease, and the annual
mortality rose from 5.25 per thousand in 1850 to nearly 40 per thousand.

It was probably somewhere between 1839 and 1841 that some Dutch
cattle were imported into the county Cork, Ireland, by gentlemen related
to a British consul at the Hague. This was before the days of free trade
in stock, and the animals were introduced under some special permit.
Customs of this early period have their representatives in county Cork at
the present day, and my inquiries would lead me to believe that the
earliest of these importations were followed by the manifestations of
pleiu'o-pneumonia. It spread from Cork into Limerick in 1844, and thence
to Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford, Wicklow, Meath, Galway,
and Eoscommon. The losses in Ireland have been enormous, and indeed
much larger than in England and Scotland. The north of Ireland has
been more free than the south, but in 1844 cattle were imported into
county Tyrone from Glasgow, communicating the disease, which con-
tinued till 1852. Londonderry suffered about lS49-'50, and here and
there in all other counties, not excluding Kerry, the introduction of the
malady by traveling or purchased cattle has occurred.

AVhile the lung disease was thus lighting up in different parts of Ire-
laud, it was committing great ravages in England. All the large towns
containing dairy cows suffered. Speedily did the disease pass from
London to IManchester, and Birmingham to Liverpool, Leeds, Shefiield,
and Xewcastle. It was in the month of November, 1843, that English
cattle carried the disease into Scotland at All-Hallow Fair, in Edinburgh.
It speedily passed to Glasgow, Perth, and Aberdeen. In 1844 it reached
Inverness, on cattle taken there by sea. Thus the large towns and their
vicinities were first affected, but no great interval elapsed before farms
were contaminated. The counties of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire,
Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Xorthnmbcrland were all affected by 1844
and 1845, It was later that the disease entered the breeding districts of
(il()U(;estershire, Herefordshire, and Devon. Cheshire lost early and
much. In Scotland it was 184G and 1847 before many districts in such
counties as Lanarkshire and Ayrshire had the disease. It committed
great ravages in Wigtown, Renfrew, Fife, Perth, Kincardine, and Aber-

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 17

deen sTiires. It lias been rarely, and in a few farms, in sncli counties as
Argyle, Banff, Inverness, and Caithness.

The losses by pleuropneumonia have amounted during the past seven -
and-tweuty years to as high as two millions pounds sterling per annum,
in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The best cattle
have been destroyed, inasmuch as the breeding cows and young stocks
in breeding districts beyond the range of infection never attain the value
of the fine milch cows and fattened steers which exist in milk-produc-
ing and fattening districts. I prepared a table of losses in 88 dairies in
the city of Edinburgh, from the 1st of July, 18G1 to the 1st of July, 18G2,
and out of 1,839 cows, 71)1 were sold diseased to butchers, and L*81 were
sold as food for pigs. The total value of the 1,075 diseased animals when
first bought, at the very moderate average of £13 10s. each, is £14,512 lO.s*.
There was realized by their sale, calculating the value of the 791 sold to
butchers at an average of £5 each, and the 281 sold for pig-feeding at
lO shillings each, the sum of £1,097. The net annual loss by diseased
cows in Edinburgh alone was therefore £10,115. Similar losses have
occurred in all other large cities, such as Dublin, London, Liverpool, New-
castle, &c.

From England and Holland the disease has been propagated far and
wide. In 1817 English cattle communicated pleuro-pneumouia to Sweden,
and in 1818, it appears, from Sweden to Denmark. Mr. E. Fenger, a Dan-
ish veterinarian, furnished me in 18G2 with the following information :
" As to the appearance of this disease in the kingdom of Denmark, it is
an established fact that it has taken place only three times upon three
different farms where cattle had been introduced from abroad. No other
cattle were affected than those in the three herds alluded to, and for
three years no disease has appeared in Denmark. As to the spontaneous
origin of pleuropneumonia, I msh to draw your attention to the fact
that it is never seen in the town of Copenhagen, notwithstanding that
in this place large dairies are kept where the cows are fed on draff" from
distilleries, and are kept in a state contrary to any which sanitary
rules might suggest. In the dukedom of Schleswig the disease has been
imported several times, and last from England, and occasionally has
spread rather widely. This autumn the cattle of thirty different places
in Schleswig have been kept in a kind of quarantine.

In 1858 an agricultural society in Oldenburgli puchased some Ayr-
shires to distribute among its members for breeding purposes. Wher-
ever these animals went they communicated disease. Oldenburgli has kept
very free from pleuropneumonia from the activity with which the infected
animals are destroyed at the outbreak of disease. The same remark
applies to Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Schleswig-IIolstein. With regard
to the latter province, it transpires that in 1859 some Ayrshire cattle im-
ported in the vicinity of Tondern communicated pleuropneumonia.

In the month of August, 18G0, an agent of the Norwegian govern-
ment purchased a number of Ayrshire cattle; they were taken to the
2

18 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Royal Afrricultuiiil College at Aas, jind in the comniencement of Novem-
ber pleuro-piieuinouia broke out amonji- them. Dr. Ohif Tliesen has
intormed me that he limited the disease to the college, by destroying the
native cattle with which the Ayrshire stock had come in contact, and
keeping the Ayrshire animals to themselves. Is^orway had been exempt
from this cattle plague, and owing to Professor Thesen's activity it now
enjoys the same immunity.

In the month of Sei)tember, 1858, Mr. Boodle, farmer, near Melbourne,
imported a cow from England; she landed in good condition and gave
milk. She died of pleuropneumonia six weeks after her arrival. Two
other head of cattle belonging to Mr. Boodle died in December and
another in January. The disease continued to s])read, and the losses
have been enormous and almost incessant in Victoria and even in New
South AVales.

HISTORY OF THE LUNG PLAGUE IN A:MERICA.

The first notice of the lung plague in the United States dates back to
1843, when a German cow, imported direct from Europe, and taken from
shipboard into a Brooklyn cattle shed, communicated the disease, which,
it is said and believed, has prevailed more or less in Kings county. Long
Island, ever since.

In 1847 Mr. Thomas Richardson, of New Jersey, imported some Eng-
lish stock. Signs of disease were noticed soon, and the wliole of Mr.
Richardson's stock, valued at $10,000, were slaughtered by him to pre-
vent an extension of the i)lague.

In 1850 a fresh supply of the lung-plague poison reached Brooklyn
from England in the system of an imported cow.

Mr. W. W. Chenery, of Belmont, Massachusetts, has related the his-
tory of the introduction of lung plague from Holland into Massachu-
setts in 1850. Four cows were purchased for him at Purmerend and
Beemster, shipped at Rotterdam early in April on board the bark J. C.
numi)hreys, which ariived in America on the L'.Ul of May, 1850. Two
of the cows were driven to Belmont; the ctther two had to be trans-
ported on wagons, owingtotheir "extremely bad condition," one of them
*' not having been on her feet during the twenty days preceding her arri-
val." On the .'ilst of May, it being deemed impossible that this cow
could recover, she was slaughtered, and on the iM of .June following the
second cow died. Tlie third cow sickened on the iMHli of June, and died
in ten days. The fourth continued in a thriving condition. A Dutch
cow, imi)()rted in 1852, was the next one observed ill, early in the month
of August following, and she succumbed on the 20th. " Several other
aninnds were taken sick in rapid succession, ami then it was that the
idea w^as first advanced that the disease was identical with that known
in Europe as epizoiitic pleuropneumonia." Mr. Chenery then <lid all in
his power to ])revent the spread of disease from his farm. Tiie last

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 19

case at the Higliland farm, Bolinoiit, occurred on the 8th of January,
18G0.

In June, 18.59, Curtis Stothhird, of North Brookflehl, bought three
young cattle, one bull and two heifers, from Mr. Cheuery. One calf
showed signs of sickness on the way home. Leonard Stoddard, father
of Curtis, thinking he could better treat this sick calf, took it to his own
barn, where he had forty-eight head, exclusive of calves, and with which
the calf mingled. One animal after another was attacked, till the 12th
of April, Avlien thirteen head had died, and most of the remainder were
sick. The disease continued to spread from farm to farm as rapidly
as circumstances favored the admixture of stock. The period of incu-
bation in well-defined cases varied from nineteen to thirty-six days, and
averaged twenty-six and two-thirds days.

The people of Massachusetts, a little slow at first, overcame the delays
incident to legislation, established a commission for the purpose of exter-
minating the disease, and an appropriation of $10,000 was placed under
the control of the commissioners on the 4th of April, 1860. The disease
was gaining ground rapidly, and a bill to extirpate the disease passed
its sev^eral stages and was approved on the same day. Commissioners
were appointed; herds were examined by surgeons, and, if infected,
slaughtered; the animals pronounced healthy at the time of inspection
were paid for; all the money appropriated was spent, and such was the
feeling then in Massachusetts that private gentlemen made themselves
responsible for a second amount of nearly $20,000. An extra session of
the legislature met on the 13th of May. Fresh powers were sought and
obtained, additional commissioners were appointed, and the disease was
apparently exterminated. It reappeared in 18G1, a new board of commis-
sioners was appointed, and further successful efibrts were made to prevent
the disease. On the 24th of December, 1803, Mr. Cliarles L. Flint, in a
letter to Governor Andrew, asserted that pleuro-pneumonia still existed
in twelve or fifteen towns of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr.
E. T. Thayer, to whom the i^eople of Massachusetts owe much for his
skill and industry as the veterinary commissioner, and Mr. Charles P
Preston, wrote their final report to the senate and house of re])resenta-
tives of Massachusetts on the 30th of December, 18G7. In that report,
in tendering their resignations to the governor, they congratulate the
people on the success which had been insured by efiicient co-operation
''in eradicating one of the worst forms of contagious disease which has
been found among cattle,"

From n umcrous inipiiries there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that
the lung disease has continued, ever since its first introduction, to attack
some of the numerous dairies on Long Island. One of the best informed
dairymen in Brooklyn informed me that, three months after starting in
business sixteen years ago, he h)st eleven out of twelv^e cows he had
I)urchased in Newark, New Jersey, lie bought more and began to
inoculate with excellent results. Other people were losing, and he

20 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

estaltlislu'd liiiiiscir on .Taniaicii Poiid to be cU-ar of every one. When
lie stopped inoeulating" the disease reappeared. Mr. Benjamin Babbit,
of Lafayette avenue, was the first to inocnhite after the introduction
of this practice in Ii^urope, and many dairymen adopted it. The board
of health ()pi)0sed the practice, as many of tlije cows lost portions of the
tail, and reports were made of blood and matter findino- their way into the
milk-pail. The disease has never ceased, and I have visited many dairies,
in all of which at one time or another, and in most of which during the
present year, the disease has prevailed. In five dairies I examined, within
one hundred yards of each other, I found one or two sick cows in each.
The Hartford Insurance Company, which has recently suspended opera-
tions, lost heavily on the insurance of cows from the prevalence of this
disease, and that company objected also to the practice of inoculation.

From Mr. Bedell's statement, there is no doubt of the existeiu;e of the
contagious pleuropneumonia in New Jersey when he first bought his
cattle. Mr. Eobert Jennings, veterinary surgeon, had his attention
drawn to the disease on its appearance in Camden and Gloucester coun-
ties, Kew Jersey, in the year ISoi). In ISGO it crossed the Delaware
river into Philadelphia, spreading very rapidly in all directions, parti(;-
ularly in the southern section of the county known as " The :Neck" —
many of the dairymen losing from one-third to one-half of their herds.
The sale of sick cattle continued, as it always does, unless prevented by
rigid laws. In 18G1 the malady appeared in Delaware, and in Burling-
ton county, New Jersey, and the disease could be distinctly traced to the
Philadelphia market.

The records of outbreaks are by no means satisfactory, but a gentle-
man well known in Maryland, Mr. Martin Goldsborough, informs me that
the malady has been very destructive on many farms of that State for the
past three years. Individuals have lost their entire herds, in some cases
numbering twenty-four, thirty, and as high as forty-seven head. Last year
an eft'ort was made to direct the attention of the legislature of Maryland to
the subject, with a view to the adoption of successful measures, but with-
out effect. Mr. Goldsborough's statement is to the effect that the disease
in Maryland is due to the purchase of cattle in the Philadelphia, umrket.
There is no doubt of the great prevalence of the malady for some years
in Pennsylvania. I have seen it on two ffirms in Delaware couuty, and
it has been on several others recently. Bucks county has suffered nuich
for two years. A correspondent informs me that in March, 1807, a drove ot
cows was taken into that county, and one of them was observed to be sick.
These aniunds were distributed among the farmers, and soon the plague
appeared in all directions. An effort was made then to secure the aid of
the State legislature, M'ithout effect, and to this day the disease is in
Bucks (;ounty. The last case I have to report is at Newtown, Bucks
county, where the disease was introduced by cows bought in the Phil-
adelphia market.
That the malady has attained such proportions as to demand constant

THE LUXG PLAGUE. 21

attention, apart from the fact tliat but one case on the whok> continent
is a source of incah'uhible danf;:er, is proved by a circuhir recently issued
by gentlemen in Westchester, Pennsylvania, and which is of sufficient
importance to be reproduced here :

rieitro-pticnmnnia. — The great increase in the disease known as plenro-pnonnionia
among- cattle within a few years past, its highly contagions character, and the acknow-
ledged inability of the most skillful veterinary snrgeons to control or in the least miti-
gate its severity in certain stages of the disease, calls for immediate and (^arnest atten-
tion from the commuuity. It is a well-known fact that the cupidity of many induces
them as soon as the disease develops itself on their premises to hurry off their stock
(diseased as well as those not diseased) to the nearest drove-yard, to he there sold for
whatever they will bring ; to be either sold as food or driven off to new sections, and
there to infect and poison other animals with which they may come in contact.

With the view of arresting this increasing and wide-spreading evil, the undersigned,
a committee of the "Mutual Live Stock Insurance Company of Chester county," au
institution established purely for mutual assistance and protection, respectfully invite
yoiir co-operation in procuring snch action at the hands of onr next legislatiire, by the
passage of a law authorizing the appointment of a suitable number of qualified and con-
scientious inspectors throughout the State, whose duty it shall be to examine thoroughly
all animals, especially those offered for sale, wherever they may be; and subjecting
those offering snch diseased animals to both fine and imprisonment, and to take such
other measures as may be deemed necessary to effect the entire extirpation of the dis-
ease from our midst.

I can corroborate the statements made as to the sale of cattle that are
infected. I^ot only has this occurred often where the disease has been
most rife for years past, as on Long Island, but recently, in making
inquiries in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, I learned of three cows
which had been sold " healthy" (?) out of an infected herd. Such a prac-
tice explains the progress of the disease even further south than Maryland.

I have been informed that the malady has traveled as far west as
Kentucky and Ohio, but of this I have not been enabled in the brief time
since I commenced the inquiry to obtain satisfactory evidence. I have
taken some pains to ascertain if the disease had reappeared in Massa-
chusetts, and personal inquiries in various i^arts of the State show that
it is quite free from the disease, thanks to the energy of its people and
the enlightened action of its legislature.

The conclusions that are warranted by the facts 1 have gleaned are as
follows:

First. That the lung plague in cattle exists on Long Island, where it
has prevailed for many years ; that it is not uncommon in New Jersey ;
has at various times appeared in New York State ; continues to be very
prevalent in several counties of Pennsylvania, especially in Delaware and
Bucks; has injured the farmers of Maryland, the dairymen around Wash-
ington, D. C, and lias penetrated into Virginia.

Second. That the disease trav(^ls wherever sick cattle are introduced,
and that the great cattle-rearing States of the west, which may not at
present be entirely free from the disease, have been protected by the fact
that they sell rather than buy an<l import horned stock.

Third. There are no proper restrictions on the sale of infected stock,

22 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

niid in iiiiotlicr year or two, unless some dolinite and immediate aetion
shall be taken, the disease is likely to Uiul its way into so many parts of
the country that its eradication will be almost a matter of impossibility.

Of all the cattle diseases pleuropneumonia is in the lonj? run the most
destructive, because the most insidious and the least likely to rouse a
people to united action for its eftectual suppression. To ignore its pres-
ence is, however, to insure that the cattle mortality of America, like
that of England, will be at least doubled within a few years. Rational
means, energetic action, and earnest co-operation between the diiferent
States and the central government, may, with a moderate expenditure
now, save many millions annually in the not distant future.

For three years past the city of Washington, and, indeed, the whole
District of Cohimbia, with adjoining parts of Maryland and Virginia,
have been seriously affected with the lung plague. It is gleaned from
the contractors who clean the city of the carcases of dead animals, that
it is not uncommon to have several dead cows in a day from the Wash-
ington dairies; that a dozen a week has not been unusual, during cer-
tain seasons, and that the supply is constant. Unfortunately, as in other
cities of America and Europe, the prevalence of j^leuro- pneumonia results
in a wholesale traffic in such animals. Sick cows are sold to butchers, and
if in good condition command thirty to sixty dollars; others that are
too lean are taken in the early stage, mixed with other stock, and sent
by railroad to Baltimore, to he sold as stock cows to farmers. In fact,
the active and unremittent traffic in sick cattle insures that Washington,
the neighborhood of Alexandria, in Virginia, and Baltimore, will continue
to be great breeding centers of pleuropneumonia. Some idea of the heavy
losses in the Washington district may be gleaned from an annexed table,
prepared by a Washington dairyman. (See appendix at close of this
report.)

SIGNS OR SYMPTOMS DURING LIFE.

It is necessary to draw special attention to the fact that in States or
on farms where the lung plague has never before existed it is the more
readily recognized, in the earlier stages, as in case of other epizocitics,
the more complete the history. The fact that cattle have been recently
purchased, or that drift cattle have crossed the farm or prairie, the
knowledge of tha existence of such a disease in adjoining States or
farms, or of sick cattle being sold by auctions or in the markets, are all
most im])ortant elements in guiding to a correct conclusion as to the
nature of the disease.

Very frequently an animal is bought, placed among others, dies, and
the remaining cattle cough, get out of condition, and some soon sicken.
The ])uichased animal may show no signs of illness however; it may be
sutfering IVom a latent form of the disease, or it may be in the convales-
cent btage, antl gaining tlesh daily.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 23

A dairyman, especially in a large town, may have bad pleuro-pneumo-
nia among- liis cattle, which had subsided, and his stock, composed of
animals that had withstood the disease, might be regarded as healthy.
But some still discharge a degree of poison and infect the atmospliere,
and a newly bought animal dates the period of the incubation of the
malady from the moment it entered the stable.

The incubation of the disease may be said to vary from eight or nine
days to three or four months. In the inoculated malady the exudation
commences sometimes as early as the fifth day, more commonly about
the ninth or twelfth, and it may be as late as thirty and forty days. In
the disease communicated by cohabitation a cough, to which very special
attention was drawn by the experiments of the French commission on
contagion, supervenes about the ninth day and later. It is usually
noticed by cow-feeders, who buy cows which have just calved, that they
drop with the disease about the time they should manifest oestrum, that
is to say, six weeks after their admission.

There are false and true periods of incubation of the lung plague,
and this has been overlooked too much in descriptions of the disease.
The actual incubation is from the period of contamination, by contact or
inoculation, to the moment that a special morbid change commences.
Our means of observation have not been exact enough, and it is very
desirable thatthermometric observations should be made on experimental
animals, and these, with the ordinary phenomena derived by auscultation ,
&c., will assure us of the actual length of the stage of the lung disease
which is unattended by any appreciable sign. We shall then know the
true period of incubation. The false periods of incubation are those
derived by persons from observing an animal to sicken, say four months
after purchase, and drawing- the conclusion that that represents the in-
cubation stage. As a rule in such a case two or three latent instances
of the disease have preceded the obvious one. Then, again, the period of
incubation is not usually stated correctly by farmers, as they overlook
the first signs of the disease, which occur several days before cessation
of appetite, secretion of milk, &c.

Invasion of the huig plague is characterized by local phenomena which
most fre(iuently sliow themselves by the cough already referred to.
With one of Casella's self-registering thermometers it will be found that
in an infected herd some animal or animals in apparent health, which no
one suspects to be diseased, will manifest a temperature of 104° or 105°
Fahrenheit. I have never seen a case in which, when the teinijerature
was thus elevated, I could not detecit friction sounds, loud respiratory
murmurs, especially at the lower part of the trachea- and involving one
lung". It is not a little remarkable to notice the want of faith of some
persons who watch the separation of such cattle, with great doubt as to
the correctness of the observation. In rinderpest the elevation of tem-
perature occurs before all other signs, and to a less marked extent this
is the same with splenic fever; but in iileuro-pneumonia there is reason

24

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

to boliovo that acute observation would reveal first the local change
and then the fever.

In order to show the value of the thermometer in this disease, I sub-
join the observations made by nu' on two herds of cows sutterinj; from it,
and which 1 inoculated on the liOth of February, 1SG9, at Alexandria:

Mil. HKTD.s COWS.

No. rahrciilicit.

1 101.5

2 iin.8

• -A 102.G

4 101.4

5 101

6 102.2

7 102

8 101.8

9 102

10 102.8

11 105. 2

12 101.4

13 101.3

14 103

15 100. 6

16 101.8

17 102. 2

18 101.8

19 102.6

20 101

■sin. I5IEMULLERS COWS.

Xo. T'uliroiiheit.
1 101.4

2.
3.
4.

102
102
101

5 101.6

(; 102.3

7 102

8 • 101.8

9 104.4

10 102.6

11 101

12 102

13 101.6

14 105. 6

15 103.6

16 101.3

17 101

18 101.3

19 104.4

20 102. 2

21 : 101

Of Eeid's cows, Nos. 11 and 14 were sick, and of Biemiiller's, :N^os. 9, 14,
15, and 19. Some doubt exists as to No. 19; I had not opportunity of
seeing her again. Mr. Eeid thiidvs she might have been at heat, but
from the indications, however slight, associated with the elevation of
temperature, I believe it was one of the numerous latent cases which the
thermometer alone reveals to us. Nos. 14 and 15 were in the earliest
stage of the malady, and both grew worse, suttered for three weeks, and
then recovered.

OBVIOUS PREMONITORY SIGNS.

The obvious iiremonitory signs are shivering fits, as in ordinary fever,
but their transient and mild character lead to their often being passed
unnoticed. TIu' animal's coat h>oks dnll, staring, and the skin is often
rigid. An occasional cough of a «lry and harsh character is noticed,
and, when insi>ecting a herd in a field, if the cattle are made to move
briskly, several will be found to cough. For some days the cattle appear
to thrive well, and milch cows yield a copious amount of milk. It has
been renmrked that they appear full— indeed fuller in the early morning
than other animals which, like them, had not fed since the previous
evening. The exeicment is drv and urine s(»nu>what scanty.

TEE LUNG PLAGUE. 25

An expert dairymaid in the liabit of milking' cows where tlie disease
prevails is apt to notice, as tlie malady declares itself, that there is some
stiffness, and the milk is not so freely drawn as nsual. The quantity of
this secretion then diminishes.

The progress of the malady is then characterized by loss of appetite,
altered gait, segregation of the sick from the healthy in the field, the sick
standing with their elbows turned outward, their feet drawn forward,
neck and head extended, and nostrils somewhat convulsively expanded
at each inspiration. There is qnickness of breathing, especially if the
animal is even slightly disturbed, and on the slightest movement there
is an audible grunt. The expression of countenance indicates uneasiness
or absolnte pain, and the eyes are prominent and fixed. The pulse rises
to seventy, eighty, and even one hundred beats per minnte. In hot cow
sheds the pulse is more frequent than in the open field in healthy cattle,
and a corresponding increase is seen in this disease nnder similar cir-
cumstances. The respirations rise to thirty-five and forty per minute,
are labored, andible, and each expiration is often associated with a short
characteristic grunt. This grunt is especiallj' marked if the sides of the
chest or the spine are pressed; and many years ago Lecoq showed that
graziers regarded this as a decisive symptom of the malady. A some-
what watery discharge from the nose, increased in the act of conghing,
is noticed early in the disease, and driving sick cattle in the earliest stage
produces mnch thirst, and there is a ropy saliva discharged from the
mouth. The nnizzle is hot and dry.

Cattle suffering from this disease are readily identified as it advances
by persons having seen a few cases. They stand motionless, with pro-
truding head, arched back, extended fore limbs, with elbows turned as
far out as they can be held, and the hind limbs drawn nnder them, with
knuckling at the near hind or both hind fetlocks. When lying, especially
in the latter stages of the disease, they rest on their brisket or lie on the
affected side, leaving- the ribs on the healthy side of the chest as mnch
freedom of motion as possible.

As the disease advances the pulse gets more frequent and feeble, and
the heart's beats, which are at first snbdned, become marked and palpi-
tating, as in cases of poverty or antiemia. The membranes of the eyes,
mouth, and vagina are usually pallid, though the membrane of the nose
is often red. The tongue is foul, covered with fur, and the exhaled
breath has a nauseous and even fetid odor.

Listlessness, grunting, grinding of teeth, diminished secretions, Aveak-
ness and emaciation, iiK^rease with the progress of the malady. Tlie
animals getting weak, lie more. They sometimes show symptoms of
jaundice, have a tendency to hove or tympanitis from gases accumuhiting-
in the i)annch, and their gait is so staggering that they ai)pear to suffer
from ])artial paralysis of the hind quarters. As all tliese aggravated
symptoms declare themselves the i)ulsegets weak, and often rises to one
bundled and twenty per minute; the breathing gets more freque-nt and

26 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

labDicd; till' aiiiinal ^asps for breath. Tlie spasmodic action of the
nostrils is very marked, the <?riint very audible, and there is a peculiar
puckerin<;- of the angles of the mouth. The temperature, which is ele-
vated during- the acute stage of the disease, is irregularly up and down,
according to the comidicationsof the disease, and there is great tendency
to coldness of the horns and extremities. Abortion is not an uncommon
accident. The constipation, which is a very common symptom of the
lung disease, is a])t to be followed by diarihea in the later stages, and
this is also associated with a considerable discharge of clear-colored
urine.

Auscultation and percussion are valuable aids in the diagnosis of lung
plague. Most persons can, with a little care, distinguish the sick from
healthy cattle by listening to the sides of the chest. It does not require
a skillful expert to recognize that the ribs are motionless and flattened
over the consolidated lung, that there is an absence of resonance on
striking the ribs over the affected region, and that the ear distinguishes
a very distinct respiratory murmur wherever the lung is pervious, and
an absence of this sound where the lung is transformed into a solid mass.

At an early stage of pleuropneumonia there is a harsh sound, roar, or
rhonchus, produced by the passage of air through the windpipe and its
subdivisions. This varies in intensity in different cases, as some animals
have more exudation on the mucous surface of the air passage than
others, and the leathery-looking shreds of lymph adhering to the inflamed
membrane vibrate as the air rushes past them and give rise to the harsh
sound which may sometimes be heard by persons standing by a sick ani-
mal. In many cases one lung alone is affected, and then the respiratory
murmur is more distinct than in health, wherever the lung tissue is per-
vious, whereas there is a total absence of sound over the consolidated
organ. Occasionally an air passage remains open through a mass of
hardened lung, and the air rushing through this rigid bronchial tube
makes a very decided whistling noise.

In the earliest stages of pleuropneumonia the deposit of lymph on the
serous covering of the ribs and lungs produces a leathery-friction sound,
and as liquid accumulates in one or both cavities of the chest the respira-
tory murniur is lost towards the lower part of the affected side or sides,
and it is alone distinct over the upper i)ortions of pervious lung tissue.

A careful examination of the cliest reveals day by day the progress of
the disease. AVlieu one buig is attected an animal is much more likely
to recover than when both are diseased. Portions of the diseased lung-
tissue are apt to die, ami becoming detached or softened, produce cavi-
ties in the lungs, whicli are indicated by a cavernous rale or sound some-
what similar to that produced by blowing air in tiie hollow of the hands
when closed against each other.

By careful auscultation the cases that tend to convalescence nmy be
distinguished by less marked roughness in the inspirations, and a gradual

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 27

tlioug'li slow return of the respiratory murmur, with increased mobility
of the ribs and easier movement of the flanks.

TERMINATION.

Cases of lung diseases in cattle end in partial or complete restoration
to health, or death by prostration, suffocation, purulent fever, or hectic.

As a rule, when a herd of cattle has suifered from the contagious
pleuro-pnenmonia, the surviving animals, whenever slaughtered, show
old adhesions, partial collapse of the lung tissue, atrophy or wasting of
the lung, thickness of the heart's covering or pericardium, and sometimes
chronic abscess. Complete recovery without leaving the slightest traces
of pre-existing lesion occurs, It has been noticed that cattle that have
once had pleuropneumonia fatten more readily than others.

Death supervenes during the acute attacks of the disease from shock,
prostration, or gradual suffocation. When animals linger on for some
time in the bloodless state peculiar to this disease, and which is mainly
due to the great drain on the system by the immense discharge which
occurs in the substance of the lung and cavities of the chest, a perma-
nent impairment of the functions of nutrition or assimilation occurs,
and although the appetite may be partially restored, emaciation advances,
and the animal sinks. A terrible diarrhea or dysentei;y usually accom-
l)auies this form of disease.

In other cases abscesses form in and around the lungs and in other
parts of the body, and the animals die of purulent infection. Occasion-
ally a cavity formed by tlie breaking up of d4seased lung tissue commu-
nicates with the pleural sac or cavity of the chest, and a condition known
to pathologists as empyema results, to the certain destruction of the
animal.

DURATION OF THE DISEASE.

Affected animals usually pass through an incubative stage varying
from twenty to eighty days, and usually averaging from twenty-five to
forty days. The acute stage of the disorder varies from seven to twenty-
one days. Convalescence extends over a period of one, two, and even
three months, during the greater part of which the convalescent animal
is often capable of infecting healthy cattle.

The mortality varies from one to ninety per cent, of the affected ani-
mals. When a first case is isolated early, all the remaining animals may
continue to enjoy health. As a rule, in mild outbreaks, the mortality
obtains twenty-five per cent., and in severe cases sixty, seventy, eighty,
and even one hundred per cent.

In England the lung disease has doubled the usual cattle mortality of
the country, and during many years fifty per cent, of tlie cattle that
have died of disease have died of tlie contagious lung disease.

28 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

LATENT FORM.

It is nocessary tliat I sliould draw s])ecial attention to tlie large nnm-
bar of cases wliieli run an iiisidions eonrse and pass unobserved. These
are the most dangerous, as less care is paid to their isolation.

APPEARANCES AFTER DEATH. .

Animals that are slaughtered, or are permitted to die in advanced
stages of the lung plague, ])resent tlie following characteristics:

The internal changes are contined almost entirely to the chest. On
opening this, by splitting the brisket, as the animal lies on its back,
layers of yellowish, friable, false membrane, of varying tenacity, stretch
across around the sac (pericardium) containing the heart. These adhe-
sions exist on one or both sides of the chest, and are sometimes alto-
gether absent. They are found bathed in a yellowish, grumous fluid or
serum, highly charged with albumen and shreds of solid deposit. Por-
tions of one or both lungs are found more or less tirndy adhering to the
membrane (pleura) covering the ribs and diaphragm, and in i)assingthe
hands, especially round the large posterior lobes of either lung, it is
ditlicnlt, in advanced stages of the disorder, to detach the diseased por-
tions of the organ from the ribs.

The false membranes, disposed in laj^ers which may be stripped oft"
the pulmonary surtace, are found adhering more or less closely to it, and
the membrane (pleura) covering the lung, which is usually smooth and
glistening, is rough, of a njottled color, and with more or less marked
papillary or warty-looking eminences. These are the vascular oft'shoots
of the membrane feeding the deposit around, and in time the process of
growth and formation of vascular or blood-carrying tissue may lead to
as solid a connection between the lung and the sides of the chest as
between healthy tissues. Such complete development is only seen iu
very chronic cases, or animals that have recovered from the disease.

The fluid around one or both lungs varies in amount from a few ounces
to several gallons. At times it is tolerably clear when warm, and gelatin-
izes on cooling. At others it is diflicnlt to separate it from the shreds
of lymph and false membranes in the meshes of which it is held. Pus
cells frequently abound in it, and it assumes in a few cases the character
of pus. It is especially purulent when abeesses have formed in the gan-
grenous lung tissue, and an opening has led to communication between
the lung tissue and the pleural sac. Under these circumstances, the
fetor noticed on opening the chest is intolerable.

On removing the lungs, great variations in extent, but uniformity in
essential appearances, of disease exist.

In recent and mihl cases, one lung is found aff'ected. Its surface may
be smooth from the absence of deposit around it. Parts of the organ
are collapsed, as iii health, and the usual normal i>ink color is noticed.
The allected pai't is swollen, hard, and mottled. On cutting into this,

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 29

tlie older diseased portions present a very peculiar marbled or tesselated
character. The substance of the lobules is solid and of a dark red color,
and the tissue between the lobules is of a yellowish red, more or less
spotted with red points, but sometimes of almost pure yellowish white
color.

Tlie more recent deposits are distinguished mainly by a lighter red
color of the thickened lobules, and there are gradations from this con-
dition to that in which the lobules are but slightly infiltrated with semi-
liquid serum, and air still passes more or less into their air vesicles.

As the disease advances, tlie extent of solidified and darkened lung
increases, and portions of the lung tissue lose more or less the marbled
appearance, from the blood-staining of the interstitial deposit. The con-
solidation of structures advances so that the blood vessels are obstruct-
ed, the diseased lung loses all meaus of nourishment, and the older^
darker, and more solid portions become detached, so that they remain
as foreign bodies imbedded in cavities in the diseased tissue. The admis-
sions of air through the air passages into these cavities by dissolution
of the lung tissue, lead to the cavernous sounds which the ear can detect
in the living animal, and the broken-up tissue decomposes and induces
great fetor of the breath.

One lung may have several points diseased; each lobe may be affected
and little or no communication between the several parts implicated.
Tlie great tenacity of a yellowish white deposit around a marked mar-
bled center of disease has been said to indicate a certain tendency to
limitation by the formation of a capsule, and several encapsulated cen-
ters may be found.

On taking a warm diseased lung, severing the still healthy portions,
making incisions into the parts solidified, and suspending them so that
they may drain, a large amount of yellowish serum of a translucent
character, almost wholly free or more or less tinged with blood, is
obtained to the extent of pounds in weight. The amount varies with
weight of diseased lung drained. The quantity of this and of the solidi-
fied deposit in a diseased lung is so large, that from a normal weight of four
or five pounds, a lung attains to ten, twenty, forty, and I have seen one
as high as fifty-four pounds in weight.

AIR PASSAGES.

The condition of the air passages varies from a condition of perfect
freedom down to the diseased portions of lung, to a state in which the
mucous membrane is coated with false membrane or solid exudations of
lymph. By suitable means it is not difficult to isolate the solid white
lymph clogging the terminal bronchial tubes and air vesicles in the con-
solidated tissues, but at a distance from these i)arts it is only in some
cases that a kind of (;roupy complication exists. I have seen an animal
gasping for breath, with its mouth open, nostrils widely expanded, eyes
prominent, and visible mucous membranes of a bluish red color j ou

30 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

openiiiff the air pnssaj;:os of this cow after deatli, they Avere found
throughout their whoU; extent nearly tiUed Avith a deposit siniiUir to
tliat usually found on the surface of the diseased luuff.

There is little necessity for proloniifinij this <h'scription of cadaveric
manifestations. The heart's sac is sonietiuies thickened by dei)osits
around it. Not unfrequently it contains an excess of serum. The heart
itself is contracted and pale, containing- a little dark blood. The organs
of digestion at different stages manifest a state of dryness. The third
stomach, which is so constantly packed with dry food in febrile diseases,
is in the same condition in pleuropneumonia. 1 liave known the mu-
cous layers spotted with irregular or circular congestions or blood extra-
vasations, and the nuMiibrane softening in these parts has become per-
forated. In advanced cases there is more or less diffuse redness, and
even blood extravasations in the large intestine, with fluid, fetid and
sometimes slightly blood-stained excrement, such as is discharged during
life.

The anfemia — or bloodless condition of other tissues — the dark, dry look
of the meat dressed by the butcher, the yellow color of the fat in some
cases, and the small quantity of fat left in animals that have succumbed
under a chronic attack, are all general signs of greater or less value,
when taken in conjunction with the changes occurring in the chest

THE CAUSES OF TEE LUXG PLAGUE.

The facts which have been adduced in the foregoing pages would seem
sufficient to set at rest discussions as to the causes hitherto alleged as
giving rise to the spontaneous development of contagious pleuro-pneu-
monia. Nevertheless we have seen that wherever the malady appears
for the first time the relation of its undoubted cause and effect is usually
overlooked. Many circumstances tend to obscure the observations even
of experts, and it is more i)arti(*ularly in large cities, where the disease is
most common and observers more numerous, that conditions mislead and
have misled. With a view therefore to impede the renewal of false
theories which have up to the present day insured the steady reproduc-
tion and propagation of this bovine pest, it may be well to enter into
details under three heads:

1st. The alleged original causes of the lung plague.

2d. Contagion and infection.

3d. Conditions fa^'oring or insuring comnumication of the disease by
actual contact or approach.

THE ALLEGED ORIGINAL CAUSES OF THE LUNG PLAGUE.

Man at all times and in virtue of a strong instinct theorizes on the
why and the wherefore of everything. Valentini, in his records of the
lung disease, overlooking altogether many points which, with the know-
ledge of the present day, enable us to interpret correctly the phenomena

THE LUNG PLAGUE. ' 31

he observed, ascribed tlie lung plague to atmospliericag-encies and unsea-
sonable weath'^r. Mailer, a shrewd observer and great philosopher,
adopted an inductive system of research, and, arguing from his own
sphere of observation, declared, in words which deserve to be written in
gold, that so far as his district was concerned the disease appeared always
to be imported. He did not hide the truth under a load of Avild and fan-
ciful theories in attempting to explain more than he saw and could judge
of personally.

Since the establishment of veterinary colleges in France, two theories
have been and to a certain extent continue to be advocated. Chabert
regarded the bovine pleuro-pneumoniaso common in the dairies of Paris
as contagious, whereas Huzard held the contrary opinion. The Held of
discussion widened, and it came to be very widely admitted that acute
affections of the chest were contagious, and the chronic forms incapable
of communication from the sick to the healthy. Kot only was this
believed of pulmonary complaint among cattle ; it was also accepted
with reference to glanders in the horse.

Delafond, though an able advocate of the contagious character of pleuro-
pneumonia iu 1844, had previously entertained grave doubts on the ques-
tion. Even in his classical work on the disease, while advancing a large
mass of invaluable information demonstrating how in truth the nmlady
extends, his usual desire to round off and complete his works led him to
theorize and err as to the origin of what he calls ^^spontaneous pleuro-
pneumonia^^ in cattle. This expression is not applied by him to an ordi-
nary attack of inflammation of the lungs, which no one ever ascribes to
contagion, but to the lung plague. The local or determining causes of
the 'spontaneous form of this disease he summarizes as follows:

A. Heat and impure atmosphere of stables in which cattle live for five
or six months of the year, especially when this heat, this impurity, are
combined with a very nutritive aliment that produces much blood.

B. Abundant milk secretions, required from cows in certain localities,
either for the sale of milk or of butter and cheese.

C. Chills of the skin and respiration by cold, humid, misty air, on pas-
tures, either during spring or autumn ; the introduction of cold air in the
lunas in winter on taking animals from the stables to be watered.

D. The glacial waters which cattle are compelled to drink in winter,
and the unhealthy waters of marshes which they have to take in summer.

E. The hard work to w^hich work cattle are subjected in summer in
clearing forests, &Q,.

F. Lastly, hereditary predisposition.

All this classified blundering might be disposed of in one sentence, by
asserting the truth, that the experience of ages has shown in many parts
of the world, that all these causes, singly and combined, have failed to
induce a case of pleuropneumonia. Whether we examine the agricul-
tural annals of Scotland or Spain, of Canada or Texas, of South America
or Australia, it will be found that alternations of temperature, chills,

32 DEPARTMENT OF A.GRICULTURE.

breathing the pure air of heaven as near th(» north pole as cattle have
reached, drinking the frozen waters of North America or the stagnant
pools in the s\vanii)S of the Carol inas and Louisiana during the hottest
sumnu'rs, the hard toils and sutferings of nuiiiy a ^Mexican yoke of oxen,
and, lastly, the greatest negligence of an agricultural people in relation
to the improvements of breeds, one and all have failed ever to induce a
single case of lung plague. Delafond had his theories. We have an
array of facts on our si<le as great and as incontrovertible as any ever
before adduced in support of any medical or other question.

But brevity is not always desirable when the object to be attained is
the diffusion of an abundant and accurate knowledge, and interesting
points may be beuelicially discussed under the separate heads arranged
by Delafond.

SPECIAL CAUSES PAVORING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISEASE IN

MOUNTAINS.

Delafond asserts that in Switzerland, Piedmont, the Juras, the Dau-
phine, the Yosges, and Pyrenees, pleuropneumonia has existed per-
manently. He does not ascribe this to geological formation, but he
believes firmly, with almost all the veterinarians in mountainous dis-
tricts, that the disposition, topographic situation of mountains and val-
leys, the cold temperature during six mouths of the year, hoar frost,
heavy fogs, coldness and moisture of the nights and mornings on wood,
land pastures, or near lakes and rivers, frequent atnuispheric currents
in spring and autumn, sudden changes from hot to cold, dry to wet, or
vice versa, &c., &c., are the local determining causes which combine,
with other causes that have yet to be noticed, in inducing the lung
plague. Delafond's words are that the causes enumerated concur " a
donner naissance a la periimeumonie dans la haute et dans la basse mon-
tagney

Delafond erred. He had not read Haller; and had he visited any
part where it was said the lung plague was a permanent inlliction, he
would have found, with Haller, that it was always arriving from some-
where, but never originating spontaneously. If we examine the
geographical distribution of the disease we shall find the mountains of
northern Europe, of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, free from the dis-
ease. And yet the special c.iuses he refers to predominate there. No
part of Europe has been more constantly devastated than Holland,
noted for its submerged condition and the vast drainage works which
render it inhabital)le. In the British isles tlie hills have always been
most free from pleuropneumonia. It has i)revaiUHl at all altitudes, but
the Scottish and Irish mountains, distant from high roads and the busy
traffic in cattle, have been the healthiest parts of our country. And in
America, too, the disease has traveled from the east southward along
the coast, attacking cities and farms most in communication with those
cities. It has not penetrated to the fine dairy farms on the hills in

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 33

]S'ew York State, and is not indigenous on the Allcgbanies. It were a
much easier task to trace the mahKly to fertile valleys, where cattle are
often covered, as in Holland, to be protected from cold, and to towns
where animals are always in stables, than to trace the spontaneous
origin of the disease to the mountains of Central and Western Europe.

FEEDING.

There are many farmers, apt to reason on insufficient data, who notice
coincideuces between the development of the lung disease and great
increase in some countries in the number of distilleries, the amount of
grains and distillery waste fed to cattle. Others declare the disease
commenced with the potato disease, and may be produced by feeding
cattle on diseased potatoes. The introduction of turnip husbandry,
which undoubtedly first made us acquainted with a form of red water
in cows, and severe apoplectic affections in sheep, has also been regarded
as the cause in Great Britain, of the lung disease in cattle. Delafond
agrees that the foods named do not cause pi euro-pneumonia, and it would
be easy to fill a large volume with facts in support of this assertion;
and yet he goes on to say that food that is too succulent, distributed in
large quantity among cattle that are being stall fed, either for the
butcher or for the production of milk, may induce {pent occasioner,)
pleuro-pneumonia.

We are not ignorant of the precise results which ensue when an
excessive quantity, inordinate richness, or diseased condition of the
alimentary matters named may operate in inducing ill effects. Diseased
potatoes induce indigestion and colic. Turnips grown on ill-drained
lands give rise to hematuria, the red water of cows after parturition.
Distillery products occasion diuresis, disturbed digestion, ami when
still charged with alcoholic principles give rise to cerebral disturbance,
apoplexy and death. These, and not pleuro-pneumonia, are known to us
as capable of development from the abuse of otherwise useful articles
of cattle feeding.

STABLING — STALL FEEDING.

Many have been the high-colored descriptions of the wretched
stables, sheds, or what the Scotch people term " byres," in which cattle
are housed. It matters not that for generations cattle were similarly
housed without suffering from pleuro-pneumonia. There are always
those ready to skim the surface for reasons, and, after noticing the close-
ness, filth, and torturing narrowness of cattle stalls, ascribe to that any
and every plague infecting the cow shed. It is needless to walk the
observer through the fetid holes in which cattle are kept for the sujjply
of milk in Copenhagen, where pleuro-pneumonia has not been observed,
nor to refer to the days when the London dairymen, richer in money
and cows, kept the latter worse, bred from them regularly, and could
3

34 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

maintain country farms on wliicli to graze tluMn while calving-. It stands
to reason, according to some, that such conditions must induce i)leuro-
pneunu)nia. In America-, sensation articles and skillful illustrations
have not been wanting, and no one can hesitate in declaring that the
cow sheds of Brooklyn and other cities are a disgrace to a civilized
peoi)le.

Iluzard lirst described the cow houses of Paris as they were in 171):].
It is needless to follow him through a long description of low sheds, in
Avhich a man could not stand erect, where cows were crippled into per-
manent rest, with their horns overgrown and distorted for want of regular
wear and tear, and in which fowls, pigs, and rabbits shared shelter and
a pestilential atmosphere. Delafond has described the wretched stabling
of hill farmers. How, then, can it be said that in these sheds, where the
lung plague always prevails, the conditions do not exist for its sponta-
neous origin ?

It cannot be disputed that there are conditions — as when an animal suf-
fers from pleuropneumonia, and has but one lung to breathe with — under
which a large voluuu> of pure air nmy turn the scale from death to life.
It is also undoubted that the concentration of the poison so freely given
off in this contagious disease must materially favor its reproduction in
the systems of susceptible animals. But no one who has witnessed the
slow progress of the malady in town dairies, and the rapid destruction
of herds in open fields, can for a moment believe in the usual aggrava-
tion of the malady by bad stabling. Where the malady has been induced
among young stock by large dairymen so as to prevent after incon-
veniences, when the animals are fit to breed and yield milk, it has been
found that most survived when kept warm in close sheds. Eecommenda-
tious as to ventilating stables after disease had commenced, have at times
resulted in a much more rapid destruction of the cattle, and we are bound
to admit that a priori reasoning has often been at fault on this subject.

ABUNDANT MILK SECRETION.

The universal prevalence of the lung plague in town dairies, where
cows are kept for an abundant production of milk, has led to the theory
that the drain on the system thus kept up induces the pleuro-pneumonia.
It is asserted, and there appears some ground for the belief, that the
hunmn female, as well as the female among lower animals, is more sus-
ceptible than others to the influences of contagion, but so far no facts of
importance have ever been published indicating that an abundant secre-
tion of milk induces specific disease and malignant fev»'rs. Delafond
has referred to abundant production in dairies where pleuro-pneumonia
was always troublesome, and expresses himself as follows: "1 firndy
believe that cows which calve every ten or eleven months, iiiid whicli
are constantly yielding an abundant milk secretion, whether l)y being
fed abundantly on ri<li provcuilcr, or placing them in hot, damp stables,
so as KM'heck cutaneous and pulmonary secretion, soon have their chest

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 35

enfeebled and are seized with pleuro-pneumonia ; or, at all events, and
that is incontestable, they become predisposed to the disease, which they
easily get on bpiug- exposed to the breathing- of a cold air, or to cold on the
surface of the; SKin."

Here, again, it is not difficult to trace the real effects of an abundant
milk secretion in stables that are close and ill-drained. Up to the time
when the lung disease first appeared in London it was not uncommon
for cows to be milked for several consecutive years. Large milkers were
always kept on, and had a calf annually until too old or killed by disease.
The disease that killed them was not pleuro-pneumonia, but tuberculosis.
That malady, once so i^revalent, is almost unknown now, inasmuch as
the London cow feeders have ceased to breed from their cows, and the
average duration of a cow's lifetime in a London shed does not exceed
six mouths.

DRINKING COLD OR IMPURE "WATER.

It is hardly necessary to refer at length to this reputed cause of pleuro-
pneumonia. ]N"ot only is there an absence of fact in support of the
production of the malady by cold water in winter and stagnant in
summer, but it is well known that the malady is usually most rife in
many cities during the summer, when cattle are allowed, as in Washing-
ton, to roam at pleasure during the day, coming in contact, and, there-
fore, infecting each other, yet w^hile the supply of water is good, and
indeed unexceptionable. Were it worth whilel could easilyfuruish mauy
facts under this head indicating that there is no relation whatever
between the condition and quantity of water cattle drink and the devel-
opment of the lung disease.

CHILLS — BREATHING A COLD AIR.

East winds in Scotland were blamed by Professor Dick as the active
agency inducing bovine pleuro-pneumonia. He overlooked the fact that
the east winds prevailed before 184:3, when the lung plague had not yet
penetrated Scotland. I have seen on the coast of Fife a herd of cattle
of all ages seized with bronchitis — a curable, benignant, and acute inflam-
mation, presenting none of the characters of the lung plague; and there
is no doubt that deficient shelter, intense cold, and rapid changes of the
weather, may induce sporadic and non-contagious inflammations of tlu^
respiratory organs. But this is not pleuro-pneumonia.

It is not at all uncommon in Great Britain, Holland, and elsewhere,
for farmers to ascribe the disease to chills; and its prevalence among
drift cattle lias been referred to transportation for long distances in open
railway cars, on steaudjoats, and exposm^e in markets. Bur who cxcr
heard of western cattle being struck with the lung plague in passing
from Illinois to New York ? Spanish cattle, reared in a country free i'n m
pleuro-pneumonia, suffer all the hardships of rough weather at sea, but

36 DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

are landed invariably sound in their Innft-s in Liverpool or London. Dan-
ish cattle cross the German Ocean and suifer much ill-treatment, but
their dissection reveals at no time the lesions of the lung plaj^ue.

Kot so with Dutch or Irish cattle. They make a short sea voyage
from an infected country and propagate pleuro-pneumonia wherever they
come in contact with susceptible cattle.

Innumerable observations undoubtedly shoAV that the lung plague
prevails as much, and often more, during hot weather than in the win-
ter months ; it spares many cold countries into which it has no oppintu-
nity of transportation, and visits the most genial climate whither sick
cattle have been taken. Italy and Australia furnish as good fields for
its development as the Swiss Alps, and the colder portions of the
United States.

OVERWORK.

In France and Italy it has been asserted that keeping oxen long in
the yoke, exhausting them, starving, and often drenching them with
rain, induced the lung disease. I know not what diseases such prac-
tices have not been said to cause. If we survey the countries where
pleuro-pneumonia has been longest known, and where its ravages have
been most intense, we shall find that, as a rule, it prevails among milk
cattle that never work, steers that are grazed or stall-fed, and never
broken to the plow- or wagon, and herds of breeding stock, as in the
Australian runs, never accustomed to restraint or punishment.

HEREDITARY PREDISPOSITION — CONGENITAL PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

It is necessary to establish clearly the difference between hereditary
taint and congenital disease. A malady is termed hereditary when it is
transmitted from parent to offspring by virtue of a constitutional defect,
deformity, or taint. It may, but usually does not, appear at birth. The
best example is furnished by cancer, which occurs frequently in the
human female, and reciu^s for generations. None of the specific or
contagious fevers are hereditary, and although the question has been
discussed in relation to pleuro-pneumonia, it can easily be settled.
Delafond thought that the deterioration of breeds might favor its devel-
opment. And why, then, has the disease not appeared in South America,
wiiile it has decimated the matchless herds of England and Aus-
tralia? It may be accepted as a settled truth that the lung disease, like
the rinderpest and foot and mouth disease, spreads Avithout reference to
any ])eculiar breed. Improved and unimproved breeds are alike sus-
ceptible of the attection.

Calves are, however, born at times of sick cows, and present unmis-
takable signs of the lung plague. The first observation of this sort was
made by llilfcllielscim, in the Ilhine provinces, who dissected the
fietuses of cows that aborted under the disease. He found the lesions

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 37

of pleuro-pneumonia iu these animals. Delafond made similar observa-
tions, bnt lias created some confnsion by including cases of tuberculosis
with others of pleuro-pneumonia. In 1839, a cow that had gone six
months in calf was killed in Fribourg, Switzerland, while suffering from
pleuro-pneumonia. The foetus presented signs of the malady. It is
common for calves to take the disease soon after birth, and I have
shown in a government report that the contagious cattle diseases of
Ireland, including pleuropneumonia, were mainly due to the active
trade in sucking- calves between the large towns of England and
Dublin.

It has been necessary frequently to refer to animals that are suscepti-
ble and insusceptible to attacks of pleuro-pneumonia. This has been
ascribed by some to constitutional or inbred resistance or weakness.
It is due to what pathologists term, for want*of a better name or expla-
nation, idiosyncrasy. At times it appears that young animals resist
the disease better than old ones ; and Mr. Harvey, of Glasgow, found
that by communicating the disease to yearlings and two-year-olds, he
had fewer deaths than when he had it among his pregnant and milch
cows. But, as Sauberg has observed, outbreaks occur in which the
older animals seem to bear up better than the young ones, and it is
difiQcult, on present data, to establish any rule on the point.

It may be accepted as proved that all cattle, whatever their age,
breed, sex, conditiou, &c., are susceptible to pleuro-pneumonia until
they have been once seized, and then it is rare to witness a second
attack. An insusceptible animal is, therefore, an animal that has once
had the disease, either in a mild or latent, or severe and apparent, form.

It is, however, certain that a degree of insusceptibility may be traced
in animals that have never been affected, and we are quite at a loss to
account for this. Similar observations are made in relation to all fevers
affecting men and animals. A person has been known to nurse many
during an outbreak of yellow fever, escape and live for a year, when
the disease has reappeared, and the individual who has been proof
against the malady one year has been among the first to die from it the
next.

Not a few cases have been recorded of rinderpest — and I have wit-
nessed a remarkable one — of a cow standing for weeks by animals that
died of the malady and which never showed signs of it. More strange than
this are two observations, one in Lyons in 1853, and the other in Vienna
in 1805, of dogs which could not be rendered rabid by the bites of, and
inoculations from, undoubtedly rabid dogs. For the tune, at all events,
we must rest satisfied with the pathologist's explanation that these
animals had' a peculiar constitutional immunity or idiosyncrasy.

CONTAGION AND INFECTION.

Not only have thecnies in relation to the cause or combinations of
causes which may lead to the development of pleuro-pneumonia been

38 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

unsntisfactory, but <)iii)()rtniiities are constantly presenting- tlicniselves
ti) test the fact that privations, overcrowding-, impure food and water,
&C., singly or combined, may kill, but never induce tlie disease which
l)resents the characters of the one referred to in this report.

The malady may be induced at will, by placing an animal suffering
from it among healthy ones, and by direct inoculation. These are
only methods by Avhicli it is propagated.

Careful experiments have been instituted on this subject, and althougli
it might be easy to refer to very numerous observations, it may suffice
at present to quote from aTrencli report, edited by Professor Bouley,
and which was prepared by a committee of distinguished agricultur-
ists, medical aud veterinary professors, at the request of the minister
of agriculture.

FIRST SERIES OF EXPERniENTS.

The first series of experiments was conducted at Pomerage, in the
well-known and vast domain of Eambouillet. The wliole is inclosed in
walls, surrounded by woods, and perfectly isolated. A stable was sep-
arated into two distinct compartments. In the first, designated A, with
a southwest exposure, was a single door leading out on a sutficiently
wide plot of ground, bounded by water w^here the cattle could be taken
to drink. Every precaution was taken to prevent the cattle in A from
coming within reach of those in a second stable, B. The latter was
situated to the left of A, and completely separated by a solid wall.

Pleuropneumonia had never existed in the commune of Rambouillet.
Messrs. Renault, Delafond, and Jouet chose the cattle and subjected them
to a close examination. The herd consisted of three bulls and seventeen
cows. These animals were distinguished by names and numbers, and
distributed in the two stables in relation to age, breed, and sex, so as to
secure an equable distribution.

Three sick cows were sent to Eambouillet on the 14th of :N^ovember,
1851 ; one from the Departement du :N^ord, the second from INIont Souris,
aud the third from Vaugirard. Three more sick cows w^ere sent on the
2d of December, 1851. Of these six sick animals, three died and three
recovered. One lived three days in stable A, a second five days and a
night in the same, and the third, in stable B, survived ten days a)id two
nights.

Of the three sick cows that recovered, one, admitted into stable A on
the 10th of Xovember, presented symptoms of the malady up to the 20th
of December, viz: for thirty-four days. The second entered stable B on
the 2d of December, and Avas sick for nineteen days. The third, also
admitted in the same stable, continued ill for twenty-eight days.

ISfahlc yl.— On the 21st of :N^ovember, 1851, viz: only six days after
the introduction into this stable of two sick cows, a peculiar cough was
shown by two cows, (T.a Noire, No. 1(5, and Nornm, No. 2.) Their lungs
aj)i>('ared sound, and they continued to eat and ruminate.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 39

The same .symptom manifested itself successively, as follows:

First, on Coquette. (No. 3,) on the 2iid of jSTovember.

Second, on Ilosine, (No. 9,) on the 23d of November.

Third, on Berthe, (No. 8,) on the 25th of is'ovember.

Fourth, on Babet, (Xo. 7,) on the 3d of December.

Fifth, on Clara, (No. 1,) on the 5tli of December.

Sixth, on Olga, (No. 6,) on the 7th of December.

Seventh, on Martin, (No. 15,) on the 10th of December.

Thus, twenty-four days after the admission of two sick cows, and eight
days after the introduction of a third sick animal, out of ten healthy ani-
mals, nine presented the abnormal indication of a peculiar cough. Only
one cow (La Caille, No. 11) continued in perfect health.

After this first sign of sickness, the characteristic symi^toms of pleuro-
pneumonia appeared in six cows, in the following order:

First, Olga, (No. 6,) thirty-one days after first contact.

Second, La Noire, (No. 16,) thirty-two days after first contact.

Third, Clara, (No. 1,) thirty-five days after first contact.

Fourth, Eosine, (No. 9,) thirty-five days after first contact.

Fifth, Norma, (No. 2,) thirty-seven days after first contact.

Sixth, Coquette, (No. 3,) fifty-seven days after first contact.

Of these six animals one only died, viz: Olga, (No. 6,) and her carcass
was removed to Alfort on the 6th of January, and there dissected by the
members of the commission.

Of the five other cows in this stable, the reporters say that symptoms
of variable intensity and duration appeared, and they all recovered, with
the exception of some lesions recognized some time after by dissection.

Of the three animals (Berthe, No. 8, Babet, No. 7, and Martin, No. 15)
which began to cough the first days after contact with the sick cows,
the only symptom which lasted, and is said to have continued for several
months, was the cough.

iStable B. — On the 25th of November, 1851, viz : nine days after the
introduction in stable B of the two sick cows, (Nos. 23 and 24,) the healthy
cows b'egan to cough, in the following order:

First, Suzon, (No. 13,) on the 26th of November.

Second, La Garde, (No. 20,) on the 2d of December.

Third, Marton, (No. 5,) on the 3d of December.

Fourth, Kettley, (No. 17,) on the 7th of December.

Fifth, Leduc, (No. 18,) on the 10th of December.

Sixth, Nebula, (No. 4,) on the 18th of December.

Seventh, Homard, (No. 14,) on the 28tli of December.

So that thirty-two days after the introduction of sick cows in stable B,
out of ten health}- animals seven presented the peculiar abnornml sign
of a peculiar cough.

Tlire(r animals (Junon, No. 19, Bringe, No. 10, and Biche, No. 12) con-
tinued in i)erfect health.

40 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

AVcll-iiiarked symptoms of plciiro-piieumonia presented themselves on
four cows, ill the follow in <;• order:

First, La Garde, (No. L'O,) sixteen days after first contact.

Second, Leduc, (No. IS,) thirty days after tirst contact.

Third, INIarton, (No. 5,) thirty-live days after first contact.

Fourth, Uomard, (No. 14,) forty days after tirst contact.

Two of these animals died after nine days' illness. The other two
were quite convalescent in twenty-eight and thirty-five days respectively.
The three other animals continued to cough for some months without
manifesting more serious symptoms.

The conclusions drawn by the French commissioners from the forego-
ing experiments were as follows:

The epizootic pleuro-pneumonia of cattle is susceptible of transmission
from sick to healthy animals by cohabitation.

Twenty per cent, of the animals manifest a resistance to the contagion.

Eighty per cent, manifest various effects of the contagious influence.

Fifty per cent, are seized with decided symptoms of pleuro-pneumonia,
and of these fifteen ])er cent, succumb, and thirty-five per cent, recover.

Immediate contact is not necessary for the transmission of the disease,
and tbe first affected were among the furthest removed from the sick.

A better idea of the results of the very important experiments thus
related may be formed by the subjoined tables, wlijch show at a glance
the conditions under which the disease was propagated. I have enlarged
the French tables, and included all the data of importance.

SECOND SERIES OF EXPEREMENTS.

The second series of experiments was instituted with a view to learn
whether the animals that had been once affected enjoyed an immunity
against further attacks, and whether those that had resisted the disease
were susceptible of subsequent infection.

On the 5th of March, 1852, there were placed in a stable on the farm
of Charentonneau —

1st. Five cows from Pomerage, viz: Brhig(?, (No. 10,) from stable B,
which had resisted the disease; Kettlej^, (No. 17,) ditto; Clara, (No. 1,)
from stable A, which first showed signs of pleuro-i)neumonia on the 21st
of Beceiuber, 1851; Norma, (No. 2,) from the same stable, affected the
23d of IJecember; La Coquette, ditto, date of attack 21st of Januarv,
1852.

2d. With these five cows were placed two perfectly healthy animals,
(Marion, No. 7, and Zula, No. 8.)

3d. Lastly, six cows, (liose de Mai, No. 1, Mille Fleurs, No. 4, Jacque-
line, No. 3, Blanchctte, No. 8, Eosette, No. 3, and Bucheronne, No. 5,)
iiiocidatcd widi blood, nasal discliaigc, and fo'cal fluids, were also sub-
mitted to the influence of cohabitation.

On the 21st of January, 1852, two sick cows were placed in this stable.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 41

One of tliese cows was left eighteen days in the stable, and then killed
to serve for the pnrpose of inoculation experiments. On the 27th of
June another sick cow was placed in the same stable.

The result was that the five animals from Pomerage resisted the dis-
ease as well as one of the healthy ones. The second healthy cow was
seized with the malady thirty-five days after cohabitation.

In order to confirm the above results, the commissioners caused to be
placed in stable A all that remained of the first herd. On the 6th of
July, 1852, five cows were sent from Paris to Pomerage. Not one of the
animals that had served in previous experiments contracted the disease.

The history of pleuropneumonia, coupled with the observations made
on the sui^posed casual agencies cai)able of inducing the disease, are
almost sufficient to establish the purely contagious nature of the disease,
but there are several important proofs that deserve mention.

It is seen in all countries where the lung plague aj)pears, that it
spreads in x^roportion to the opportunities of contagion. It is worst in
large cities, where cow feeders have to make frequent purchases. It is
apt to diminish in severity, as per example, in the city of Washington?
in Dublin, Ireland, and elsewhere, so long as the cows are confined to
stables in the winter and different herds have no chance of approach.
When spring and fine weather arrive, and the cows are turned out during
part of the day, or altogether, on commons, parks, or pastures, the pres-
ence of any infection results in the rapid dissemination of the disease.
I had special occasion to study this among the cows turned out into the
Phoenix Park, Dublin, and on the commons near !N"ewcastle, in England.

In 1802 I chose a large estate in Perthsliire, presenting the feature of
being cut up in farms, on some of which cattle were wholly bred ;
whereas, on others, purchases had occasionally been made. The result
was the demonstration of the fact that the disease appeared only Avhere
it was carried by diseased cattle. The estate was that of Lord Wii-
loughby d'Eresby, comprising twenty-six farms, on eleven of which the
disease was at different times imported ; whereas on the fifteen other
farms, interspersed between eleven, the only report to be obtained was,
"Xever had the disease. Breeds his own stock."

A similar inquiry relating to the parish of St. Martin, in Perthshire,
showed that pleuropneumonia had appeared there in 1815. Since then
ten farms have been visited by the disease, and in every case the attack
has been distinctly traced to contact with diseased cattle, i^ineteen
farms, on which cattle are bred and purchases rarely made, have enjoyed
a perfect immunity

The higli-prized herds of England, which have been carefully isolated
by their proi)rietors, have always remained free from the disease, and
short-horn breeders have, in many instances, exercised the greatest care
not to have any admixturi; with strange animals, which would certainly
have destroyed their stock.

It is needless entering at length into the subject of authorities on this

42 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

point. The voice of the ablest and most careful observers, who have
studied i>]euro-pneumonia practically, is unauinious ou the point; and
althoufjh in every country the tendency has been at first to regard this
insidious disease as originating- from atmospheric agencies, when tlie
facts have been probed by skillful men, the earlier opinions have been
rejected. Gerlach, in 1835, Delafond, in 1844, and Sauberg, in 1840,
publishe very abundant and conclusive testimony on this point.

THE PATHOLOGY, Oil NATUEE OF THE LUNG PLAGUE.

There is nothing more dangerous and better calculated to retard inquiry
and truth than the common practice of speculating as to the nature of
specific diseases in men and animals by the analogical method. Bovine
pleuropneumonia has been widely supposed to be an inflammation ot*
the lungs, governed by the same conditions that operate in relation to
ordinary inflammations of the chest in the human family, and, indeed,
in all mammalia. The characteristic signs of small-pox depend on a cuta-
neous inflammation, but have apperauces different from the results of a
scald. It is as rational to define variola inflammation of the skin as it is to
declare that the lung disease of cattle is an inflammation of the air passage
and lungs. The local phenomena of the disease are associated with and
characterized by inflammatory changes, but the cause in operation
inducing all this is peculiar and specific.

The lung plague is a malignant fever, never generated dc novo, so far
as reliable observation has yet reached, dependent on the introduction
of a virus or contagion into the system of a healthy animal. This prin-
ciple produces a local change if inserted into any part provided with a
connective or fatty tissue, in which it most readily penetrates. The same
local change is produced by its contact with the delicate mucous surface
of the bronchial tubes. It adheres, spreads not unlike cancer, regard-
less of the nature and importance of the structure it invades, and
traverses the lym])hatic vessels to form deposits in the neighboring
lymphatic glands, but not generally throughout the lymphatic sys-
tem. At first there is no great intensity of inflammation. Suppuration
is only a later complication from the concomitant nonspecific change in
masses of areolar or connective tissue. Congestion and a serous
infiltration rapidly surround the spot inoculated. Heat, redness, pain,
and swelling manifest themselves, aiul the reproduction and extension
of the tissue-destroying virus may be judged by the extent of swelling ;
the amount of the yellow gelatinous serosity or exudation which fills the
lung tissue, thickens white fibrous structures, blocks up the adipose
tissue corpuscles out of which the fat is displaced, and is only limited
in mauy casi s by the amount of connective tissue it can invade, by gravi-
tation or otherwise, and the endurance of the animal under a process so
]>rostrating sind d('])l('tive.

Tliat all Ihis happens, we have tested by experiment. A susceptible
auimaris inoculated in the dewlap, and at the expiration of a week or

%

THE LUXG PLA.GUE. 43

nine days a swelling" begins, infiltration extends beneath the chest and
abdomen, involves both fore legs, is attended with great fever, prostra-
tion, and death. In a second case, a drop of ^1rus is inserted in tlie tip
of the tail. It may produce a scarcely perceptible local change, when
suddenly a swelling occurs at the root of the tail. The lymphatic
glands there situated swell, the areolar tissue is distended with a depcxsit,
such as ordinarily occurs in this disease in the thorax, and so widely
does this invade the open tissues of the x>elvis as to close the rectum,
sometimes induce retention of urine, and, in the majority of instances,
kill.

As in the case of variolous inoculation, the efl'ects often vary with the
quantity of the virus introduced into a part. Many and deep punc-
tures, especially in soft and vascular textures, will i)roduce malignant
variola in inoculating sheep. On the other hand, a single and superficial
puncture results in a single i)ustule and imperceptible general symjjtoms.
It is thus with the lung disease in cattle.

The slight local change produced by a small quantity of ^nrus, even
though it has been impossible to note any systemic disturbance, stands
for an attack of the disease, and the animal enjoys almost a ijerfect
immunity from further attacks.

Viewed in this light, we have to classify bovine pleuropneumonia
with the contagions fevers, and we must recognize that it is peculiar and
difterent from all other known diseases of man or animals. The ordinary
phenomena of intlammatious are but superadded conditions, and an
animal may have the disease without indicating their presence,

MEDICAL TEEATMENT OF THE LUIs^G PLAGUE.

A general and i^ractical review of the means employed for the cure
of the lun^- disease results in the conviction that, as a means to be relied
on for the protection of the farmer's stock and the herds of a country,
they are worse than useless ; and it is necessary to impress this lesson
on the public mind, as there are always those who base their futile
efforts in this respect on the declaration that all diseases are curable if
we could only know the means to attack them, and the best antidotes.
When science has sufiBciently advanced, it is thought disease will lose
all its power ; and, in accordance with extravagant views in this direc-
tion, men and animals ought to attain a state of immortality on earth.

It is an undoubted fact that wherever rational preventive measures
have been superseded by the efforts even of the most skilled veterinary
jiruotitiouers, the mortality by the lung idague has always attained its
highest point, and continued without intermission. It must be thus to
the end of time.

Nevertheless, circumstances arise when a certain relief may be aif<u'ded
by remedial agents. A valuable animal or liiglily prized berd, so
isolated from otlier stock as to prevent contagion, may be subjected to

44 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

ratioTial modicnl treatment. A survey of the means sugi^ested in the
past, of the principles which sliouhl guide us in the present state of
knowkMlgc, and of the details concerning my own practice, may, there-
fore, be considered important in tliis plac<\

Bonrgclat, in 1709, recoiinnended abundant blood-letting the lirst, sec-
ond, and third day, (when the blood fails to coagulate, it is a sign that
this operation is useless,) emollient injections, bland or soothing bev-
erages, {hreuragcH (idoKcismnfs,) emollient masticatories, and emollient
fumigations of the nose. When the disease is far advanced, blood-
letting must be avoided, and reliance placed in cinchona Ijark and pur-
gative injections. ]>onrgelat also i)rescribed small blood-lettings, low
diet, emollient clysters, and fumigations of acetic acid in the stables.

There is little interesting on this subject up to the date of Belafond's
work, 1844. He opens his chapter on the curativ^e means of acute
pleuropneumonia as follows: "Many j)ersons and some veterinarians
have sought in the arsenal of pharmacology the specific remedies for
the cure of pleuropneumonia. I declare that for the cure of this disease
there exists no specific, but rather rational curative means based on the
nature, seat, and stage of the malady. The two great secrets, in my
opinion, are, first, in recognizing pleuro-pneumonia at its commencement;
and, second, in adopting the means that I have to describe."

I cannot, with fairness, make a very brief summary of Delafond's
recommendations, and, in the main, shall give a translation of them.
When pleuro-pneumonia, he says, att'ects a herd of cattle, the first
animal affected must be removed and placed in an isolated spot, to be
carefully examined during the entire i^rogress of the case. Frequent
examinations must be made of each animal in the herd. All that show
a short, quick breathing, numbering from twenty-five to thirty respira-
tions per minute, and an accelerated pulse, beating from sixty to sixty-
five times per minute, in which the chest is evidently flattened either on
one side or the other, whose respiratory murmurs will be loud and
associated with a friction sound, and Avhich have their visible mucous
membranes reddened, must be regarded as subjects which, notwith-
standing that they continue to eat and drink, ruminate, and give milk
as in heal til, will in three or four days cease to eat, ruminate, and give
milk. They will moan and indicate all the signs of pleuro-pneumonia
at a period wlien it is severe and often incurable.

An animal chosen with care in the earliest stage, and isolated, must
be placed on low diet, and oidy allowed a little green grass or hay.
From six to eight i)ounds of blood must be drawn, and this repeated
eight or ten hours later. As soon as the blood has ceased to flow, the
body and limbs must be rubbed for half an hour with hay or straw
wisps, and a good covering must be thrown over the body. Three hours
after the first bhu'ding, and every two hours afterwards for sixteen hours,
a draught must be given, consisting of one drachm of emetic tartar
in a quart of river or si)ring water. For animals under two years of age

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 45

the dose of the tartrate of antimony should be half a drachm, and for
animals from three to eight years of age a drachm and a half each time.

After the second bleeding the draughts are continued, and if, after
twelve hours, the respirations have not been lowered to twenty and
three-and-twenty per minute, a third abstraction of the same quantity
of blood must be practiced. If the pulse becomes strong and full, the
breathing less frequent, the mucous membranes paler, and especially if
the respiratory murmurs are less loud, it may be considered that the
animal is saved, and that its convalescence will be short.

Independently of the bleedings and the administration of emetic
tartar, about fifteen liters of water, with three liters of barley, may be
boiled, throwing off the first water and adding thirty liters more. Two
pounds of sulphate of soda is added to this barley tea, and one liter of
this mixture is given, alternatively with the emetic every three hours.

Marshmallows, linseeds, or coarse bran, are to be made into a decoc-
tion, and administered in the form of four injections daily. This same
material may be used warm to steam the animal's nostrils, bj- placing
it in a stable-pail and covering the animal's head and the pail with a
large cloth.

These measures, says Delafond, must be continued for three or four
days — indeed, during the entire first period of the disease ; and it is rare
that the respiratory movements do not return to their normal condition.
If the patient purges, injections of bran decoction are recommended.

Animals that indicate a yellow or paled and infiltrated asj)ect of the
conjunctiviB must be bled to the extent of one liter or a Liter and a half
daily, as heavy blood-lettings are prejudicial in such cases.

When pleuropneumonia begins by an inflammation of the pleura, the
animal must be bled to the extent of two or foiu* i)ounds two or three
times dail3\ The emetic draughts are to be i)ersevered in, the hodj Avell
rubbed and clothed, and the sides of the chest must be rubbed with hot
vinegar, or with a mixture of three ounces of ammonia to one ounce of
vinegar. An infusion, in two liters of hot vinegar, of a pound of white or
black hellebore, or of the large horse-radish sage maybe found economical
in some parts. If these cannot be had, a blistering tincture may be pre-
pared, as follows : Powdered cautharides, two ounces ; powdered euphor-
bium, one drachm ; alcohol, one-half pound. The three substances
must be left in a bottle for some days, and then filtered.

If the symptoms subside, the animal is to be kept under shelter and
on moderate diet. If, on the contrary, the pleurisy terminates in effu-
sion, and the lung tissue is engorged and hepatized, no hopes can be
entertained of the animal's recovery.

When the lung disease commences by an active inflammation of the
bronchial tubes, the jugular vein must be freely opened and from six to
ten pounds of blood abstracted ; other emissions, from four to eight
pounds each, must be repeated for two or three days each. If the
inflammation continues and spreads to the lung tissue, the dry rubbing,

46 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

einollioiit fumiirntions, and injections of niarsliinallow or bran deeoc-
tiinis, containing three onnces of snlpliate of soda, must be persisted in.
This treatment unist continue four or iive days ; but if the conjL;li per-
sists, a seton must be inserted in the dewhip, and the seton medicated
Avith the vinegar infusion of the white oy bUick hellebore. When the
intlammation subsides, the stcrjuitatory vinegar prescribed by Mathieu
renders good service. It is compouiuled as follows: Alum, sulphate of
zinc, Spanish pepper, turpentine, one ounce each; camphor, two drachms;
strong Burgundy vinegar, one pint. The solid substances are to be
powdered and mixed Avith the vinegar and turpentine. They are to be
macerated for eight hours, placed in a well-corked bottle, and well shaken
before being given to the animal. Three times a day, and vihcn the
animal is fasting, a snuill teaspoonful of vinegar is poured into one or
other of the nostrils. The animals that have once had this operation
performed can with difticulty be induced to submit to it again.
Immediately after the administration, big tears" drop from the eyes, and
violent sneezing tends to discharge uiucosities and the false membranes
wliich obstruct the bronchial tubes and nasal cavities. Should the
bronchitis terminate in intlammation of the pulmonary tissue, and this
pass rapidly into a state of hepatization, further measures must be
resorted to.

When pleuro-pneumonia is simple or complicated by pleurisy or bron-
chitis, and terminates in gangrene, the case maybe regarded as irreme-
diable. The same is true if there is an abundant etfusion in the pleura.
The animal soon dies asphyxiated.

The symptoms of a severe and desperate case are suspension of feed-
ing and rumination, tympanitis, or distension of the paunch by gas im-
mediately after feeding, pulse from sixty to seventy and small, tender-
ness on pressure of the sides of the chest, absence of respiratory murmur
and. friction sound, short and moaning expiration, violent heart-beats,
driveling at the mouth, and the obstinate maintenance of the standbig
posture. It is difficult, with such symptoms, for the animal to recover,
but cases of slow restoration to health have occurred.

At this stage the animal is to be bled only to the extent of two to
four pounds lor two or three days. The emetic drinks must not be given ,
but the sulphate of soda persevered with. The injections, fumigations,
and dry rul>bings must be followed up; a seton and one or two rowels on
the sides of the chest are to be inserted. A little easily-digested food is
to be given tlie animal, and about an onnce of salt daily. If the mucous
memlnaiu' remains i)ale and the animal feeble, drinks containing vegeta-
ble tonics, such as gentian, &c., nuist be used. Dieterichs vaunts tar-
water, to which two drachms of essence of turpentine is added, and
which is used for fifteen or twenty days. AVhen an animal is convales-
cent it may be turned out for an hour or two during line weather. A
relapse is to be treated by a slight bleeding, low diet, frictions, and sul-
phate of soda.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 47

Sucli are the long aud precise recommendations which Delafond gave,
and which may be vie\ved, in the main, as measures trom first to hist to
be scrupulously avoided. Delafond's belief in the treatment he recom-
mends as benefiting sick animals, is but one of innumerable instances of
men being misled by nature's own recuperative powders.

Sanberg, in his prize essay published in 1840, devoted a chapter to
the therapeutics of pleuro-pneumonia, but he is not sparing in words of
caution, and in impressing on the minds of agriculturists that there is no
specific against the disease.* He indorses Delafond's practice of blood-
letting, and says that if this is resorted to at the right time the animal
improves at once. If the patient is young, robust, in good condition; if
the mucous membranes are red, the pulse small, hard, and frequent,
breathing short and quick, heart-beats scarcely to be felt, then from ten
to fifteen or twenty pounds of blood must be abstracted. It is only by
this means, says Sanberg, that the abundant exudation of plastic lymph
in the lungs, as well as other evil results can be averted. If no improve-
ment is observed within eighteen or twenty-four hours, a second and even
larger blood-letting must be performed. After the fifth day of an attack
of pleuro-pneumonia Sanberg never bled, and whenever he did so, he ob-
served great prostration and even death. It is evident, he says, that
whereas an early bleeding may prevent the exudation, should this have
taken place, the loss of blood may undermine the vital powers so as to
prevent the possibility of recovery.

Sanberg is one of the strongest advocates of derivatives. He recom-
mends a seton on the dewlap, or one on either side of the chest. He
also advises a blister spread over a surface deprived of hair to the extent
of a man's hand, behind each shoulder blade. The vesicant he uses is a
compound of potassio tartrate of antimony, powdered cantharides, and
enphorbium, of each three quentchen, lard four loth, and one loth of oil
of turpentine. He also suggests the application of the red-hot iron to
the sides of the chest. In slight cases rowels dressed with black helle-
bore suffice. The quicker and more active the results of these applica-
tions, the more favorable is their operation.

The internal remedies recommended by Sauberg, consist mainly in
tartar emetic, which, he says, is attended with the best results. He
gives it in the morning in one or two drachm doses, with two or three ounces
of sulphate of soda, an ounce of nitrate of potash, and a half an ounce

*At page 131 of Sauberj^'s work, akeady quotctl, the author says: " Wir haheii kein
Arcanum gegeu die Luugeuseuclic dcs lliudviehes und Avenh'U aueh kt.'ir.s tiudcii;
wenn man nur beriicksichtigt wie die Krankheit bei dcu eiiizclncu Tliieren so verschie-
den ist, und die Mittel, die bei eiiiem Kranken niit Xut/.cn angi-wandt wuvib'ii, bei deni
anderen, wcun nicht Naehtheile, docli nicht gleich giliistige Erfolge zu Wcgc; l>i;i( litcii,
80 wird man sich wohl bescheiden. Wo der Landmann die Beliaudhiug <hr Krank<ii
nicht einem Thierarzt auvertrauen kann oder will, sollte er nur nach allgciiieiniii ( iriiud-
siitzcn verfahren, cine zweckmilssige DiJit anorduen, und nicht sein Ilcil in kostbaren
Mittelii sucben, der V(u-breitung der 8(-ucbe nioglicbst vorbauen, und wn Ilcilung der
Erkrankteu nicht moglich ist, das Schlachten vorziehen."

48 DEPARTMENT OF AbmCULTURE.

of powdered jnnipor berries. Tliis has an effect on the animal's bovrels.
In gastric or bilious complications he gives the emetic tartar in t\vo or
four ounces of whitt^ sou]).

Wlicu the fever is slij;'lit, the coujj;li stronii:, and appetite good, Sau-
berg advises not to bleed, and the same applies to old and weak animals,
especially cows liable to abort, «&c. He still persists in the tartarized
antimony, and gives it with from ten to sixty grains of assaf(Btida, and an
ounce of powdered juniper berries, twice daily in water. Bitter herbs,
oil of turpentine, camphor, tar water, arnica, fennel, &c., are remedies
suggested.

A wise i)nH'aution is insisted on by Sauberg, and that is to avoid a
profuse and debilitating purgation.

The practice recommended by Delafond and Sauberg has very largely
been carried out and recommended by other authors, such as Kreutzer,
Roll, &c., even of late. Roll adds to the treatment by bleeding, tartar
emetic, &c., the administration, in cachectic and feeble animals, of sul-
phate of iron with tar water, or of alum, tannin, mineral acids, and
other tonics.

In England many practitioners have resorted to various methods of
treatment. It is long since the practice of blood-letting has been done
away with, but the advocates of setons, and more particularly of active
blisters, such as croton oil, cantharides, tartar emetic ointment, still
exist. Small doses of calomel and tartar emetic, stimulating draughts
containing creosote, turpentine, sulphuric ether, carbonate of ammonia,
and alcohol, have been more generally employed. IMineral acids, the
administration daily of dilute sulphuric acid especially, and an early
resort to mineral and vegetable tonics, have found their advocates. Of
late years the tincture of aconite has been vaunted as a febrifuge, and
largely used, and some have tried Indian hemp and other narcotics.
Anything and everything has been tried, and without much reasoning
or carefid record of results. The important feature salient in the his-
tory of pleuro-pneumonia in England, is that all the therapeutic skill of
the veterinarian has not prevented greater and more general losses,
than have ever been witnessed in other countries, if we may except
Holland.

For some years I have noticed that the earlier lesions of the lung dis-
ease partake, in their character and results, more of the features of hem-
orrhage— a prostrating discharge from the blood vessels of a sero-albumi-
uous product — than of inflammation. The congestion and inflammation are
truly secondary, and once developed it is apparently impossible to control
them, though tlicirexti'iit varies greatly. In some animals but a ])ortion of
one lung is involved, in others, one entire organ is affected, and in others,
which cases are almost without exception fatal, both lungs become h.Tpa-
tized, and the animal dies sooner ov later of apna^a or suffocation.

Notwithstanding tlic well-founded objection of some distinguished
veterinarians to the practice of administering mineral astringents as

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 49

preservatives — an objection to which Professor Nicklas gave utterance
at the first international veterinary congress hekl in Hamburg in 18G3 —
it is certain that they far surpass all other means in the treatment of the
early stages of the lung plague. Professor Mcklas said with much truth
that where pleuropneumonia appeared there were often persons who pre-
scribed sulphate of iron to check the progress of the disease ; the isola-
tion of such cattle was not attended to, and the malady continued.
Whereas if the sick were isolated, or slaughtered, and the remaiuing
animals of a herd inoculated, there would be an end to the outbreak.

But, on the other hand, if attention be paid to the segregation of the
sick, and those indubitably free from the disease were inoculated, there
is still a number, and often not a small one, sure to die within a month
or six weeks, simply because inocvdated too late. These animals, if
of great value, and proper facilities are afforded for treatment without
inciuTing the risk of extensions of the malady, may often be treated
with success.

Thermometer in hand, a good observer and anscultator can detect,
some days — and even as long as ten days or a fortnight — before marked
symptoms appear, the invasion of this disease. At that stage the
peculiar yellow deposit which first slowly invades the interlobular tissue
of the lungs is penetrating into the organ, and its extension may, as I
have noticed frequently, be checked by active internal astringents. The
best of these are the sesquichloride and the sulphate of iron. But our
choice extends further, since vegetable infusions or decoctions contain-
ing tannin, besides the astringent preparations of lead, may likewise
retard and arrest the exudation.

1 have on several occasions been called to prescribe for herds iu which
I have readily traced cases of pleuro-pneumonia in advanced stages of
the disease. I have removed the marked symptoms, and still a large
proportion of the animals had the peculiar cough so well noticed by the
French commission, yet to have neglected means to arrest the disease
would have resulted iu many deaths. Before I was led to approve, as I
do strongly, of the practice of inoculation, and since when there haye
been insuperable obstacles to its adoption, I have placed all the herd,
sometimes in the stable and at other times in the open field, on regular
daily doses of sulphate of iron, allowing about half a drachm or a
drachm to a bullock, mixed with a similar amount of bruised coriander
seeds, and perhaps some bran, the better to disguise the iron. Thus
mixed with fresh coriander seeds, cattle will leave grass to eat the
medicine, and I have uniforndy found a mitigation of the cough, a dis-
appearance of the malady, and the herds have preserved an admirable
condition.

I can confirm Sauberg's statement that it is dangerous to resort to

active purgatives, and the common symptom, even in the earlier stages

of i)leuro-pneumonia, of constipation, can be better corrected by diet and

the administration of a stinudant, such as carbonate of ammonia, com-

4

50 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

biued with wnnu water injections, than by any other phm. When the
exndation in tlie hmj;' tissne is not checked, and in all cases where it has
advanced too far to admit of beinj;- checked by capillary astringents, it
is, as a rnle, desirable to leave aniinals entirely to nature.

The observation of many hundred cases for the past fifteen years has
convinced me that, left entirely to themselves, when the malady has
fairly developed, a considerable proportion of the cattle affected in one
lung recover, whereas nearly all those affected on both sides die. The
many methods of treatment recommended have not seemed to increase
the usual average number of cases of one-sided pluero-pueumonia which
generally recover.

It is extremely diliicult to ascertain the conditions under which a
small or a great mortality may be anticipated. This may be gleaned
from the observations of the French commission. They found some
animals which apparently resisted the disease. These Avere doubtless
latent cases, as they afterwards resisted contagion. If this be admitted,
the mortality amounted to thirty per cent, of the animals affected, and
this mortality is infinitely less than that observed frequently under cir-
cumstances which would appear most favorable to the health of cattle
and their resistance to disease.

It.has been seen that as far back as 1769 fumigations were recom-
mended for the treatment of pleuro-pneumouia. Of late years carbolic
acid has been strongly recommended for this purpose, and may prove
beneficial. Its internal administration failed many years ago, when , under
the name of creosote — for much of our foreign creosote is carbolic acid — it
was used esiiuecially by a distinguished English veterinarian, Mr. Charles
Hunting, of Feme Houses, near Durham. The employment of anti-
septics comes properly under the head of preventive measures, which
are considered in a subsequent section of this report.

Notwithstanding the many authorities in favor of blisters, setons,
rowels, and even the hot iron, I must assert, from carefid observation,
that in the acute stages of the disease they invariably aggravate the
malady and sometimes kill. There are instances which indicate the
contrary, for w^hen examining cases in Pennsylvania I was told by a
farmer that his cattle were dying, and he called in a professional man
who blistered severely and cured several. They would probably have
recovered if left to nature, though it is possible that in some cases
counter-iiTitants may be useful. The diificulty is to choose those cases ;
and, as a rule, I am satisfied that any but the mildest stimulants applied
to the skin irritate and do harm.

It is higlily imi)ortant that any medicines given to cattle with this
disease should be given carefully, to avoid choking. Farmers are often
very rough in giving drenches to cattle. They should go up to the off
shoulder of the animal, pass the left hand in the angle of the mouth
on th(; left side, draw the head around gently, without unduly elevating
it, and pour the diaught out of a small horn in moderate quantities.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 51

giving tlie <animal time to swallow. I remember, as far back as 1851 ,
being asked by a Yorkshire veterinarian to prepare a nnniber of
draughts, the active agent of which was carbonate of ammonia, for a
herd of cows affected with the lung disease. The draughts were sup-
l)lied to the farmer, and the very first day they were being administered
by himself and servants, according to order, in gruel, a messenger sum-
moned me to attend an animal which had been killed by the medicine.
On arriving at the farmer's, I perceived from the aninml's breathing,
tremors, difficulty in standing, anxious expression of countenance, pro-
truding and blood- shot eye-balls, that it was choking. I informed the
farmer of the fact that the drench had been poured the wrong way, and
since he was indignant at the declaration, I opened the trachea with my
penknife, and in a fit of coughing a quantity of gruel, smelling strongly
of ammonia, was forcibly ejected. This alone saved the reputation of the
medicine and its compounder.

INOCULATION OF THE LUNG PLAGUE.

In 1S3G pleuropneumonia was imported from Flanders among cattle
fed at the distillery of Messrs. Willems & Platel, at Hasselt, in Bel-
gium. The town was rich in horned stock, and the maladj' formed one
of its fixed stations, and continued uninterru.ptedly from 183G to 1852.
Dr. Didot* ascertained beyond a doubt, by personal inquiries among the
Hasselt distillers, that this was a fact, and that the disease had never
been absent from their stables during these sixteen years. The Belgian
government had adopted a partial system of slaughter to stamp out the
disease ; but the indemnity was small, and the distillers found it more
X)rofitable to sell their cattle to butchers ; and the inhabitants of Hasselt,
Liege, Louvaiu, Terlemont, Brussels, and Antwerp, were supplied with
a large amount of diseased meat. Dr. Didot learned that whereas gov-
ernment officials slaughtered one or two per cent, of the infected ani-
mals, the butchers purchased and disposed of fifteen, twenty, or twenty-
five animals per week, according to the extent of the outbreaks. In the
tovai of Hasselt alone it is computed by the same authority that 16,540
head of sick cattle were consumed during the above period. The gov-
ernment paid one-third of the value of 815 head of cattle during the same
j)eriod. So late as 1851 M. Maris, one of the government veterinary
surgeons at Hasselt, saw 1,300 cases of limg disease in that city alone.

From 1810 to 1850t the value of the horned stock lost by pleuro-pneu-
monia in Belgium amounted to 2,531,109 francs and 30 cents. The sum
paid by the government in indemnities amounted to 1,751,777 francs and
40 cents. The disease continued unabated in 1851 and 1852. Every
effort had been made by the distillers to arrest the disorder — ventiUi-

* Denx Jonrs h Hcasselt. Essai sur L'liioculatioii dc la rieuro-piieumouic Ex,sudativc
ties Botes Bovines. BnixellcH, 1853.
t Kapport (I6cenual de 1840 it, 1850. R6Hiim6 8tati^stiquc. Page 10.

52

DErARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

tioii, fiimijiation, wliitewasliing-, turning the cattle out for a period, the

phicin

;. 1>»

p'-

iu the stables, under the impression that they might destroy

the putrid materials supposed to engender the disease, and so on.

It so happened that the son of the senior member of the first firm of
distillors whose cattle had been affected in 1S3G had devoted himself to
medicine. Dr. Willems studied the luug disease with discrimination,
but even so late as 1850 he had not fully made up his mind as to the
essentially contagious character of pleuropneumonia. Dieterichs had
attempted the inoculation of the disease in order to prove its contagious
character, and had failed. Vix repeated the experiments, and obtained
results in the form of pneumonia, a pneumonia, says Dr. AVillems,* due
iu all probability to purulent infectiou. The French commission inocu-
lated cows with the blood, nasal discharge, and excrementitial fluids, in
order to test the contagious properties of pleuropneumonia. Dr. Wil-
lems had, moreover, observed that in his father's stables there had been
since 1836 over 500 animals that had suffered from pleuro-pneumonia, a
considerable number of which had recovered, and remained ever after
free from the disease. Yvart, Lafosse, Verheyen, and Petry had made
similar observations. These facts led Dr. Willems to institute a series
of experiments as to the possibility of communicating the disease by
inoculation, and the extent, if any, of the immunity thus secured to cat-
tle.

Dr. Willems adopted the rational plan of performing experiments on
animals of different species. His first was as follows :

Date.

Material inoculated.

Dec. 23, 1850. Pulmonary exudation
Feb. 10, 1851

June 19, 1851

July 16, 1851

eb. 26, 1852

Nasal discharges

Intestinal tubercle squeezed in

sirup.
Pulmonary exudation

Do

Do

Do

Do

Do

Do

Pulmonary exudation

Do

Do

Do

Liquid from tlie lungs used to
inoculate my cattle.

Animal inoculated.

Three rabbits.

Two rabbits.
One rabbit..

Twelve pea fowls

Several chickens

One dog

Two goats

One sheep..

One English pig

Three Belgian pigs...

One sheep

One ram

Oue dog

Eight pea fowls

("Two dogs

■i Tliree Belgian pigs.

[Three i)pa fowls

Four hens

Seat of inoculation.

r Thigh

Neclt..-
t Thorax.

Nose

Thigh...

Thigh .
Thigh.
Tail . . .
Tail...
Tail . . .
Tail...
Tail...
Tail...
Tail...
Tail...
Tail...
Tail...
Tail...
Thigh.
Thigh

Result.

None.
None.
None.
None.
None.

None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.
None.

* M<5in<)ir<- snv l;i I'rripiiiiiiiKniic fipizoiWiiinc du GrosBdtail, par L. Willems, Docteur
en Medicine a Hasselt, lU.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 53

Dr. Willems observed that inoculations whicli were usually accideutal
in man were unattended by ill effects.

A second series of experiments was performed on cattle. The first
group of these was as follows:

Date.

Material inoculated.

Animal inoculated.

Seat of inoculation.

Result.

Feb. 10, 1851.

Blood from sick bullock

Mucous from mouth of sick

bullock.
Intestinal tubercle broken

up in sugar and water

A small bullock

A bullock

Root of tail

Root of tail

Root of tail

Root of tail

Slight inflammation.
Slight inflammation.

A bullock .......

Slight inflammation.

A bullock

Slight inflammation.

The second group of observations is indicated below:

Date.

Material inoculated.

Animal inoculated.

Seat of inoculation.

March 5, 1851.

Pulmonarv exudation .... .......

Two lean bullocks

Five lean bullocks

Root of tail.

Pnlmonarv exudation ...........

With two punctures on the nose.

Fifteen days after the inoculation small tumors were observed at the
root of the tail, so as to cause this organ to be slightly raised. In one
the tumor speedily disappeared; in the other the swelling enlarged,
became very hard, attained the size of a hen's egg, was situated between
the anus and the root of the tail, and yielded gradually, without suppu-
rating, to scarifi(;ations and a saline purgative.

Of the five other bullocks four showed no signs; the fifth, three weeks
after the inoculation, manifested a swelling of the head on the operated
side. Two incisions were made, emollients applied, and a purgative
administered. Low diet was also prescribed. On the 20th of April the
whole side of the head was swollen and almost of scirrhous hardness.
Two deep incisions were made without finding pus. In the nose, at tlie
point where the inoculation was performed, was a wound of unhealthy
aspect from which a sanious pus was discharged. The ox grew lean. On
the 17th of May a little pus flowed from the two incisions made on the
20th of April; afterwards much pus flowed from these incisions, as well
as shreds of areolar tissue and portions of dead skin. The tuinor was
subsiding. On the 22d of May a fluctuating tumor appeared below the
j aAvs, from whicli much indolent-looking jms escaped. From that moment
the ox began to thrive, notwithstanding that the suppurations continued
till the 5th of June. By the 10th of June recovery was complete. Br.
Willems despaired for several days of this animars return to health, and
he resolved not to inoculate again in the same region.

THIRD GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

On the 10th of May Dr. Willems inoculated nine Dutch bullocks and
two lean Belgian cows. He made two punctures in the tail of each and

54 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

used blood expressed from the muscles and liquid squeezed out of the
lung of a cow .sutt'ering under the third stage of pleuropneumonia.

Severalbullocks showed the effects of inoculation by the 10th of May ;
two more severely than the rest. On the 21st of IMay there was a decided
swelling of the tail in six bullocks and one cow. Incisions were made to
relieve the parts, emollients applied, and purgatives administered.

On the 20th of May seven out of the nine bullocks and one cow pre-
sented considerable tumefaction at the root of the tail; incisions and
emollients were resorted to. On the 31st of May the swelling of the
parts inoculated disappeared, and the animals regained their appetite and
vivacity.

Two of the nine bullocks by this time suffered much ; the root of the
tail, the tissues around the anus, and the nates, were consolidated and
enlarged by a deposit. In spite of all efforts, the free excision of the ma-
terial so as to produce an artificial anus, the obstacle to defecation was so
great, the straining so violent and constant, and the vital iiowerssunk so
low, that on the 8tli of June they died. Dr. Willems observed that in
incising these tumors the animals suffered no pain.

On the Otli of June these animals were dissected. One presented a
general health of the internal organs. The lesions were localized in the
anal region. The muscles and other tissues around were of a pale red
color, interspersed by degenerated tissue. There was no suppuration. The
anus and its siuToundings for at least twelve inches in diameter appeared
gangrenous. The lungs were of dark color, slightly congested, and pre-
senting but the slightest trace of marbled hepatization. The gall blad-
der was found full of black dense bile. There was slight serous effusion
in the peritoneum, and the mucous lining of the intestines presented red
or brown punctiform discolorations and some patches of red injection.

In the second bullock the lesions were more extensive. The mortifi-
cation of tissues extended up the rectum a distance of six inches. The
peritoueunr was inflamed, in some parts adherent by its opposing sur-
faces, and a reddish serositj' was effused in its cavity. The liver was
softened, degenerated, of a light yellowish color. The mucous membrane
of the tongue and windpipe was of a dark brovvni color. The lungs were
black, flaccid, and in the pleimil sacs was a citrine-colored serous
exudation. In the general disorganization of the organs of this animal
the most interesting feature was a number of cysts, with delicate walls,
distended by a dried homogeneous material similar to that inclosed in
the intestinal tubercles of animals that die of pleuro-pneumonia. Some
of these little saccules were in the folds of the peritoneum, but the major-
ity, at least sixty, were in the thorax and on the internal surface of the
ribs.

THE LUNG PLAGUE.

55

FOURTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Alarmed by the foregoing results, Dr. Willems determiued on attempt-
ing inoculation at the tip of the tail, as follows :

Date.

.Tune 19, 1851

Material used.

Pulmonary exudation from an animal in the

first stage of disease.
Pulmonary exudation from an animal in the

first stage of disease.
Pulmonary exudation from an animal in the

first stage of disease.
Pulmonary exudation from an animal in the

first stage of disease.

Animals inoculated.

Five lean Belgian buUocliS...
One Dutch bullock

Seat of inocu-
lation.

One calf two months old.

One calf three months old

Tip of tail.

Tip of tail.

Tip of tail.

Tip of tail.

On the 30th of June a slight swelling was observed in the parts inocu-
lated, with the exception of one bullock and two calves. The symptoms
of inflammation advanced, and on the 22d of July the tip of the tail of
four bullocks was completely gangrenous and detached. From that
moment the animals imjiroved.

FIFTH GROUP OF- OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material used.

Animals inoculated.

Seat of inocu-
lation.

Result.

June 26, 1851 .

Pulmonary exudation

Twelve indigenous bul-

Tip of tail...

Slight swelling on the 26th

from animal in first

locks.

of July, and speedy re-

stage of disease.

covery.

Pulmonary exudation
from animal in first

Two heifers ...........

Tip of tail.

stage of disease.

SIXTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material used.

Animals inoculated.

Seat of inoculation.

July 16, 1851.

Twelve lean bullocks

Tip of tail.

Tin

One heifer. .,.---.-..-..--.•----.

Tip of tail.

Do

One Dutch bull

Tin of tail.

Do

A calf four days old

Tip of tail.

On the 24th of July four showed swelling of the tail; on the 29th all
had the enlargement, and on the 10th of August Dr. Willems ampu-
tated the tail-tips of four.

56

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

SEVENTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material used.

Animals inoculated.

*

Seat of inoculation.

Aug. 18, 1851.

Pulinoimry liquid from a bullock
in third stage of disease.

Seven lean two-year old bullocks.

Tip of tail.

Pulmonary liquid from a bullock

One Dutch milch cow

Tip of taU.

in third stage of disi-iise.

Pulinouary liquid from a bullock

Fourteen leau bullocks, from three

Tip of tail.

in third stage of disease.

to four years old.

Puhiionury liquid from a bullock
in third stage of disease.

Tip of tail.

•

On the 9tli of September the Dutch cow aud two bullocks presented
tlie first symptoms, aiid all the rest showed sigus ou the lith, aud after-
wards recovered.

EIGrHTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material used.

Animals inoculated.

Seat of inoculation.

Nov. 16, 1851.

Pulmonary exudation from a bul-
lock in thi' first stage, aud kept
ten days to note if it lost its
properties.

Four small indigenous cows

Tip of tail.

Ten days after the inoculation the first symptoms of specific inflam-
mation appeared, and all recovered.

NINTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material used.

Animals inoculated.

Seat of inoculation.

Jan. 19, 18.52.

Pulmonary exudation from cow
in third stage of the disease.

Tip of tail.
Tip of tail.

On the 2d of February the greater part of these animals showed
signs of the inoculation, and afterwards recovered.

One animal on the 3d of February had a swelling in the upper part, of
the right hind limb. Tlie tumor increased aud the animal suffered in-
tensely. Incisions, emollients and purgatives were resorted to as usual.
By the Sth of February the swelling liad invaded nearly the whole of the
right hip, pushed the tail to the lelt, and the anus was partly occluded
so as to cause diiUculty in defecation. The animal died on the 10th.
Post-mortem appearances indicated little else beyond the tliickening of
the skin and suluuitaneous tissues of the right hip. There was some
discoloration of tlie intestines, flaccid appearance of muscles, and dark
color of lungs, but no si)ecitic appearances in internal organs.

THE LUNG PLAGUE.

57

TENTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material inoculated.

Animals inoculated.

Seat of inoculation

Jan. 30, 1853.

Pulmonarj' exudation in first stage
of disease.

Four old lean but strong Dutch
bullocks.

Tip of tail.

Two presented swelling ou tlie 12th of Februaiy, and recovered ; the
others showed no signs.

ELEVENTH GROUP OF OBSERVATIONS.

Date.

Material inoculated.

Animals inoculated.

Seat of inoculation.

Feb. 26 1852

Pulmonary exudation from bul-
lock in first stage.

Six lean Dutch bullocks

Tip of tail.

Pulmonary exudation from bul-
lock in first stage.

Six fine Belsrian steers . .....

Tip of tail.

Pulmonary exudation from bul-

One Dutch heifer

Tip of tail.

lock in first stage.

Pulmonary exudation from bul-

One indigenous cow.

lock in first stage.

From the 13th to the 20th of March the effects of the inoculations were
developed. Only one animal of the first grouj) lost a little of its tail.

Dr. Willems proceeded further. On the 19th of June, 1S51, he inoc-
ulated several cattle with the liquid expressed from healthy lungs with-
out j)roducing any effect. He then inoculated a bullock that had pre-
viously had the disease, and witnessed no results except a little enlarge-
ment at the seat of the puncture in one case. On the 28th of August,
1851, he reinoculated a bullock that had been operated on six or seven
months previously and had lost his tail; and did the same with two small
cows.

On the 19th of January, 1852, he reinoculated three large bullocks,
and on the 26th of February three other bullocks, the whole of which
had. been successfully oi)erated on before.

Fifty cattle that had not been inoculated were mixed in a stable with
those referred to, and with the following result :

In the month of May, 1851, three bullocks sickened; on the 22d of
June a fourth case ; on the 2Gth a fifth ; on the 26th of July a seventh ;
and at different dates up to the lOtli of March, 1852, seventeen of the
new inoculated animals had suffered, and were sold for slaughter, Avhereas
the other thirty-three doubtless had a latent I'orni of the malady.

The conclusions drawn by Dr. Willems were as follows:

1. Pleuro-pneumonia is not contagious by inoculation of the blood or
other matters taken from diseased animals and placed upon healthy
ones.

58 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

2. By the inothod that I emplbyed, one hundred and eight beasts
were preserved from phMiro-pneumoiiia, wliile of fifty beasts placed in
the same stables and not inoculated, seventeen became diseased, and
the disease is now banished from these stables, which had never been
free from it since 1830.

3. The inoculation of the disease itself, i^erformed in the manner that
I have described, whether it may have occasioned apjiarent morbid
manifestations or not, was the measure that preserved the animals from
plem'O-pneumonia.

4. The blood and the serous and frothy liquid squeezed from the lungs
of a diseased animal in the first stage of pleiu'O-pneumonia is the most
suitable matter for inoculation.

5. The inocidation of the virus takes from ten days to a month before
it manifests itself by sensible symptoms.

6. The matter emj^loyed for the inoculation has, in general, no effect
upon an animal preNaously inoculated or having had the disease.

7. The inoculated animal braves the epizootic influences with impu-
nity, and fattens better and more rapidly than those in the same atmo-
sphere with it that have not been inoculated.

8. The inoculation should be performed with prudence and circum-
spection upon lean animals in preference, and towards the tenth day
after the operation a saline purge may be given, and repeated if neces-
sary.

9. By inoculating pleuropneumonia a new disease is produced; the
affection of the lungs, with all its peculiar characters, is localized in
some sort on the exterior.

10. The virus obtained from oxen affected with pneumonia is of a na-
ture entirely specific ; it does not always act as a virus ; the bovine race
alone is affected hy its inoculation, while no other animals of different
races, inoculated in the same manner, and with the same liquid, experi-
ence any ill effects.

Dr. Willems accomplished much in his earlier experiments, as will be
seen by comparing the knowledge of the present day with the results of
his original investigations. One cause contributed to strengthen the
hands of his adversaries, and this was attempting to prove that specific
and characteristic elements distinguished the virus of pleuropneumonia.

Dr. AVillcms says :

I have exiiiniiK (1 various iiathological specimens Avitli the object of studying and
clncidating thi' (lucstion of inoculation. My investigations have been principally
directed to diseased lungs, and to a kind of tubercle hitlu-rto overlooked, but whieb I
have, nevertheless, constantly met with upon openiug the dead bodies ol" animals that
died from i)lenro-pneumonia. These tubercles, scattered throughout the iutestines, but
principally in the lesser one, are of a size varying from the head of a pin to that of a
large pea, of a yellowish or greenish color; they are seated in the submucous cellular
tissue, and partly in tlie thickness of the nuuMius nieml»rauo of the intestine. Tlu'y do
not ;i|iiie:ir to linve any relation with the glands of Peyer or of" Hrunner. Are they
hypertrophied follicles ? Nothing appears to prove it ; no openiug is perceived in them .

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 59

Tliey are formed of a liomogeneoiis, whitisli matter, more or less hard, showing uuder
the microscope granuhius kernels and au innumerable quantity of small elementary
corpuscles, which enjoy a molecular motion, and which are also met with in diseased
lungs. I have examined uuder the microscope parts of the lungs of animals diseased
with pneimiouia, with a power magnifying foiu- hundred and fifty diameters, which is
higher than that employed by Professor Gluge in his beautiful anatomico-pathological
researches upon pleuro-pneumonia. The exudated matter j)reseuted no structure. I
met with no other anatomical elements than granular cells and elementary corpuscles,
provided with a iiarticnlar motion, the whole iiretty much resembling au inflammatory
exudation, remarkable for its great quantity. The lilastic exudation is formed in so
rapid a manner, and in such considerable quantity, that anatomical elements of a
superior development to that of these cells could not be produced in them ; conse-
quently no cells or globules of pus (I have never found any) or filters are ever met with
there. The energy of the cellular tissue appears to exhaust itself upon too large a
quantity of exudated matter for the latter to be carried to a higher degree of organiza-
tion. It is the same as is observed sometimes in the regeneration of tissues ; in the
section of nerves, for example, and in the fractiu-e of bones, when the exuded liquid
is in too large a quantity, or the fragments are too much sejiarated, a part of the
liquid being beyond the circle of action of the energy of existing tissues, always
remains at an inferior degree of development to that of the neighl)oring tissues. What
is most important to be shown here, and of which no one has hitherto spoken, is the
existence in diseased lungs of small corpuscles, endowed with a molecular motion,
which appears sometimes to he made in a given direction. They are like corpuscles in
process of formation, the motion of Avhich resembles that of the granules of pigment,
as well as those which surround the corpuscles of the tuberculoiis matter in man. In
all my microscopical researches I have constantly found the same.

Wishing to know whether these corpuscles exist in any other substances than those
already examined, I submitted to the microscope —

1. .The saliva of a healthy ox under epizootic influence.

2. The saliva of a diseased cow towards the third stage of the disease.

3. The urine of the same cow.

4. The blood of the same cow.

5. The blood of a healthy ox under epizootic influence for five months.

6. The blood of a healthy ox not under epizootic influence.

7. Parts of the liver and of the large right pectoral muscle from a diseased cow.

In none of these matters did I find the small corpuscles with molecular motion, which I
have constantly met with in the lungs and in the intestinal tubercles of animals aflected
with pletu'( )-pueumonia. That, then , is the principal seat of the disease. Are these cor-
I)uscles primitive or consequent on the disease ? This question cannot be decided now ;
I only Avish herd to verify their presence in pleuro-pneximonia.

I examined with the microscope parts of the skin of an ox that died of inoculation.
I there found the same microscopical elements and the same chemical characters, as in
the lungs diseased with pneumonia.

Professor Gluge, one of tlie members of the Belgiau commission
appointed to inquire into the efficacy of inoculation, reported, on the
10th of July, 1852, as follows :

It results, from the demonstrations made by Dr. Willems and our own researches —

1. That e])izo(jtic ph>uro-pneumonia has no characteristic anatomical products apprc-
cial)le by the microsc^ope.

2. That the inflammatory product is not distinguished from any other product of
inlbunmatioii l>y amitomical character.

A. That M. Willems's assertions are ru)t accurate.

4. That this circumstance, doubtless unfortunate, does not in any way prejudice the
practical question, which it appears to me ought to be especially examined.

60 DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTTTRE.

But Professor Verlieyen, who was the president of this coininission,
contiimed until his death to throw discredit on the preservative efficacy
of inoculation, and though he based most of his conclusions on hypo-
theses, he was ready to avail himself of everything that presented itself
to strengthen his position.

Three commissions were almost simultaneously at work to ascertain
the merits of Dr. Willems's discovery.

The first in Holland, appointed on the 17th of April, 1852, consisted
of the director and professors of the veterinary school at Utrecht.*

From the 11th of June, 1852, to the 9th of July following, the com-
mission inoculated for fourteen proprietors two hundred and forty-seven
head of cattle of various ages and condition. In this number there were
one hundred and fifty-four milch cows, six young cows that had not yet
calved, thirty-two heifers, and fifty-five calves. The phenomena of the
operation were not manifested at once on all the beasts that were subjected
to it. The proportions between the inoculation and its consequences are
nearly constant in milch cows and heifers; they are found to be about
as three to two. In calves, on the contrary, the proportion is less; it is
a s four and a quarter to one. A great difference was observed in the effects
on cattle of different proprietors. Thus, out of thirteen milch cows
belonging to Degroot, four only experienced the consequences, while
with the cattle belonging to Wynen, it was successful in eighteen out of
twenty; and yet the matter used for the inoculation at these two farms
came from the same lung. Other similar variations were observed,
and were not attributed exclusively by the commission to a greater or
less predisposition to pleuropneumonia. The}' thought it more proba-
ble explanation of the fact that the disease, raging with greater vio-
lence and upon a greater number of beasts in one stable than another,
existed in germ at the time of inoculation, although there were no symp-
toms to indicate it. Thence it was, then, that with one exception
pleuro-pneumonia caused the greatest losses to the i^roprietors on whose
cattle the inoculation took least. The inoculated beasts that the com-
mission had to report on as having been attacked by pleuro-pnounuinia,
were sixteen in imniber. Although this figure, they say, is pretty con-
siderable, it proves in no wise to the disadvantage of the preservative
power of the inoculation ; for it was to be expected that cases of i)leuro-
pneumonia, more or less numerous, would in-esent themselves among
the cattle subjected to the operation, since they had been stabled with
infected animals, and at the time of performing it there were still several
affected with the disease. " We cannot omit to state," adds the re])orter,
"that u])()n none of these animals Avas the inoculation succeeded by local
l)hen()mena;" The opinion of those who thought that pleuro-pneumonia
acquires by inoculation a milder character, and terminates more favor-
ably, was not confirmed; the greater number of the animals attacked

** Further paporsrc8ppctin<!; pleino-piicuiiioiiia in cattle, presented to the Britisli House
of Comiuous by commauil of her Majesty, December G, 1652.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 61

perished. The operation had not the least intiiieuce upon the beasts
which, at the time it was performed, were evidently affected with pleuro-
pneumonia. Several beasts that were known for some time to have been
affected with pleuro-pueumonia experienced not the least effect from
the inoculation.

The report from which the above has been extracted bears the date
of the 21st of September, 1852, and the results are indicated by the
annexed table.

The second report, bearing date of the 28th of December, 1852, and
prepared by the same commission, furnishes facts recorded in the sub-
joined table.

The conclusions drawn from the experiments were summarized as fol-
lows:

1. Although the inoculation of pleuropneumonia is not, in all respects,
an inoffensive operation — as extensive derangements and even death
may result from it — its effects are generally confined to the part where
it has been applied.

2. In order to prevent, as much as possible, its unfavorable conse-
quences, it is necessary to use some precaution, both in the selection of
the matter for inoculation and the period of its application. The sea-
son, the atmospheric circumstances, the state of nutrition, exert consid-
siderable influence upon the success. The autumn appears, for more
than one reason, to be the most suitable period.

3. When an intense action and serious casualties appear locally and
in the more distant organs, they may be attributed to exterior circum-
stances and to the individual constitution. This being the case, casu-
alties cannot always be avoided.

4. If serious complications appear and affect the essential organs so as
to cause the reaction of the whole organism, it is as difficult to prevent
them and arrest their progress as it is to cure pleuro- pneumonia.

5. In the violent cases, terminating in death, lesions in the thorax or
the lungs have never been met ; hitherto they have always been concen-
trated in the abdominal cavity.

6. The inoculation produces no unfavorable effects either upon the
constitution or the yield of milk, while its action is limited to a local
affection. Only in the cases where abundant deposits succeed a too
intense local action do the animals continue sickly during some time.

7. The operation has not had a determined influence on the excitement
of cestrnm. In proportion this has been more frequent on the inocu-
lated than on the uninoculated cows. It is, however, to be remarked
that No. 25 has not yet been in heat, although the period for it has long
since passed.

8. Tlie return of the uterine heats with the two cows Kos. 5 and 12,
prol)ably in consequence of abortion, can the less be referred to the inoc-
ulation, as these two cases are isolated, and the effects were not observed^

62 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

ill Nos. 10, 21, and 23, which were very markedly subject to sexual excite-
ment.

0. It cannot be determined with complete certainty whether the pre-
mature ])artuiition of a cow near her time, (No. 10,) as well as the con-
secutive phenomena observed in the mother and the calf, are to be attrib-
uted to the inoculation ; it is the same with the cow No. 14, which calved
before her time. These circumstances are, however, of a nature to dis-
courage the inoculation of females in an advanced stage of gestation.

10. As abortion is frequent in the course of pleuropneumonia, it can-
not be passed over in silence that this complication has never appeared
with the beasts that have suffered so seriously from the inoculation as
to sink under it. If, therefore, the operation has any influence upon ges-
tation, it can only be in the last stage.

11. The hypothesis, already proposed in our first report, that the evo-
lution of pleuropneumonia after the inoculation ought to be attributed
to the existence of the germ of the disease before the operation, notwith-
standing the absence of every morbid phenomenon, acquires a higher
degree of probability from our experiments.

12. The opinion of those who hold that cattle that have had pleuro-
pneumonia, and have recovered, do not contract it a second time, or at
least rarely, and that the inoculation is performed without success upon
these individuals, is again coniii-med by No. 16, which was inoculated
twice, but in vain.

13. Our experiments furnish the remarkable proof that a power, at
least temporary, of securing against the contagion of pleiu-o-pneumouia
cannot be denied to the inoculation; it remains imcertain, however, to
what extent the predisposition to contract this disease is destroyed, either
entirely or for a limited time. Much time will be necessary, from the
very nature of the question, before a positive solution of it can be arrived
at.

Yerheyen, as president reporter of the Belgian commission, issued a
report dated Brussels, February G, 1853. It opened in the following
terms :

In a first report, enibraciiig- the period from the 24th of May to the 15th of July, 1852,
it is stated that the comuiissiou had iuocuhited, either by the operations of its members
or under its supervision, 189 l)easts of the bovine race of all ages and both s(>xes. Eight
herds, numbering 129 head, inhal)ited stables in which i)neumouia had lately ragi'd, or
■was still raging at the time of the inoculation; eight other herds, composed of sixty
beasts, abode in healthy localities, or such as were considered healthy, forasmuch as
they had never been visited by the disease, or that the scourge had spared them at
least for the last eighteen months.

We made it appear —

1. Tliat the operation had been followed by effects upon all the cattle inoculated.

2. That the matter had remained inert upon two cows that we knew to have escaped
from exudative plcnro-pneumonia.

;3. Tliat five cows had perislied from the consequences of inoculation.
4. That two had lost the whole of their tails.
^ .'). That six had partially lost them.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 63

6. That four calves liad been seized with an articular affection.

7. That contrary to Mr. Willems's observations, the insertion of the matter in the
tails of calves produced a local affection there.

8. That finally, at the moment of dispatching that first report, M. Dele informed the
commission that a case of pleuro-pneumonia had just appeared at the Abbey of La
Trappe upon an inoculated cow.

The favorable situation certified on the 15th of July has been maintained, with but
one exception, for the individuals of those herds which the proprietors stiU possess.
The articular affection observed in four cows has not occurred again ; therefore a sim-
ple coincidence must be admitted, and this casualty explained independent of inocu-
lation.

The commission resolved on extending its operations, and this they
did by associating with themselves all the country veterinary practi-
tioners, in accordance with the organization of the civil veterinary ser-
vice in Belgium; and secondly, by undertaking a series of direct experi-
ments.

The government on its part did not remain inactive. It organized local commissions
charo-ed with the supervision of the operations ; the losses occasioned by the inocula-
tion were assimilated to those of animals slaughtered on account of public benefit ; it
undertook to pay the difference between the estimated price and the selUng price of
the inoculated beasts, which, contracting exudative pleuro-pneumonia, should be sent by
their proprietors to the shambles, and of which the ofiflcers at the latter would make
declarations to the authorities.

Further on M. Verheyen says :

Wishing to free the inoculation from the numerous accessory questions which that
practice occasions, the commission adopted for its experiments, and submitted to the
minister of the interior for his sanction, this sim^ile programme :

1. To purchase sound beasts ; to watch them dirrrng a certain time, in order to be
assured of the integrity of their pulmonary organs.

2. To request M. Willems to inoculate them.

3. Only to admit as preserved those in which that physician should have recognized
the specific inflammation caused by a productive inoculation, and which he should have
pronounced to be in the enjoyment of the immunity.

4. To have the beasts cohabit with animals afilicted with exudative j)leuro-pneumo-
nia, at the same time placing some inoculated animals in identical conditions.

A first batch of eight cows and heifers of Ardennes breed, selected in localities free
from exudative pleuro-iinenmouia, arrived at the veterinary school. M. Willems inoc-
ulated them on the 16th of August ; on the 11th of September, those numbered 1, 2, 3,
5, 6, and 8 were examined by M. Willems, who declared that the inoculation liad suc-
ceeded in those beasts.

On the same day he inoculated eight other beasts purchased by M. Windelincx, on
account of the commission, at the fafr of Tirlemont. We cannot affirm that they were,
like the pr(!ceding, from a locality free from pleiu-o-pueumonia ; we gained, however,
by a rigorous and repeated examination, the certainty that the thoracic organs were
intact. At the same sitting, M. Willems reinoculated the two Ardennes cows num-
bered 4 and 7.

All showing themselves still refractory on the 29th of September, M. Willems was
apprised of it; the letter was unanswered.

On the 10th of October an ox — that marked No. 2 — of the herd that came fi-om Tirle-
mont, exhibited a swelling at the end of the tail. That portion of the caudal append-
age being seized with dry mortification, was eliminated.

On the 18th October three members of the commission proceeded to a fresh inocu-
lation. They operated upon the Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, from Tiiiemont, and upon the
Aidennes cow No. 4.

64 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The No. 7 of tlic latter breed, and the No. 6 of the former, were reserved.

Two of tli<' Ardennes cows were siieeessfnlly iiioenlated, Nos. 5 and 6, havinj; been iso-
lated iu a stable, cohabited from the •24tli of September with pneumonic beasts. When it
was certain that the operation had had a negative result ufton the Ardennes cow No.
7, and after the cicatrization of the puncture, the same locality was assigned to it, on
the 1st of October, for abode.

The ox No. 2, from Tirlemont, entered there on the 23d of October, and the heifer No.
6 on the 25th of the same month.

A third inoculation performed on the 18th of November, upon the beasts from Tirle-
mont, Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, was not more efficacious that the preceding.

From the 24th of September, the date of the experiment, there has only occurred a
first space of one day, and a second of eight, during which the stable has not contained
pneumonic beasts; the number of the cattle has varied from one to three. Up to this
day the three inoculated beasts, and the two upou which the inoculation was unsuc-
cessful, have experienced no attack from the cohabitation with iirfected animals.

Two aged cows, inoculated by M. Willems, at Hasselt, entered the same locality on
the 15th of November.

On the 28th of September, two of the Ardennes beasts, Nos. 3 and 8, were dispatched
to Tirlemont to be placed in infected stableS there, by the care and under the superin-
tendence of M. Windeliucx.

A third experiment, intrusted to M. Dele, has been organized at Deurne, in the prov-
ince of Antwerp. The superior of the abbey of La Trappe has been jileased to place
at the disposal of the commission, for this purpose, two heifers belonging to the com-
munity, and which were inoculated with the least equivocal success, on the 27th of
May, 1852.

On the 30th of October the Ardennes beasts Nos. 1, 2, and 4 were conducted to Huy,
where a fourth experiment is being carried out imder the superintendence of MM. Mar-
cojjs and Gn^rin.

Not oue of the animals inoculated, successfully or unsuccessfully, has contracted exu-
dative pleuro-pneumonia.

While these experiments were going on, fifty-four veterinary surgeons,
inchuling Dr. Willems, inoculated 5,301 head of cattle. They consisted
in —

Beasts fattening 2, 732

Lean oxen or milch cows 2, 189

Calves and young cattle «^80

Total 5, 301

Beasts living in healthy stables 2, 330

Beasts living in infected stables 2, 971

Total 5, 301

Beasts successfully inoculated 4, 324

In healthy stables 2, 030

In infected stables 2, 294

Total 4? ^24

r\

Eighty-six, including eleven beasts inoculated in the dewlap, died
from the consecpiences of the inoculation.

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 65

Seventy-four lost the tail up to the root.

Three hundred and four lost it in part.

Seventy-three contracted exudative pleuro -pneumonia after having
been successfully inoculated.

After careful examination it resulted at fifty-five cases of exudative
pleuro-pneumonia, well attested, occurred upon beasts inoculated with
unequivocal success. The space of time which elai)sed with these ani-
mals between the inoculation and the first appearance of the pneumonia
symptoms, varies 17 to 136 days.

After an elaborate analysis of cases in which the inoculation seems to
have been effectual, of others in which the operation and immunity
seemed to be coincidences, and lastly of those in which it was not pre-
servative, the commission concludes :

1. That tlie iuoculatioii witli tlie liquid extracted from a lung liepatized in consequence
of exudative pleuro-pneumouia, is not an absolute preservative against that disease.

2. That the phenomena succeeding the inoculation may occur several times niion the
same animal, whether it has or has not been affected with exudative pleuro-pneumouia,
and that the two affections -may go on simultaneously in one and the same indivi<lual;
considerable derangements ajjpear at the inoculated jjart, while the morbid action of
the lungs progresses towards a fatal termination.

As to the point whether inoculation really possesses a jtreservative virtue, and in
that case, in what proijortion and for what duration it maintains the immunity in the
animals that have undergone it, this question can only be resolved by ulterior researches.

A summary of inoculations performed and results obtained is appended
in a tabular form at the close of the report.

We now come to the experiments of the French commission, and it
must not be forgotten that, in connection with the subject of the trans-
mission of the lung plague by contact, this commission had resorted to
inoculation independently of any suggestions on the part of Dr. Willems.

The general resume, ably set forth by Professor Bouley, is regarded
uj) to the present day as having done much to diffuse a rational belief in
the efficacy of inoculation, and the experiments were conducted with
great care and skill.

Experiments were instituted by the commission —

First. To ascertain whether i)leuro-pneumonia is susceptible of being-
transmitted to healthv animals bv the inoculation of blood, saliva, nasal
discharge, and excrementitial matters from animals affected with the
disea.se.

Second. Have animals thus inoculated enjoyed any immunity against
the contagious inlim^ice of the lung plague?

Third. Is pleuroi)neumonia capable of being transmitted, in all its
forms and characteristic symptoms, to healthy cattle by the inoculation
of the liquid extracted from the lungs of a sick animal?

Fourth. In the case where inoculation of this liquid does not determine
on healthy animals an exact repetition of the form and symi)toms of the
original disease, what are the local or general ])henomena which result*?
In what proportion and to what extent do these characters, more or h'ss
severe, transmit themselves ? How many aninuils die after inoculation?
5

SG DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

llow many recovor their health after having been snbjected to this test,
and nnder what conditions?

Fifth. ]3o the animals snbjected to this jnoof of inocnlation with jml-
monary li(|uid acciniic the i)0\ver of resisting the contagion of i>leiiro-
pnenmonia?

The experiments made to solve the qnesticni whether plenro-pnenmonia
was contagious by the inocnlation of the blood, saliva, nasal mucus, &c.,
having been performed only on six animals, the commission has not
deemed them suflticient in number to form the basis of any conclusion.
Nevertheless, it was thought right to mention that the two cows inocu-
lated with the misal discharge, and subjected to the proof of contagion
by cohabitation, have not been affected with pleuro-pneumonia.

Experiments by inoculating the liquid from the lungs of sick cattle
have been performed on fifty-four healthy animals, and under conditions
which indicated that these animals had never previously contracted the
disease. Of these fifty-four subjects inoculated none have shown symp-
toms of i)leuro-pneumouia as the result of inoculation. On twenty-three
the effects of inoculation have only been indicated by a slight local and
well-circumscribed inflammation. On twenty-one the inflammation has
been very severe, very extensive, and complicated by gangrenous phe-
nomena which have led to the death of six subjects. Therefore the num-
ber of animals in which inoculation has been benignant has amounte<l to
Gl.ll per cent.; the proportion of those having gangrene after the oper-
ation, Avhich resulted in the loss of a portion of the tail, was 27.77 per
cent.; lastly, the deaths attained 11.11 per cent. Thus 88.88 per cent,
of the inoculated animals recovered, and 11.11 per cent. died.

Of the forty-eight subjects which came out of the inoculatioTi safe and
healthy two died of accidents not induced by the operation, and thirty-
four were exi)osed for a period of five or six months to the direct influ-
ence of contagion by cohabitation with twenty-four subjects that had not
been inoculated, and which had to serve as a means of comparison.

Twelve iiu)culated animals which had been placed in separate stables
to serve for ultefior exi)eriments were not exposed to the direct contact
of such cattle, but were looked alter by the same person who had charge
of the sick animals.

Only one of the forty-six animals inoculated, viz., about two per cent.,
became atfected with pleuro-pneumonia, whereas of the twenty-four non-
inoculated animals fourteen, or fifty-eight per cent., suffered.

From these experiments the commission concludes:

1. The inoculation of the liquid extracted from the lungs of an animal
affected witli i)leui<)-])ueumonia does not transmit to healthy animals of
the same s[>ecies the same disease — at all events, so far as its seat is con-
cerned.

2. The a])preciable plienomena which follow the inoculation are those
of a local inllammatiou, which is circumscribed and slight, on a certain
number of t lie auimals inoculated; extensive and diffuse, with general
reaction proi>ortioned to the local disease, and complicated by gangrenous

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 67

accidents, on another number of the inoculated animals, so that even death

maj' result.

3. The inoculation of the liquid from the lungs of an animal affected
with pleuro-pneumonia exerts a preservative influence, and invests the
economy of the larger number of animals subjected to its influence with
an imniunity which protects them from the contagion of this malady
during a period which has yet to be determined, but which the experi-
ments quoted indicated, at all events, not to be less than six months.

Although, from the experiments of the commission, the losses per
cent, among the animals inoculated were greater than* the losses by the
disease communicated by cohabitation, they ascribed this partly to the
imperfect means adopted in inoculating, and they do not overlook the
great deterioration of the animals which did not die after suffering from
the natural disorder. They recommended further trials, and that the
practice should be encouraged.

A mixed commission of the central society of medicine and the agri-
cultural committee of Lille instituted experiments on one thousand two
hundred and forty-five animals to determine the comparative effects of
inoculation of the pulmonary liquid of pleuro-pneumonia and of septic
matters. The inoculations with virus amounted to one thousand two
hundred and sixteen; of these nine hundred and seventy-eight succeeded
and two hundred and thirty-eight showed no visible effects. One hun-
dred and seventy-niue animals, or 14.72 per cent., lost a part of the tail;
seventeen, or 1.39 per cent., died; lastly, twenty-nine animals, or 2.38 per
cent., were seized with pleuro-pneumonia, and of these eight succumbed-
Twenty-nine head of cattle were inoculated with decomposing matter,
and only two without local effect resulting. Ten lost a portion of the
tail, viz., thirty-four p^r cent. Of these animals three caught pleuro-
pneumonia, and one of these died. The Lille committee regarded the
process and results of inoculation as involved in doul)ts and uncertainties.
In England attention was directed to inoculation by consuls from
abroad, and Professors Simonds and Morton were commissioned to pro-
ceed to Belgium, investigate the matter, and then to institute experi-
ments at home. The result obtained, after much too limited observation,
was pronounced against the practice. This sufficed to prevent the prac-
tice of the operation among veterinarians, and the London cow-feeders
alone resorted to the idan, in a very partial and imperfect manner.

I witnessed many bad results in 1851 and 1855, and a case which came
under my observation on the 4th of May, 1850, in which putrid matter
that had been kept in an ink-bottle for a long time was used, led mo to
pronounce a somewhat cautious but adverse opinion on the Highland
Society's transactions for that year.

My efforts were afterwards directed to an exposure of the evils of
indiscriminate snle of healthy and sick cattle in i)ublic markets, and
I insisted on the slaughter and isolation of sick and infected cattle. The
little support I received at home led me, in 1803, to call together the first
international veterinary congress, which was held in Hamburg, and

68 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

there I met veterinarians from all parts of I'^urope wlio had steadily- per-
severed in the practice of inoculation and could furnish me with relial)le
data. It is impossible, and indeed it would be superfluous, to give a very
dctailed account of the thousands and tens of thousands of cases which
have led to the almost universal opinion that inoculation is the best
means in the majority of instances to check the ravages of pleuro-pneu-
monia. The observations have been made in all parts where pleuro-
pneumonia has appeared, though opposition to the practice is scarcely
overcome to the extent that is desirable.

The efforts of Professor Verheyen in Belgium and his many attacks
ou Dr. Willems's nu^thod, approx cd as they have been by S(mie in that
country, only illustrate once more the adage that a man is not a prophet
in his own country. But Professor Thiervene, who was one of the original
Belgian commissioners, and at first among the decided skeptics, delivered
an address before the Eoyal Academy of Medicine in Brussels in 18GG, in
reply to one by M. Boens, who had attacked the practice of inoculation,
in which he vindicates Dr. Willems's position. He indorses Professor
Saint Cyr's remarks on the demonstration of a preservative influence by
the most accurate and extensive experiments, and shows that of the well-
informed in Belgium, who are acquainted with the characters of the con-
tagious pleuro-pueumonia, none now doubt that inoculation is a safe and
certain preserva tive.

Medical men, no less than veterinarians, have a duty to perform in
relation to this subject. Boards of health in cities and country districts
should take up the subject in connection with the sale of the meat and milk
of animals affected with pleuro-pneumonia. History shows that in those
countries, such as England, where the sale of the produce of these animals
has been most unrestricted, the traffic in such cattle has been so great as
to cause the nu)st severe losses by the disease, and without intermission.

An objection to inoculation, which weighs in the case of human and
ovine small-pox, as well as rinderpest, is that the inoculated disease is
contagious, that the cohabitation of healthy with inoculated animals may
lead to extensions of the disorderly infection, and that the foci whence
the disease spreads are always on the increase. Such objections cannot
weigh against the inoculation for the lung plague, as the inoculated nud-
ady is not communicated except by reinoculation. My observations on
this point are very numerous, and I do not know of a single instance
recorded, during the seventeen years that inoculation has been exten-
sively practiced, in which contagion from inoculated animals has been

witnessed.

Another objection which has led, of late years, to the practice being
checked among the cow-feeders of Brooklyn, is the sloughing of'the tad
and the animals splashing blood and matter from their sore tails into the
ndlk-cans. All this aiises from the oi)eration being performed by per-
sons who know nothing of the precautions to be used, and especially of
the proper selection and preservation of the virus. Accidents will hap-
pen; but out of nearly two thousand inoculations 1 have had a loss of less

THE LUNG PLAGUE. ' 69

than one per cent, by death, and nnder five per cent, of the tails have
lost their tips. This incUides m^^ earlier trials, and the results wonld be
more favorable if I exclnded them from my calcnlations.

PRECAUTIONS.

The prevention of pleuropneumonia by inoculation demands, therefore,
sjiecial attention, first, to the condition of herds operated on ; second, selec-
tion of proper virus; third, the preservation of that virus from de(;om-
positionj fourth, the proper performance of the operation.

First. As to the condition of stock, it may be said that at any season
and under any system of management, whether cattle are being grazed,
stall-fed, used for breeding purposes, or fattening for the butcher's stall,
inoculation may be resorted to. It should be practiced so soon as there
is reason to believe a herd has been in danger of infection or actually
infected. Tlie first case of well-marked lung plague on a farm or in a
dairy shed should be the starting point for careful isolation, and the
inoculation of all apparently healthy animals. The disease rarely mani-
fests all its virulence until the third month after the introduction of a sick
animal among a lot of cattle, but the longer the inoculation is delayed
the more likely is it that the operation will be performed on animals
during the stage of invasion of the natural disease, and the result is a
loss which is sometimes ascribed to the ineflficacy of the preventive.
In cities where the lung j>lague has been rife for any length of time, and
it is "necessary to make frequent purchases, although a great deal in the
way of prevention may be eflected bj^ judicious purchases of animals in
healthy districts, it is best to resort regularly to inoculation. Dairymen
should strive to buy more cows at a time, and at regular intervals, instead
of i^icking up a chance bargain or making it a rule to go to the market
weekly, as has been often the custom in both England and America. It
matters not if the cow is about to calve or has just calved ; nothing should
induce the dairyman or the farmer in an infected district to run a risk.
It is desirable to keep animals clean and well littered on straw or saw-
dust, as at times the tails that have been operated on are permanently
in excrement and urine, which may poison the wound with decomposing
matter.

Second. The selection of proper virus is a matter that should be
intrusted to veterinarians, who can detect the various stages of the dis-
ease. It is during the first stage of a mild case that the interlobular
tissue of the lung is found disteuded with a yellow gelatinous serum,
w^hich is fluid so long as the lungs are hot, and is not readily contami-
nated by other inflammatory products and blood. When a large portion
of luug has been so far cf)usoli(liit('(l as to present an abaost uuiforin dark
red or purplish color, it should be discarded, and especially in cases wheiv
a piece of the organ has become gangrcMious and detached, or where licpiid
in the cavity of the chest and around the lungs is decidedly fetid. IMicro-
scopic examination will iudicate, by the presence of movable rods and
floating molecules, the putrefactive changes, and that should cause us to

70 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

discard any such somce of virus. A clear pleural fluid is ofteu very use-
ful for preservation, but i)erhai)s <;Teater reliance is to be placed on the
exudation of a i)ie('e of lung in tlu' first stage of the malady. The lung
is [)hu'ed on a tolerably ^vide strainer, or bits of wood, over a clean stone-
ware, glass, or porcelain dish or bowl; it is cut in various directions, and
a stout piece of cloth or flannel is placed over the whole to confine the
heat and prevent dust falling on the lung or liciuid.* It is better to place
the dish or bowl over a warm water or sand bath at 100°, so as to pre-
vent gelatinization. In a short time, according to the condition and
quantity of lung, a sufllcient quantity of clear yellow-colored .li<juid is
obtained. Sometimes blood accidentally tinges the material, and this is
not uecessaril}- a disadvantage.

The old plan of keeping pieces of lung to inoculate with, and bot-
tling up anything and everything to secure a fetid compound, which
was kept for months, must be regarded as the most certain means to
insure accidents as the results of inoculation.

Third. The preservation of the virus for periodic inoculations has
certaiulv been a desideratum. Had farmers and dairvmeu had the facil-
ities for procuring material which could be used with safety in their
stock, they would long since have tried a method that, even when badly
carried out, is beneficial to them. Dr. Sticker, of Cologne, has preserved
the virus in hermetically-closed tubes containing from one to two
drachms. One of these glasses is emptied into a small glass, and from one
to two parts of rain water added. This is not desirable. A plan has
occurred to me of utilizing the tubes referred to in Drs. Billings and
Cui'tis's report, which I am sure will meet the requirements of the ca.se.
Tubes about four inches in length, three-eighths of an inch in diameter,
antl tapering at either end, are sealed at one end in a blow-pipe flame,
and then heated throughout their length to redness. The operation is
concluded by closing the other end in the same way. The air in the
tube is rarefied, all germs of decay destroyed, and there is no difficulty
in further manipulations. When a proper ([uantity of liquid is obtained
one point ol the tube is passed into it, the tip broken off, ami the virus
is sucked in to fill the vacuum. A spirit lamp is held near the licjuid
and the point of the tube transferred from this to the flame. By the
aid of a blow-pipe the sealing is effected, and thus protected the virus
will keep for months. The test for discarding tubes thus prepared is a
microsco])ical one, and consists in the detection of bacteria or evidences
of putrefaction in the liquid.

Fourth. The inoculation of cattle is most safely practiced on the tip
of the tail. All parts that .are loose, and from which any extensive
exudation may s]»read over the connective tissue beneath the skin, must
be avoided. The lips, dewlap, and root of the tail have proved dangerous
localities. AVhen the operation is properly and delicately i)erformed,
the tii» of the ear is said to be safe, but on the whole the end of the tail
is after long experience found to be the best.

Dairymen have frequently resorted to the plan of making an incision

THE LUNG PLAGUE. 71

of an inch or two in length, inserting in the part a piece of Inng-, and
bandaging; swelling, inflamniation, slonghing of the tail, secondary
deposits in the lymphatic glands and other parts of the organs, have
freqnently resulted from this rude practice.

Dr. Willems first described his mode of inoculation as follows : " I
take the liquid pressed from an animal recently slauglitered, or of one
that has died of the disease; I plunge into it a kind of large lancet;
then I make two or three punctures at the lower extremity of the tail of
the animal that I wish to preserve from the disease ; a single drop of the
liquid is sufficient to malce the inoculation.^^

At one time Dr. Willems adopted the plan of making two punctures,
one on the upper part and the other on the lower surface of the tip of tlie
tail, and both about the same distance from the extreme end of the
organ. He found that this frequently led to a fusion of the exudation
commencing around each puncture, and the result was the sloughing of
the tail. He therefore resorted to the punctures disposed vertically in a
line with the tail and about three inches from each other. By this
means the exudations commencing at the two spots had no tendency to
coalesce and lead to untoward results.

Various instruments have been suggested for the operation. Dr.
Sticker devised a hollow stilet with a sharp diamond-shaped point.
The stilet is armed with a little india-rubber tube, and this passed into
a wooden handle, with a spring, whereby the flexible tube could be
squeezed for the expulsion of air, and by placing the point of the instru-
ment in the prepared li<piid, sufticient is sucked in for an inoculation.
L have used this instrument as follows :

The end of the tail being firmly held in the left hand, the point of the
instrument is plunged with the right hand superficially into the skin of
the tip of the tail, and directed from before backwards, so that any
effort to withdraw the tail would only hasten the operation. I can testify
from practice to the simi)licity and efficacy of Dr. Sticker's instrument
as used by me. I have preferred the plan of operating to Dr. Sticker's
method, which consists in charging his instrument, holding the tail
flrnily, and then pushing the stilet about one inch forward into the tail,
and l)y a simultaneous pressure upon the key, and a slight winding
motion, the virus is dei)osited beneath the skin and in the substance of
the organ. Dr. Sticker proposed making a channel Avith the instru-
ment— a channel downwards from which exudation might flow ; but this
is of no avail if septic matter is used, and untoward symptoms result.
The result of Dr. Sticker's operation, according to his description, is a
local swelling occurring about the eightli or ninth day, and wliich
increases the tail from three to four lines in diameter and extends over
a length of one and a half to two inches; incisions have not been neces-
sary after the operation, and the tails have not mortified. The inoculated
cattle do not lose their appetites and the flow of milk is not diminished.
Dr. Sticker considers it important that the virus should be deposited in the
connective tissue beneath the skin and not deep in the muscles of the tail.

72 DErARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

liiit with (lie tubes in()])(>.se(l to preserve the liquid a very sini])le j)lan
consists in usiii<)- a siiiiili bistoury or huieet, scariiyinj; the ui)per surface
of the tail an inch or so from the end, and from this ])urt the hair may
be clipix'dolf with a ])air of scissors; the scarification must be sui)erfieial
and blood shoukl not be drawn if jjossible ; the tube is taken and both
ends broken otf ; a little rubber ball or tube is fixed onto one end, and
by pressin,i>- this a fcAV drops of li(piid are dropped in the scaritication.
This is the safest method, as there is no doubt of the virus being applied
to an abs(>rbent surface, and the method of collection affor<ls a j,niar-
antee of its purity; the tubes are thus kept hermetically sealed till
needed, and trom the way they are used there is no loss of material.

Tlie results of successful inoculation are somewhat various; by some
nu'thods the swelling- is considei'able, and many tails slough. It is not
a little remarkable that cows do not often fail to enjoy immunity from
the disease after sloughing- of the organ ; it might, « jpnon, have been
supposed that the acute inflammation and gangrene would have pre-
vented the specific action of the virus on the system, and there is reason
to believe that occasionally this does occur, as I have seen more than
one case of pleuro pneumonia in cows that had lost their tail after inocu-
lation.

But under favorable circumstances a slight heat and tumefiu'tion
occur round the puncture, at a period varying from a week to even sixty
days. Commonly from the ninth to the fifteenth day the local erup-
tion is visible, and if at all marked is attended with a little fever ; a
slight shiver, restlessness, and some loss of appetite, slightly checked
secretion of milk, and constipation, may be noticed. I have repeat-
edly inoculated all the cows in a dairy, and the owner has not sustained
the slightest loss or inconvenience from cows going oft" their milk; indeed
this is the rule.

Xo pustule, no suppuration, forms ; untoward results consist in the
excessive local swelling-, or, if putrid matter has been used, in secondary
deposits at the root of the tail, around the anus and other parts. One
of the most remarkable cases I ever witnessed was one in which, on the
seventeenth day after a carefully perf(U'med inoculation, both fore legs
and brisket swelled up enormously, and the aniuud suftered intensely
from fever and died on the fourth day.

As a rule, no after-treatment is necessary, inasmuch as the results are
so slight that they even escape observation altogether. But Avlien
ex(;essive swellings occur it is best to use cold applications, and nothing
is better than a steady stream of cold water on the part at short inter-
vals. Incisions are not always desirable, but where it is deenuMl advisa-
ble to relieve great tension, they must be deei) and free ; the resulting
wound must be Mashed with a solution of ses(iuichloride of iron or
chloride of zinc, of the strength of four grains to the ounce of water.
AVlien file animal has much fever and is costive, a saline purge, such as
a j>()und of Epsom salts, affords relief.

THE LUNG PLAGUE.

73

Appendix No. 1.

Statement of losses by lung plague in cattle in the District of Columbia
and vicinity, collected for Professor Gamgee, by Mr. G. Beid, Inglcside
Farm, Washington, B. C.

1

O

M

2 ®

+i

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s ?

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1

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5
30
18
30
30
22
40
16
12
16
12
22
20
12
16
25
2
5
5
4
25
40
35
14
10

1

2

21
7

15

10

41

2

1

2

2

3

4

5

15

2

6

11

7 -

8

9

10

11 .

12

1
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1
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2

13

14

15

2

16

17

18

19

20 .

4

4

21

22

28

23.

24

25
6

6

26

Total

471

198

39

16

•

74

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

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Oi\ THE ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY COM ON CATTLE,

BY JOHN GAMGEE, M. D.

A CAUSE OF DRY MURRAIN.

The opportunity presented itself, last fall, for an inquiry as to the
manner in which smuts which attack plants may aftect animals. The
close of 1868 was, throughout America, very wet; a large amount of
corn became smutty, that is to say, was attacked to a serious extent by
ustilago ma id is, and reports reached me from the west and south*that
cattle were dying in large numbers from a mysterious malady, the origin
of which was unknown. From Mills County, Iowa, I was informed, late
in November, that about the 12th of the mouth there was a fall of snow
six inches deep, and the cattle, which usually roam at large on the
prairies, were taken in by all the better farmers who had their corn
gathered, and turned into the stalk fields. In about eight days the
cattle began to die, aiul all presenting the same symptoms. My inform-
ant, Mr. James Hull, of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, lost four out of nine-
teen head, in fourteen days. This gentleman, alarmed at the number of
deaths, turned his cattle out of the stalk field and gave them all the
salt they would eat, mixed with copperas and sulphur. As soon as the
bowels were moved the symptoms disappeared. Mr. Hull also gave the
cattle asafoetida by " driving it into the cob of the corn.''

Personal inquiries among gentlemen from ditferent parts of the Cnited
States, in Washington, enabled me to trace the malady to AVestern Vir-
ginia, Illinois, and the Carolinas. It is much to be regretted that
accurate information as to the extent of losses, and the localities
affected, cannot be secured.

There are other circumstances under which cattle die from eating
corn. The stalks, very late in the season, are apt to get very hard and
indigestible, aiul Avithout a free admixture of grass, which the early
frosts kill, and the other food, they i)roduce severe iiuligestion and
death. This is an observation that has freely been made in Anun-ica.
Moreover, cattle die sometimes if freely fed on corn that has been badly
stored, and is musty. The same results follow the use of other deteri-
orated foods, and a brief reference to records on this subject may be
foun<l interesting and iiistructive.

The facts i)ublished with regard to the prevalence of a nnilady from
eating sn^utcy corn, among cattl^'. in America, are very few. If, how-
ever, the rea^ cause of numy cases of so-called dry murrain had

ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY CORN ON CATTLE. 79

been recorded correctly, there would be no difficulty in demonstrating
that the condition of the corntields has had much to do in developing
this disorder.

The Department of Agriculture has received information of the death
of cattle from eating smut corn, in Hampshire County, Massachu-
setts. Also from Whitley County, Indiana, where seven head of cattle,
out of tifty, died, " probably from smut in the corn field in which the
herd ranged."

From Story County, Iowa, it is reported that last " ISTovember a dis-
ease appeared among herds recently turned into corn-stalk fields. The
disease is evidently the dry murrain. A post mortem examination
showed the nuicous membrane of the stomach to be highly inflamed,
with symptoms of poison. It is evident that the disease is generated
in the stalk fields, and probable that it is produced by gorging the
stomach when first turned into the stalks, after being confined on the
wild frost-bitten prairie grass, and lack of sufficient water." A few
cattle died of dry murrain in Audubon County, in the same State,
"snpposed by some to be caused by smut in corn-stalks." A few
head were lost from the same cause in Calhoun County, and many are
reported to have died in Marshall County. We are, however, informed
from Sac County that many cattle died in December — cause unknown;
some snpposed from eating smut corn, but that has been disproved.
It is to be regretted that more is not stated with regard to the reasons
which led persons to doubt the eifects of the smutty corn. Even in
New-York State little credence was given to the action of smutty corn
at first ; but careful inquiry proved that after all it was the cause of
the dry murrain of the fall of 1868. From Dakota County, Nebraska,
we learn of dry murrain from eating smut corn ; whereas from Shawnee
County it is reported, and no doubt correctly, that the same disease has
been noticed among cattle " fed on prairie hay, cut after frost."

In Scotland the clovers are apt to induce a similar condition at times,
and the malady is then called "grass disease." It is not a specific affec-
tion, and arises from a dryness and indigestibility of one kind of food,
animals being debarred by circumstances from a salutary admixture of
different kinds of feed.

The cultivatiim of maize or Indian corn is already ancient in America;
and the introduction of this important grain into Spain, and as far back
as 1500 into Italy, should have resulted in the knowledge of its effects
on man and animals, under the many conditions under which it is found.
And, indeed, we are not without some knowledge of the subject, though
it is to be regretted that accurate information cannot be gleaned from
the writings of many who have referred to it. Both in its eff'e<;ts on
men and animals, it Jipi)ears to me that the consnmjttion of Indian corn
has to be studied in those ])arts whereat times, and even to the present
day, it constitutes the main article of diet, and in those where it is used
at all times with other kinds of food.

80 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Anionjjf moil in America, from time immemorial, its use could be
diversilied witli game, whereas iu some parts ofltaly, remarkable tor the
prevalence of pellagra, among their inhabitants, people often live exclu-
sively on corn bread, or the corn pudding they call polenta. The
excess of starchy constitnents, and scantiness of nitrogenous materials
in comi)arison with other grains out of wliicli flour ami bread are man-
ufactured, have been considered the causes of a cachectic and ill-nour-
ished conditiou said to i)revail wherever maize is the staple article of
diet among a people.

INIazzari,* Nardi,t and Letti, have ascribed the pellagra of Italy, and
which I witnessed some years ago in a bad form in the hospital of Fer-
rara, as due to diseased or smutty corn.

The extensive cultivation of maize in Italy dates from the eighteenth
century, and it is recorded by the celebrated Monati, and others, that
before that period pellagra was unknown. Balardini experimented with
a view to demonstrate that the smut on corn was poisonous, and he
records deleterious effects on fowls and even dogs.

Although this does not exactly correspond with one result I have
obtained, and recorded below, it is most desirable that experiments
should be continued on the subject. Balardini confirms the observation
of Yallenzasca della Falcadina, that the pellagra recorded by Odoardi
as prevailing in the Al})s of Bellano, iu J.776, completely disappeared on
the introduction of the potato as the basis of the food of the poor.

M. Signad, in his Diseases of Brazil, attributes tlie chlorosis or inter-
tropical hypaoemia among the black slaves and the inhabitants on the
western side of the Sierra dos Organo^, to the exclusive use of Indian
corn.

The symptoms recorded by Jubins are, pallor of the face and body,
yellowish, somewhat transparent, and sometimes greenish color of the
skin. The blacks that become affected lose their color.

M. Eoodin records, in the fifth volume of the Journal de Chemie Med-
icale, some observations on Avhat he calls ergot of maize, but which
Heusinger believes is the ordinary charbon, or snuit. Eoulin saw this
diseased grain in the southern parts of Columbia, where it is called maize
peladero. Its use causes peo])le to lose their hair, and this is very
remarkable in a country where baldheadedness is almost uidcnown, even
among old people.

Sometimes it causes looseness, and the loss of teeth, but never gan-
grene of the limbs, nor convulsive maladies. Pigs at first dislike this
diseased corn, but soon acquire a taste for it; and after eating it for a
few days, their bristles drop out, and later on there is an awkwardness
in the movements of their hind legs, and atroi)hy affects them. Eating
tlu' ])igs induc(!s no ill etfects on man. Mules eat the maize peladero,
lose their hair, and sutler from engorgements of the limbs; they are

* Siifjffio mcdicn politico sulla pclliijrra, Milauo, 1836.
t Cause cura della pellaj^ra, Milano, 183G.

ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY CORN ON CATTLE, 81

tied in distant pastures, and with tlie cliange of diet some recover.
Hens fed on tlie material lay eggs without shells. In the corn-fields
where the disease prevails it is not uncommon to see monkeys and par-
rots fall, and unable to rise again. The indigenous dogs and deer that
enter the corn-fields at night suffer in the same way.

It is asserted that across the Paramos, in the colder parts of Colum-
bia, these accidents are not seen ; and Dr. Roulin has indeed only wit-
nessed them in the provinces of Neyba and Mariquita.

Dulong* has analyzed corn smut, and although his analysis cannot at
the present day be considered satisfactory, it is the only one on record.
He found it to contain a material similar to fungine, a material allied
to osmazone, a nitrogenous substance, a fatty matter, a waxy matter,
acids, a brown coloring matter, a free organic acid, and combinations of
this acid with magnesia and potash; lastly, he found phosphate, muri-
ate, and sulphate of potash, subphosphate of lime, sal ammoniac, and
oxide of iron; it contained no starch.

Anxious to try some experiments on the actions of pure smut on cattle,
1 employed a negro in January, 1SG9, to go into the country and col-
lect me a large quantity of pure smut.

It was rather late, and the rains had washed most of it off the still
standing stalks; but I obtained forty-two pounds of excellent smut, free
from adventitious matters. On the 2Gth day of February, Mr. George
Reid, of Ingleside farm, near Washington, D. C, piu'chased two cows, in
good health, and aged respectively about seven years. One cow was fed
thrice daily one and one-half pound of corn-meal and three ounces of
smut, mixed with as much cut hay as she would eat. The second had
the same allowance, but wetted.

On the 7th of March the amount of smut given in each feed was
increased to six ounces. The cow fed on dry food lost flesh. On the
loth of March the dose of smut was increased to twelve ounces three
times a day. The cow on the wetted food gained in condition. The
other one lost. In three weeks the two cows consumed the forty-two
pounds of smut; they had a voracious appetite the whole time, and the
only indication of a peculiar diet was a very black color of the excre-
ment, and the animal losing rather than gaining flesh, although fed
liberally on nutritious diet, though in a dry condition.

On the 12th of March the temperature of both cows was tested; and
found 102O.2 and 102^.4 Fahr.

No conclusions of importance can be drawn from a single experiment;
but it is evident that smut is not a very active poison in combination
with wholesome food, and especially if the animal is allowed moist food
and plenty of water to drink. Cattle will eat the smut greedily, and
possibly a morbid taste for it is acquired, as has been observed in pigs.
It is evident that cornstalks, when starch and other nutritive elements

* Journal de Pharinacie, vol. xiv.

6

82 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

have goue to build up tlie large quantities of smut iuvesting tliem, are
essentially dry, indigestible nuiterial for any animal to live on, and
especially when excluded from other food. That is qnite sufficient to
account for the development of dry murrain that commonly attacks
cattle in the United States, and was more frequent than usual last
winter.

Diversifying and multiplying experiments on this qnestion will undoubt-
edly result in some interesting information, and I am qnite confident
that it will be fully demonstrated that smutty corn cannot be safely, and
certainly cannot economically be used as a food for cattle, and should
not be allowed them without a great admixture of hay and other nutri.
tious food. The more water and succulent food cattle are allowed while
eating cornstalks, the less liable they will be to a deadly constipation
and gastric impaction. Numerous and even angry discussions have in
times past been carried on in different parts of Europe in relation to
the action of moldy, musty, or otherwise damaged fodder on the lower
animals, and a few observations on the results of feeding horses, &c.,
on hay and grain tainted hj fungi may be regarded as of importance
here, if only as a means of comi^arison.

The evident tendency is to derange the alimentary canal in the first
place, then disturb the i)rocess of nutrition or assimilation, and lastlj'
to excite the emunctories for the discharge of noxious principles, and
more particularly inducing an excessive secretion of urine, or diarrhea.

MUSTY HAY.

It has frequently been observed that the imperfect making of hay,
esi)ecially during wet seasons, is followed by serious derangements
among horses, mules, and other animals, which suffer from severe indi-
gestion, impaction of the stomach accompanied by vertigo, or the pro-
fuse discharge of clear-colored lu'ine, with an intolerable thirst, emacia-
tion, weakness, and death. It is said that the Hungarian haj', in
different parts of America, and especially in parts ot Kentucky, Mis-
souri, and Kansas, is apt to cause considerable losses, if cut after full
inflorescence and late in the season. I have been told by Kansas farmers
that great attention has to be paid to a sufficiently early hay-making in
order to avoid accidents.

In 1855 I witnessed in Lyons, France, a large amount of disease and
many deaths among horses, from the great al)undance of musty hay,
gathered during an unusuallj'^ w^et season. Scarcely a day passed but
one or more cart horses were literally dragged to the veterinary college.
They moved along with hanging head, sunken eye, depended lip, ami
tottering gait, suffering from pains in the abdomen, and considerable
tympanitis; partial sweats bedewed the body, the visible mucous mem-
branes were of an intensely yellow color, and the urine dark. On reach-
ing a loose box, the patients were tied to a center post, which turned as
they moved round, and prevented them liom dashing their heads against

I

ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY COEN ON CATTLE. 83

the wall. The muscles twitclied, the horses writhed in pain, and dashed
about in tits of deliriuni. Two hundred and forty-nine cases of this
kind were admitted into the infirmary from August, 1854, to August,
1855. The disease raged almost as an epizootic from the month of Sep-
tember, 1851; and not only in the neighborhood of Lyons, but in many
departments of France.

In the month of November, 1856, I was requested to see a Clydesdale
stallion, near Kirkcaldy, in Fife. This horse had, as is very usual on
Scotch ftirms, been turned into a large shed, and allowed as much hay as
he would eat, and a couple of feeds of oats. On moving the animal out
of the stable, he nearly fell, and had evidently lost much of his natural
control over the movements of his hinder limbs. It was no new form of
disease, but one of those singular forms of hemiplegia so commonly
olbserved in herbivorous animals, as the result of improper feeding and
acute indigestion. The owner thought the animal had seriously injm^ed his
spine. A cathartic dose of aloes, the discontinuance in the use of hay
which was musty, and a few doses of tonic medicine, restored the horse.
From that time I was consulted frequently, and in different parts,
especially around Edinburgh and on the border counties of Scotland,
regarding this disease. A large number of animals died, from ignorance
of the nature and treatment of the disease, which disappeared with the
close of a season during which the bad crop of hay was being consumed.
These observations are recorded as mere instances of frequently recurring
accidents, resulting from the feeding of horses on musty hay.

MUSTY OATS.

Among the numerous sources of inconvenience and loss to owners
of horses in Europe and America, few are more troublesome than the
results of feeding on musty oats. I have known a large establishment,
with near five hundred horses, whose entire stock was simultaneously
affected. Attention was first directed to the unusual wetness of the
litter in the morning, and a great craving for water. The animals were
weak, dull in harness, and hollow-flanked. The wasting of tissues pro-
gressed rapidly ; and in all that had any considerable exertion to undergo,
the unthrifty look of their skin, well defined muscles from wasting of
the fat around them, and the leanness of the upper part of the neck,
where the great ligament suspending the head coidd be felt, like a rigid
cord, constituted very decided and alarming symptoms. Persistence in
work resulted in a form of albuminuria ; sometimes diarrhea was readily
induced, and a purgative would so contribute to increase the weakness
and prostration that the animal would die or fall in a state of hectic.
All this disturbance in the functions of nutrition, assimilation, and
secretion ceased on changing the diet, administering astringents or
drachm doses of iodide of potassium for a few days, and following n[)
with a course of sulphate of iron, as a tonic, in very moderate (piantities,
not exceeding half a drachm or a drachm to a horse per day.

84 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Several epizootic attacks have been attributed to rust or mildew in
plants. Froiinuent looked upon it as causing great loss among sheep in
Franconia, during the years 16G3, '04, and '05. Rammazinni, professor
of medicine, at Padua, speaks of a contagious malady affecting men,
cattle, and even the silk worm, which broke out in 1090. The four or
five preceding years had been very hot, and during 1089 and 1090, much
rain having tallen, the country was inundated, the grasses, fruits, and
leguminous plants became affected with rust. Plagues which raged
among animals in Ilesse in 1093, in Hungary in 1712, and in Saxony in
1740, occurred with, and as a result of, mildew affecting vegetables-
Gerlach asserts that this will produce abortion and inflammation of the
womb in ewes. Numan, Masseband, and Niemann have also written on
the noxious properties of plants affected with rust.

RUSTY STRAW.

In 1804 Gohier, afterwards director of the Lyons veterinary college,
but then veterinary surgeon to the 20th light dragoons, published an
interesting monograph entitled "Des effects des pailles rouilles." The
depot of Gohier's regiment arrived at Arras on the 7th of June, with
about two hundred horses. For a month they continued healthy, being
supplied with good forage ; some of the straAV, however, was rusty. The
whole regiment arrived and the straw supplied was worse ; several horses
fell ill, being mainly attacked by violent colic. In three days fourteen
were affected with the disease; but with the exception of two old horses
that were ill for three days, the disease was only of a few hoiu*s dura-
tion. The horses that partook most freely of the rusty straw were most
seriously affected. In seven days thirty had suffered, and MM. Gohier
and Masigny drew up a report condemning the forage. Their opinion
was rejected by veterinary surgeons and others called upon to inquire
into the matter, aiid the whole evil was attributed to some water of
which, however, the horses had always drunk while enjoying perfect
health. After considerable annoyance and litigation it was recog-
nized that the rusty straw and even bad hay had given rise to much
disease and death among the horses of the regiment. During eight
ihonths, out of seven hundred horses, there were constantly from forty-
five to fifty in the infirmary, and in the month of November as many as
sixty-two. The deaths were by those diseases which always prevail
when animals are badly nourished, namely: stomach staggers, colic,
marasmus, glanders, farcy, skin diseases, catarrhal affections, and oede-
matous swellings. Those horses subject to anlema were very subject
to gangrene, and if setons were applied, or a farcy-bud cauterized by fire,
mortification of the wounded parts supervened, and the animals died in a
few hours. Gohiei- says that not only the rusty straw but likewise the
bad hay was tlu^ cause of such serious loss among the lunses of his regi-
ment. Gohier instituted several experiments to prove that the diseased
straw was injurious, and not only was he successful with the straw, but

ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY CORN ON CATTLE. 85

a decoction of the same induced loss of appetite, a tliin and sickly
aspect, and altogether evidence that the animals had been poisoned.

MOLDY BREAD.

Flour is attacked by a very noxious red or orange-colored mold,
{Penicilliiim roseum) and a less poisonous greenish-blue mold, {PenicilUum
glaucum). Bread made from flour which has been kept in a damp place,
or that which is the produce of wheat grown and harvested during
unfavorable weather, becomes moldy and may become very deleterious.
Accidents have happened where horses have been fed on such bread,
and I may mention that it is not uncommon at times and in some coun-
tries for horses to be fed partly on bread. Eating moldy bread has
been said to induce gastro-enteritis in horses, and Professor Fuchs saw
two cases of stomach staggers induced by it, which were relieved by
purgatives.

SYMPTOMS OF THE ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY CORN. .

Cattle fed on smutty corn stalks first denote ill health by constipa-
tion. It is true that a farmer may be only attracted by an animal lying
down, with an unthrifty-looking, stary coat, dry muzzle, and perhaps
trembling; or a steer may be noticed "tucked up," with hind limbs
drawn under it, head depressed, shivering, dullness of eyes, and anx-
ious expression of countenance. In a third variety the animal seems
excited, breathes quickly, and is apparently somewhat delirious, indeed,
in the conditions described by Mr. Gumming of Ellen, Aberdeenshire, as
resulting from impactions of the third stomach, as in cases of lead poison-
ing. Nothing is more strange than this delirium, associated as it is
sometimes with blindness. A farmer writing me from the west says
that when he tried to put a rope around the head of a sick cow, which
he found standing with all the symptoms of sickness presented by other
animals of the herd which had been with her in the corn field, she turned
to fight and fought furiously. I have seen an animal in this conditoni
tied up in a stall, rush forward, fall on her knees, and then extending
herself on her side, suffer from a convulsive fit. Or in other cases, when
attempts are made to lead such an animal about, it runs forward,
I)lunges, strikes against any obstacle, roars, moans, grunts in breathing,
and ai)pears to suffer acutely if touched or disturbed. In other words,
with the imi)a(;tions Of the third stomach, which itj the essential lesion
of the disease, wliether induced by smutty stalks, old indigestible stalks
that have no smut, or other kind of food or poison, there are two dis-
tinct conditions induced. The one of stupor, listlessness, vertigo,
depression of spirits ; and these are indicated by animals standing sul-
lenly until they drop or are relieved. The se(5ond is a state of exquisite
sensitiveness, hypersesthesia of the skin and system generally. The
animals are not only excited but in a state of actual suffering, and die
very speedily in a state of coma or in convulsions. The disease does

^^6 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

not last lon^\ I liave seen an animal linger on foiu? or five days, but
nsnally the Avhole course of the malady is run in from twenty-four to
forty-eiy,]it hours.

An animal lirst seems to show costiveness, with a dry mucus over
the scanty excrement; although apparently undisturbed and even feeding,
may be dead in from twelve to twenty-four hours.

The diagnosis of the disease at an early period of its manifestations is
therefore imi)ortant, and it rests on the knowledge of how animals have
been treated and fed, (as the simultaneous attack of several animals
show,) and especially on the observations of a fact that I have usually
traced, that the animals which have eaten most ravenously have been
the first and most severely affected. Old cattle may sometimes avoid
the smutty food, and young animals eat heartily ; these will be found
the first and oulj" ones to die.

POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES.

The state of torpor of the alimentary canal of animals affected with
this disease is indicated on opening the belly and exposing the stomach
to view. In the first, or x^aunch, corn husks and corn are found in a dry
condition. Sometimes the rumen is very full, and gas may have become
disengaged in it so as to cause a great distension, which is relieved by
puncture. The contents of the second stomach, or reticulum, are in the
same condition as those of the first, though sometimes mixed with some
fluid. The third stomach, manyplies or omasum, is firm, distended, and
on being opened the food is found caked between the folds, with marked
impressions of the papillte or little eminences which stud the mucous
membrane. We find in almost all fevers a similar condition of the third
stomach, and indeed in healthy animals it is that part of the digestive
organs in which the food is most dry and packed preparatory for solu-
tion by the gastric juice and intestinal secretions. But there are other
lesions associated with this "caking" of the food in the third stomach,
in specific diseases, and its existence without these affords evidence of a
primary form of impaction, which has received the most remarkable
names, such as " staking," " bound," " fardel-bound," &c. The fourth
stomach contains but a scanty quantity of greenish, semi-digested mat-
ter, is usually reddened somewhat dittusely, and the redness increases
at times toward the opening of the small intestines.

Tlie intestine, usually replete with somewhat solid and imperfectly
digested food, is usually high colored, especially in the fundus of the
cjecum, and in the large portion of the colon. The rectum is the seat
of ramified redness, and a consistent mucus coats its contents.

I'ersous have rei)(>rtud a peculiar black color of one lung. This is
only due to stagimtion of blood after death, in the organ nearest the
ground; and the same kind of stasis or settling of the blood is apt to
pervade other tissues and organs in the side on which an animal has
been l^ing.

ILL EFFECTS OF SMUTTY CORN ON CATTLE. 87

TREATMENT.

I liave foiiiicl tlie accidents resulting from tlie feeding of smutty corn
to cattle very amenable to treatment. Almost all tlie animals die unless
relieved, but it is not difidcult to treat them very successfully. At first
a purgative must be administered; such as a pound or a pound and a
half of Epsom salts, or Glauber's salts alone, or combined with aloes,
suli)hur, ginger. The following is a desirable purging drink :

Sulphate of magnesia 1 pound.

Powdered aloes 4 drachms.

Powdered ginger •. 2 drachms.

Water 1 quart.

This to be given in warm linseed tea, oat-meal, gruel or pure water.
A pound or two of treacle with eight drachms of aloes or with a pint of
linseed or sweet oil may be used when the salts are not at hand. Cattle
should be induced to drink either plain water or linseed tea. Common
salt will create thirst, and for this purpose may be given in such quan-
tities as will not make the liquid too salt to be palatable. Warm water
injections are of the highest importance, and for this i)urpose the enema
funnel,* which can be made by any tinsmith at a charge of about fifty
cents, is the best instrument yet devised. About a quart or two of
lukewarm water, without any addition but a little sweet oil to lubricate
the tube of the instrument, may be poured into the rectum every half
hour. On the second day it may be found that the medicine does not
act very freely. The best agent to be given then is carbonate of ammo-
nia in half-drachm doses, twice a day, largely diluted with linseed tea
or gruel. Care must be taken in giving this medicine not to excoriate
the mouth. As soon as the appetite returns, a succulent diet, such as
gTass, boiled turnips, charbeters, sweet hay, &c., completes the animal's
restoration.

PREVENTION.

It is evident that all such accidents as these I have described may be
completely prevented by not allowing cattle to eat indigestible corn-
stalks, whether their indigestibility arises from age, dryness, or smut.
Mixed with an abundance of soft food such material may do no harm,
and indeed has constantly been used with impunity; but losses are very
severe if cattle are compelled either to starve or to eat what may well
be compared to broomsticks.

The farmer who annually loses a large amount of the produce of lands
tilled at great cost and trouble, should reflect that smut on corn is only
•evidence of bad larming, and, apart from the fact of danger to lives of

* This is an ordinary tin funnel, capable of holding one quart, with the pipe bent at
right angles, about ten inches long from the bend, with the extremity rounded by a
mass of soft sohler to prevent the rectum being injured by the insertion of the sharp
edges of the pipe. The contents How into the intestine by gravitation.

88 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

the animals on the farm, it is most desirable to extirpate the pest. That
its extiri)atiou is possible few will doubt who know, in relation to other
parasitic plants, such as the rust in wheat, how effectually the seed
may be purified and a healthy plant obtained in a well-prepared soil.
Having- fresh land to break up or old to plow again, the farmer should
plow deeply and turn over the soil effectually. He should obtain his
seed from a district or farm that is high, dry, well cultivated, and free
from smut. Inasmuch, however, as the spores of ustilago maidis are
minute and in the form of impalpable powder, thousands may be dis-
persed in a sample of corn and grow with the plant. To avoid this,
dipping the grain in a solution of copperas may be found of great service.
The copjieras, in the proportion of one pound to the four bushels of corn,
is to be dissolved in a little warm water, then cold added to mak« about
a stable pailfull, and with this the corn is simjily washed, not soaked.
Soaking makes the grain swell and interferes with sowing in machines.
The corn is sown as soon as damped with the solution.

THE SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

BY JOHN GAMGEE, M. D.

The transportation of nortlieru cattle into Florida, Texas, parts of
Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina, and the traveling- of southern
herds across the grazing lands of States northward, result iu the sick-
ness and death of the animals which come within the range of a singular
form of contamination. In Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Virginia, Ken-
tucky, Carolina, and Georgia, the so-called Spanish or Texas fever has
been the cause of losses prior to and since the war, and more especially
during last summer, which have excited the most virulent opposition
among the stock-raisers of those States to the driving of Texan steers
across the prairies. The nature of this feeling is indicated by a letter
from Mr, S. Morgan Welch, of Waverly, Missouri, who, in a letter to
the Prairie Farmer of the 26th of September, 1868, says: "Talk to a
Missourian about moderation, when a drove of Texas cattle is coming,
and he will call you a fool, while he coolly loads his gun, and joins his
neighbors ; and they intend no scare, either. They mean to kill, and
will and do kill, and keep killing until the drove takes the back track ;
and the drovers must be careful not to get between their cattle and the
citizens, either, unless they are bullet-proof. No doubt this looks a good
deal like border-rufaanism to you, but it is the way we keep clear of the
Texas fever ; and, my word for it, Illinois will have to do the same thing
yet.

"Congress ought to do something in regard to this stock. Very
stringent laws were passed in regard to the rinderpest, and yet it is
scarcely more fatal than Texas fever, only the latter is not contagious
among our native cattle. Texas stock should not be allowed to cross the
35th parallel of north latitude alive."

With rare exceptions the States of Illinois and Indiana have not been
visited with splenic fever prior to 1868, and the great reason for this is,
that southern stock has been slaughtered in the west by butchers and
packers in the winter months, and have not been purchased in large
quantities by cattle dealers and graziers, to fatten on the western
prairies. But steers in Texas can be had in their prime for eight and
ten dollars in gold. It has been recently computed that there are five
million head in that State alone, and that the net yearly increase, after
allowing a discount of twenty-five per cent, of loss by disease and casu-
alties, amounts to seven hundred and fifty thousand head.

It is impossible to exaggerate the sufferings Texan cattle endure in

90 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

being transported by steamers from tlie Texan coast to New Orleans
and thence to eastern or to western cities; and it is, likewise, diflicult to
draw too vivid a i)ictnre of the perils and anxieties of a drover's life.
Energeti(; frontiersmen in small bands, armed to their teeth, collect a
herd of cattle, varying from two to twelve hundred, and then drive at
the rate of eight or ten miles a day, through unsettled lands, a distance
of from six to nine hundred miles; always watching lest their cattle
and horses be stampeded, or their own scalps taken by wild Indians.
Storms and herds of buffaloes are minor causes tending to scatter the
drover's property; but it is not uncommon for a heavy percentage of
amimals to be lost from one or all the foregoing causes combined.

Notwithstanding the waste in flesh and lives among stock ou the
New Orleans route, and the hardships to be endured by drovers in the
southwest, the prices realized by Texan steers, when reaching the great
markets of America, prove, in many instances, highly remunerative.

The scarcity of cattle in the west, especially since the war, the tempt-
ing prospects of utilizing thousands and tens of thousands of open and
unreclaimed prairie lands, the constitutional soundness of Texas cattle,
which enables them individually to withstand influences which are
destructive to other stock, are all causes which tend to favor the invest-
ment of western capital in such stock.

The current has been too strong for ordinary State legislation ; and
early, during the past spring, a strong tide set in, which brought large
herds into the west, through New Orleans and Cairo, or via Abilene to
St. Louis, Quincy, Chicago, Cincinnati, and many grazing farms between
those points.

The peoi)le of Illinois were warned by Mr. D. C. Emerson, of Vanda-
lia, in a letter to the Chicago Tribune, of the 26th of ]May. Circum-
stances have tended to give a historical worth to that brief comnuinica-
tion. Mr. Emerson said: "Having been a constant reader of your val-
uable paper for many years, and wishing to promote the general good
and prosperity of our great and growing State, I would call the atten-
tion of farmers and cattle- growers to the following facts :

"While at Centralia, yesterday, I saw a very long train of stock cars
filled with Texan and with Indiana oxen on their way to Iroquois County^
there to be ftittened on the ricli prairies ; and I learned that there were
in the lot fourteen hundred head of old, worn-out oxen, bringing the
'Spanish fever with them. A writer in the Missouri Democrat has de
scribed this disease as contagious, and says that it causes the destruction
of our home cattle, wherever these Texas cattle are taken."

I arrived in Chicago on the 1st of June, the day on which ]\rr. Emer-
son's letter was ]nibHshed, and wi'ote to tlu' (Miicago Tribune, communi-
cating information whicli had been furnished me by General Horace
Capron, and wliich indi(nited that, while trustworthy and ai)palling
reports of the Spanish fever had been furnished by the people of Kan-
sas, Missouri, Kentucky, and even Illinois, the Texas people were indig-

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 91

iiaut at the inipiitatious cast on their herds, just as the Eussiaiis were
when we attributed the rinderpest to importations from their country.

Althoitgh the subject of meat preservation had brought me to Amer-
ica, it was only because 1 had for years striven, and, to a certain extent,
striven in vain, to secure rational regulations of the cattle traffic for the
prevention of contagious diseases in my own country; and it was a mat-
ter of deep interest to me to find that similar dangers threatened the
stock owners of the west.

The abundant influx into Illinois of Gulf Coast cattl6 soon brought
notices of the ravages by disease at Cairo and elsewhere; but none were
heeded, until it was reported on the 27th of July that Mr. E. Kichard-
son, of Farina, had written to Governor Oglesby in regard to the numer-
ous deaths among the cattle of the inhabitants of his district, and that
eight to ten a day were dying. Mr. John L. Hancock, of the firm of
Messrs. Cragiu & Co., Chicago, at once induced the Pork Packers' Asso-
ciation to appoint a commission, consisting of Mr. W. E. Richardson,
Dr. Blaney, and myself, to visit the localities where the disease had
appeared, and report on the matter.

We accordingly started on the evening of the 29th of July, and pros-
ecuted inquiries at Tolono, Farina, and Cairo, returning to Chicago on
the 4th of August. On the 5th I was requested to continue my investi-
gations for the Department of Agriculture, and, with the Commission-
er's consent, had the advantage of continued, earnest co-operation on
the part of Mr. W. E. Richardson and Mr. H. D. Emery, editors of the
Prairie Farmer. Both these gentlemen brought to bear a knowledge of
the country, and the cattle trade, which materially aided me in my inqui-
ries, and they have favored me with their advice and assistance, up to
the completion of the i^resent report.

In accordance with the instructions received, I aimed at determining
the following points:

1. The extent and nature of the Texan cattle traffic, and the state of
health of the Texan cattle.

2. The circumstances under which these animals communicate disease
to the stock of the west, and other parts north of the Gulf States.

3. The history of the Texan fever, as it spreads over the States.

4. I'he symi^toms, post-mortem appearances, and nature of the so-
called Spanish or Texan fever.

5. The means to be adopted for the prevention of the disease, and th^
cure of the sick animals.

My investigations have extended over the States of Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Missoiu'i, Kansas, and Texas, and these enable me to speak
very positively as to the nature of the disease, and the means w liich
must be adopted to prevent it.

In the present report it is my intention to I'cstrict myself to the
annexed heads :

1. Definitions of the disease.

92 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

2. Symptoms.

3. Post-mortem appearances.

4. Causes and nature of the disease.

5. Curative treatment.

6. Preventiou.

DEFINITION.

The splenic or periodic fever, commonly known as Texas fever, Span-
ish fever, or cattle fever, and which has been observed wherever and
whenever cattle from the States or the Gulf of Mexico have been. driven
north during- the summer months, is a disease peculiar to the ox tribe,
which has never been described ijs attacking the southern cattle, and
which occurs, in a more or less latent form, among them. Its distinguish-
ing features have been most marked in the cattle of Georgia, Tennessee,
Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana, wherever
these have grazed on i)astures j^reviously or simultaneously occupied by
herds from Texas and Florida. It is, so far as we have yet ascertained,
incapable of communication hy simple contact of sick and of healthy
animals ; and, iu the strict sense of the terms, is neither contagious nor
infectious. It is an enzootic disorder, i)robably due to the food on which
southern cattle subsist, whereby the systems of these animals become
charged Avith deleterious principles, that are afterwards propagated and
dispersed by the excreta of apparently healthy, as well as obviously sick,
stock. It is not one of the epizootics proper, and in its origin and distribu-
tion differs from the plagues due to specific animal poisons which are
common in various parts of the Old World and the New. The malady is
probably incapable of communication by inoculation, and the flesh, blood,
and secretions of such cattle have been handled and consumed by human
beings without the manifestation of untoward results.

In Texas, cattle of all ages, from the time they begin to graze, are
afflicted with the malady in a somewhat latent and mild form. Early in
the year many animals die, especially when the wet deteriorates the
grasses ; and the mortality, of which any one can gain evidence in crossing
Texan prairies and seeing the carcasses, is ascribed to poverty. It is,
however, a feature everywhere that cattle do not attain the same weight
in the south, even on the best grasses, that they do in northern latitudes ;
and this is, no doubt, accounted for by the uniform signs of irritation,
and even erosions of the stomach, enlarged spleen, fatty liver, and some-
times ecchymosis in the kidneys.

The disease in its acute form is characterized during life by a long and
variable period of incubation, which is most commonly of five or six
weeks' duration. Th(^ temi)erature of tlie body then rises, the secretions
are ch('<;ked, and indications of depression and listlessness are afforded
by droojiing head, depressed ears, arched back, approximation of limbs,
and indisposition to move, or to rise when down. The freces, usually dry,
are sometimes blood-stained ; and the urine almost invariably becomes

I

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 93

of a dark, port- wine color, is retained for hours, and then evacuated in
inconsiderable quantities. Frequent pulse, hurried breathing, and tre-
mors are almost invariable symptoms; and, according to the severity of
the attack, tjiere is more or less paralysis, which either partially aiJects
the hind quarters, or equally involves the fore. From implication of the
lesser brain there is occasionally a defective co-ordination of movement ;
and, when the brain proper is involved, the animal either lies comatose,

or is delirious.

In the first case there is more or less blindness, and in the second a
wild, staring gaze, and the greatest restlessness. Animals recover, espe-
cially if from the south ; but the communicated disorder among northern
stock is extremely fatal; and, in many forms, destroys every animal
exposed to its ravages. Death usually occurs about the third or the
fourth day from the time the animal is very obviously sick; but probably
not for ten or twelve days from the first indications to be obtained by
the thermometer. The symptoms of approaching death are usually gTeat
prostration, the animals lying and refusing to rise, retention of the urine,
the head occasionally drawn forcibly round, especially to the right side,
and the muscles of the neck twitching without much intermission. After
death there is marked cadaveric rigidity ; the skin and subcutaneous
tissues are usually sound ; but effusions of serum, and sometimes of blood,
have been witnessed under the lower jaw and sternum. The respiratory
organs are commonly healthy, but in some cases the lungs are somewhat
ecchymosed, and more frequently there is partial interlobular emphysema.
The heart is frequently blood- stained both on the inner and the outer
aspects. The peritoneum is sometimes ecchymosed, and, in one instance,
was found to contain a large amount of free, coagulated blood. The
digestive organs, from the month to the fourth stomach, are, as a rule,
healthy. The fourth stomach, or abomasum, is, with rare exceptions,
the seat of distinct lesions, viz., dark redness, ecchymosis, yellow gran-
ular-looking eruptions, and erosions of the cardiac end ; and the pyloric
end is of more normal color, but frequently the seat of extensive super-
ficial erosions, penetrating the substance of the mucous membrane, to
which, wherever an abrasion exists, food usually adheres. The small
intestine is generally the seat of punctiform or ramified redness through-
out its whole extent; and blood extravasations are common in the
caecum, colon, and rectum. The liver is often congested, and the gall-
bladder distended with viscid bile. The spleen is twice, three, or even
five times its natural size ; and, according to the duration and severity
of the attack, is more or less broken up and disintegrated in its inter-
nal structure. In one case the spleen had given away at its base, and
hemorrhage had taken place into the peritoneum. The kidneys and supra-
renal capsules are usually congested. The mucous membrane of the
urethra, at its origin iu the pelves of the renal lobules, is often the seat of
extensive ecchymosis. The vuinary bladder is usually very much dis-
tended with bloody urine, which never coagulates spontaneously, and

94 DErARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

only uiuler the action of licat and nitric acid. The constant and path-
ognomonic lesion of tliis disease is the enlargement and even disintegra-
tion of the spleen, with redness and erosion of the stomacb. The blood
is always more or less aifected, anaemic, and the functions, of nutrition
disturbed. In its course in the south, it resembles the periodic fevers of
man ; is usually sub-acute in form, and varies in intensity at different
times.

The expression I have proposed to designate tliis disease is splenic
fever of cattle, from the tact that the disease is readily distinguished, as
a rule, by the enlargement of this organ, coupled, no doubt, with other
lesions. It is an enzootic disease, allied and corresponding to the
endemic periodic fevers of man, for whicli the southern States are re-
markable; and it may be deemed prudent to use a more general expres-
sion than splenic fever, ^iz., tliat of periodic fever of cattle. Splenic
fever is readily prevented, in all cattle north of the Gulf States, by pro-
tectuig them, during the summer months, from the pastures and roads
on which southern cattle have traveled and fed. The prevention of the
disease in Texas would call for a further and more extended inquiry into
all the local causes in operation 5 but, generally speaking, the condition
of soils and grasses might be altered by thorough cultivation, drainage,
deep plowing, &c. In Texas I have found that feeding on corn tends to
modify the conditions of cattle, and invigorate their constitutions ; and
much may be expected from tbe corn -feeding system rather recently in-
troduced on a comprehensive scale.

No specific means of cure have been discovered for the malady ; and
palliative measures consist in allowing animals which suffer from the
acute form of the disease, abundant mucilaginous drinks, neutral salts,
and occasional diffusible stimulants. Animals have recovered when left
to nature, as indeed, also, when they have been profusely bled and purged.

SYMPTOMS.

Splenic or periodic fever evidently occurs in two forms, and its course
may be subdivided into four stages.

The first form is an insidious, latent, and usually more fiital one.
There are few fevers that do not, at times, attack animals in such a way
as to produce so little general disturbance as to prevent their recogni-
tion in the living animal. Cases of this description occur in rinderpest.
I have alluded to them in an official report on the lung plague, the con-
tagious bovine pleuropneumonia of Europe, and have witnessed them
in outl)reaks of small-[>ox in sheep; but in enzootic maladies, and espe-
cially in tiie various forms of anthrax, it is not unfre(]uently found that
animals from districts where such diseases arise indicate, after death,
that tlu; liealthiest and strongest have suffered, or are suffering organic
changes which a special systemic vigor or constitutional resistance hides
80 long as the animal is in life.

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 95

Whether we study the malady as seen by me in Texas, or on Saioky
Hill, in Kansas, where a sudden shook to the system of a steer, on the
occasion of its being stampeded, developed symptoms and induced death;
or look to the other animals, apparently fresh and grazing, which indi-
cated an abnormally high temperature of the body, it is evident that a
large herd, traveling from the region whence splenic fever is propagated,,
carries not only the active cause of such propagation in the systems of
animals composing it, but the evidence of specific disease induced, which
remains for an iudeliuite time latent and unobserved.

During the early part of our investigations, we could not fail to be
forcibly struck by the apparently healthy condition of the vast herds of
Texan steers which had scattered a most deadly poison on the pastures
of Illinois and Indiana ; and even our dissections failed, limited as they
necessarily were, to elicit the truth. But the inspection of vast numbers
of Texan cattle in Kansas, and in the Chicago slaughter-houses, have
proved that appearances may be very deceptive ; and I consider that
the abnormal weights of the spleen of southeru cattle, coupled, as such
an indication is, with gastric redness and erosions,, pale blood, and the
not unfrequent presence of bloody urine in the bladder, demonstrate that
splenic fever often, and indeed nsually, occurs in a latent form among
southern herds, which communicate the disease : and none but a framed
expert, thermometer and scalpel in hand, can declare positively that any
stock is in the enjoyment of perfect health.

We are almost warranted in believing that the latent causes of splenic
fever are recognizable by the elevation of temperature ; but this is a
symptom of all fevers, and it is only by studying this condition in rela-
tion to many other circumstances, such as the source whence stock is
derived, the evidence of some unusual mortality, and the post-mortem
indications of certain animals in a herd, concerning which there may be
suspicions, that it is possible to determine the presence of splenic fever
in its occult form.

The stages into which any case of splenic fever may be subdivided,
but which are readily recognizable in well-developed instances of the
disease, are:

I. The incubative stage.

II. The stage of invasion.

III. The congestive or bleeding stage.

IV. Termination.

I. The incuhative stage. — The stage of incubation has not been satis-
factorily determined in individual cases ; that is to say, it has been im-
possible, as yet, to obtain experimental facts which, as in the case of rin-
derpest an<l variola ovina, enable us to state positively that, from the
date of contamination of ar aninud by the poisou, so mauy days elapse
before the manifestation of the <lisease, and that such period cauuot be
prolonged beyond a definite and ascertained limit; nevertheless there
are important data which indicate that, from the period of arrival of a

96 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Texan herd on any distant or on any defined pasture, from five to six
weeks elapse before the disease appears in the indigenous stock, grazing
with or after the southern cattle. It is proved that the animals may
simply pass leisurely over a road or prairie, feeding as they move along,
and, without remaining for any length of time on any portion of the
ground they traverse, they leave behind them sufficient poison to de-
stroy all or nearly all the cattle which continue to feed thereon. In such
cases the disease usually takes more th<in a month to attain i^s full de-
velopment. There are instances on record which seem to indicate that
the incubative stage may be shorter, and we have met with others where
it was reported that the disease appeared in a week from the date of
importation of Texan stock ; but as a rule, in such reports, the whole
facts are not before us, and it is not safe to draw any conclusions from
exceptional instances. For instance, in the monthly report of the Agri-
cultural Department for April, 1807, it is reported from Osage County,
Kansas, that about the 1st of August, 1866, the disease made its appear-
ance at Burlingame:

The first that occurred was that of an ox which belonged to a logging team of seven
yoke. This ox, on account of his breachy propensities, was kept at uight in a stable
and watered from a well of pure water. When not at work in the day time he was
staked out to grass, with a long rope. About two weeks before he was attacked with
the disease, a herd of Texas cattle came along, and were stopped and fed around him
for an hour or more. Soon after, the rest of this team were attacked, and all died but
one, which escaped the disease.

The reporter from Bates Comity, Missouri, says :

The disease is never seen until from ten days to two weeks after the passing through
the country of Spanish cattle.

Texan cattle commenced to arrive at Cairo on the 23d of April, 1868,
and the first case concerning which we could get reliable reports
occurred on the 1st of June. At Tolono the largest body of Texan cat-
tle arrived towards the end of May, and the disease broke out on the
27th of July. One gentleman of Tolono gave accommodations on e uight
to three hundred Texan steers, on the 25th of June, and the disease
appeared among his stock on the 28th of July. ^At Farina two hundred
and fifty Texan cattle were placed with fifty Illinois steers on the 10th
of INIay, and the disease appeared among the latter on or about the 15th
of July. Near Sodorus, a farmer had his cattle grazing on prairie over
which Texan cattle passed on the 1st of June, and his stock com-
menced to die on the 28th of July. In Champaign County Texan cattle
were placed on the prairie on the 15th of June, and the indigenous
stock began to die on the 3d of August, twenty out of thirty-eight head
dying in four days, that is to say, by August 7, the date of my inspec-
tion.

Our experience agrees with the cases recorded, where dates are given
Avith some care. Thus, in the Agricultural Report for 1867, the reporter
from Oldham County, Kentucky, says:

Tiie'JUh <lay of .June, 1«(30, there were driven on my farm, to stay ftue night, some

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 97

fifty head of Texas cattlo. Some forty clays after they left, about the 18th of August,
the disease broke out among uiy milch cows and heifers, and work cattle.

Thus we see that from thirty to forty days usually elapse from the
placing- of Texau stock ou a pasture and the niauifestation of disease to
the stock owners of the neighborhood.

The first indication which attracts special attention is usually the
death of a cow or steer. It is evident that this very imperfectly
defines the length of the incubative stage, inasmuch as in all probability
the native stock is not instantly poisoned, and then the disease is active
some days before symptoms, such as an ordinary farmer may detect, or
deaths occur. It is probable, however, that from eighteen to twenty-five
days are usually required for the poison to exert any marked influence
on an animal's health, and then the second stage occurs.

II. The period of invasion. — My examination of animals in apparent
health, picked out of a diseased herd, indicates that the invasion of the
malady is characterized by an elevation of temperature. Here we have
some similarity with rinderpest ; but since there is not the same uni-
formity in the length of the incubative stage in splenic fever that there
is in the Russian murrain, it is probably more common to find steers
with a normal temperature in a herd infected with the first, than the
last disease.

The first opportunity I had of testing this matter was on the 31st of
July, at Tolouo, where we saw the first animal of a herd, a yearling,
lying dead. I began bj^ examining a well-bred short-horn cow in bloom-
ing condition, and found her temperature to be 10G° Fahr. ; second was
106.50 Fahr. ; third 106.7° Fahr. ; fourth 106.7° Fahr. ; fifth 106.1° Fahr. ;
sixth 107.2° Fahr. ; seventh 106.7° Fahr. ; eighth 107.2° Fahr. ; ninth
104.2° Fahr.; tenth 106.7° Fahr.

At Junction City I examined the healthiest-looking animals of an
infected herd, and noted the following temi^eratures with one of Casel-
la's self-registering thermometers:

First 104.6° Fahr.; second 106.0° Fahr.; third 102.8° P'ahr. ; fourth
107.7° Fahr.; fifth 103° Fahr.; sixth 102.4° Fahr.; seventh 105.8°
Fahr.; eighth 103.4° Fahr.; ninth 107.2° Fahr.; tenth 102.2° Fahr.;
eleventh 107.8° Fahr.; twelfth 102.6° Fahr.; thirteenth 103° Fahr,;
fourteenth 102.4° Fahr.; fifteenth 102.6° Fahr.; sixteenth 102.8° Fahr.;
seventeenth 102.6° Fahr,

I examined three sick steers in this herd, and found their temperature
to be respectively 104° Fahr., 107.2° Fahr., and 105.8° Fahr. Of the
api)arenfly healthy ones no less than six indicated a temperature as
high or higher than the naturally deceased aninuds, and in all the tem-
perature was really exaltetl.

On Smoky U ill we inspected cattle in blooming health, so far as exter-
nal a])i)earaiiccs would indicate. We had found a case of si)lenic fever
there, and determined to have some steers caught with the lasso and
examined, with the following result :

7

98 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

First 103.4° Falir.; second 102° Fahr. ; third 103o Falir.; fourth 104.2^-
Fahr.; fifth 103° Fahr.

The hist teiiiiK'ratiire was that of a work ox, one wliich conhl be han-
dled (luietly, ;iiid it afforded me an opportunity of noticing" that the
hisso did not seem sensibly to affect the t('m[)erature. I infer, from a
considerable range of observation, that animals are from four to six or
seven days in the process of sickening, from the earliest indication of
fever heat to the manifestations of decided symptoms of disease.

III. The bleeding or congestive stage. — The acute or active stage of the
disease is characterized by a series of well-defined symptoms which last
for two, three, four, and even six days.

GENERAL APPEARANCE.

The ears of the animal droop, the gait is sluggish, and secretions some-
what checked. In cows yielding milk there is a sudden diminution in
the amount by one-half, more or less. At tirst the animal eats, rumi-
nates occasionally, and its paunch appears full ; but soon there is a dis-
position to lie ; an«l, wherever pools exist, the sick cattle are apt to lie in
the water. It has been said that one of the surest premonitory signs
was a cough. This does not accord with my experience. The depressed
head, drooping ears, arched back, hollow flanks, tendency to draw the
hind legs under the belly, and knuckling over at the fetlocks behind, are
early and very marked symptoms. The skin is dry and rigid ; the f;eces
not materially affected except in a few cases, which show early slight
hemorrhage ; and a small, delicate blood-clot is apt to be seen on tlie
surface of the droppings. At first the urine is clear. Many cases are,
it is true, not observed till the urine is bloody; but it remains of its
natural color in probably ten or fifteen per cent, of the cases, and is not
usually one of the earliest signs which a veterinarian can detect.

The visible mucous membranes are rather pallid. I have seen a turgid
appearance of the membrane of the nose, with discharge of glairy
mucus ; but any decided redness is usually confined to the folds of the
rectal membrane, seen when animals defecate.

Tlie pulse is frequent. In the early stages it is hard and wiry. It
becomes more feeble, the artery is easily compressed, and in many
instances, as death approaches, it is not possible to take the pulse at the
jaw. So far as frequency is concerned, I have found it to vary from
sixty to one hundred and twenty, and even more. In two cases, where the
animals were lying with their heads stretched round over the right
shoulder, and stupefied, the pulse was quite imperceptible at the jaw,
and the lieart-beats numbered one liundred and twenty.

Thcrmonu'tric tests arc of great value in the active stage of splenic
fever. There is a considerable ditfcrence between ditferent cases ; and,
in all i»robability, this depends on tlie extent to which blood-extravasa-
tions occur. The temperature is high al the commencement of the

SPLENIC OR PEEIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

99

attack ; but, as deatli approaches, and bloody urine flows, it is very per-
ceptibly reduced.
The annexed table indicates the ascertained temperature of sixty cases :

Fahr.

Fahr.

Fahr.

Fahr.

Fahr.

Fahr.

o

o

o

o

o

o

104.4

107.0

106.1

107.2

106.7

107.2

103.1

106.0

102.5

105.8

103.5

103.8

98.6

107.2

104.9

104.6

107.0

105.0

106.0

106.7

103. 6

106. 6

105. 8

106.0

102. 5

104.2

103. 1

107.4

106.7

106.5

98.6

106.7

106,0

99.8

99.0

104.7

106.0

101.3

101.0

106.5

104.8

107.0

106.5

106.7

106.7

107.0

107.4

105.4

107. 4

106.1

105. 5

• 104. 4

103.0

105.8

106.7

100.5

104.0

105.0

104.5

107.0

To the touch, the temperature of the body varies much. It is not at
all unusual to have great heat of the poll, of the ears, and horns, and
of the extremities. At other times the limbs, and especially the hind
ones, are cold; and the general surface of the body, which is hot in the
earlier stages of the disease, has a tendency to cool as death approaches.
The breathing is accelerated, and sometimes labored. In some animals,
with great restlessness and tendency to delirium, I have found the
respirations as high as one hundred per minute; whereas, in comatose
animals, they have been slow, deep, and stertorous. On an average*
however, the movements of the flanks have indicated simply increased
frequency, aud have amounted to sixty per minute.

The nervous phenomena are often very marked. In some the mus-
cles of the flanks and thighs are seen to be constantly trembling. In
others there is decided and continuous twitching of the cervical mus-
cles. In nearly all, when an attempt is made to walk, there is evidence
of feebleness in the hind limbs, which are rolled from side to side, as
the animal staggers along. When lying, and wanting to rise, it is fonnd
that several efforts have to be made before the hind quarters can be
fairly raised from the ground; and then, in attempting to extend the
fore limbs, great difficulty is experienced, and the animal often sinks to
the ground. In one case, which I saw near Tolono, the animal seemed
fixed to the soil, from inability to direct its muscles. With assistance
it was got up, but its fore legs were propped out; and, when driven
along, the action of its limbs was quite irregular, and the animal faltered
along, to drop again almost immediately. This inability to control the
voluntary muscles, this defective co-ordination of movement, prevails in
a less degree in a considerable tuimher of cases. Great listlessness and
even stupor are very common indications of early death. Tlie most
singular numifestatious of these conditions occurred in two cows. One

100 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

was lying with its bead forcibly drawn onto the right shonlder, and the
cervical muscles twitching as in a severe attack of chorea. In another
the animal had the same position of the head, and jerking of the muscles;
but it was lying motionless on its belly, with all four legs sprawling-
out, as if they had yielded and slipped out without an effort, as the
body sank to the ground. The state of the secretions is usually a
good index in the course of the disease. There is little tendency to free
perspiration, and the only remarkable change of the skiu is oedema,
which distends it in some cases below the jaw, or under the sternum.
Hide-bound and costive, the animals indicate the febrile crisis by slight
blood-staining of the faeces and by htematuria. The latter is commonly
profuse, until the animal is so far paralyzed in its hind quarters that
there is retention.

With rare exceptions, the bladder is found distended, and weighs,
with its bloody contents, ten, twelve, or fourteen pounds; this, too, just
after the animal has urinated immediately before or in the act of death.
Under the microscope the urine presents no tints, but only amorphous
dei)osits of h;ematin, and some epithelial cells. From first to last, it
coagulates by the aid of heat and nitric acid, except in those cases
where it retains its normal color.

The milk secretion is all but entirely suspended, aud the little which
is drawn is dense, aud mainly composed of cream. No change of a
definite kind can be detected by a microscope.

IV. Termination. — In the majority of cases depression and listlessness
increase, the pulse increases in frequency, the respiration becomes labored,
tl|e animal heat reduced to 100° and to 98° Fahr.; and the animal
stretches out on the ground, on which it has been lying motionless for
some time, aiul dies without a struggle.

In exceptional cases the febrile symptoms subside, the secretion of
milk in cows is restored, the color of the urine becomes paler and paler,
till it is normal, and the animal recovers in ten days or a fortnight, only
indicating its previous condition by a stiffness of gait and considerable
emaciation. A month or six weeks is required before evidence of
thriving is obtained.

I have seen animals in apparently a convalescent state and manifest-
ing considerable appetite; after distending their stomachs on grass,
they have appeared uneasy, the fever has returned, diarrhea set in,
and death occurred within thirty-six or forty-eight hours. Such acci-
dents are uiuloubtedly dependent on the lesions of the fourth stomach
and intestines. They are gastroenteric complications, and not indica-
tions of a true relapse.

POST-MOETEM ArPEARANCES.

The structural lesions which occur in splenic fever are so numerous
and various, that 1 (Iccm it advisable to transcribe the notes of a suffi-
cient mnnber of examinations in support of a summary, which may be

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

101

coiisiclered siifficicut for x^ractical purposes by many who may refer to
this report.

That form of splenic fever which is mostly latent, and seen among
southern cattle, is not recognizable after death by the condition of
skin, muscular system, or, in many cases, even by the mucous membrane,
with the exception of that of the stomach. More or less, however, the
blood-extravasations, congestions, and blood-stained urine have been
found; but these would very rarely have been noticed but for the plan,
suggested by me, of inspecting all slaughtered cattle and carefully weigh-
ing the spleens.

Dr. Eauch, the medical officer of the city of Chicago, no sooner ascer-
tained my wishes than he arranged for the supervision of all slaughter-
houses in Chicago ; and for weighing, in the first instance, all the spleens,
and, later, all the livers as well as spleens of slaughtered cattle. To Dr.
Eauch's energy and care we are, therefore, indebted for facts which none
but a medical officer of health, armed with the necessary powers, could
well have obtained. Inasmuch as the tables can only serve for purposes
of reference, it has been thought proper to publish them in an appendix ;
but the facts brought to light admit of being readily stated, and it is due
to Dr. Eauch that I should quote his report to the board of health of
Chicago, read on the 18th of September, in demonstration of the valuable
conclusions he was enabled to show very shortlj^ after adopting this
method of observation :

The weight, feel, aud textiu-e of the spleen aud the couditiou of the urine have been
fonnd to be almost infallible in diagnosing the disease. Since the investigation com-
menced over two thousand spleens have been weighed. During the first few days of the
Investigation the spleens only were weighed, but as your committee began better to
comprehend the importance of the questions involved, and the value of the facts to be
learned, the livers were also ordered to be examined at the same time. Of these about
five hundred have already been weighed. The committee have only had time to present
the average of the three different kinds of cattle slaughtered here.

Aggregate weight
Average

175 native
spleens.

Pounds.
2G0

175 Texas
spleens.

Ponnds.

441

175 Cherokee
(?) spleens.

Pounds.

3B2i
2. ]5

175 native
livers.

Pounds.
o 0071

12.45

175 Texan
livers.

Pounds.
2, 1321
12.15

175 Cherokee
(?) livers.

Pounds,
1, 878i
10.45

The above were taken indiscriminately, and do not include any of the marked cases
that have fallen under our observation. During the past week spleens have been found
in Texas and in Cherokee cattle that were as much disorganized as any that were found
in the native cattle that died from the disease. The important part that the spleen
performs in the economy of cattle will be better appreciated when it is recollected that
its enlargement and disorganization are always present in this disease, while the condi-
tion of tlu; other organs may be regarded as concomitant. Tin; liver was at one time
Kuppost;d to show evidences of enlargement ••ind inciea.se of weiglit in this disease, but
this does by no means necessarily follow, as in some of the most marked cases no change
whatever in the size of the liver was pcirceptible. In fact, as a gencsral rule, it has heen
found that, whenever the animal was in a good condition, the spleen weighed less and

102

DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

the li\(r iiioi(> thnn when the opposite was the case. It was also noticed that in the
auimals which had been diiven or transported a great; distance the spleen weighed more
in proportion than the liver. When the animal is in good condition the liver is largi;;
when there is a depressed or lower condition of vitality the spleen is enlarged.

The annexed table gives the results of calculations based on the tables
in the appendix ; and it is safe to draw conclusions after the careful
examination of no less than 4,739 cases. These indicate that the average
weights of spleens are in excess in southern cattle over those witnessed
among western steers, the excess amounting from half to upwards of one
pound. Many of the Texas cattle had spleens weighing over three pounds.
Some of the so-called Cherokee cattle might be from the Indian Nation,
near the Texan frontier, but few were from the Cherokee Nation, and
many, no doubt, from Texas itself. This will explain the note of interro-
gation I have used wherever the term Cherokee has been used, in accord-
ance with the information that has been tendered to me.

It is very important to notice that the earlier observations in Augiist,
when the spleens alone were weighed, brought out a gi-eater indication
of deviations from health in the spleens of southern cattle than later on.
Thus the averages were —

In August —
In September

Native.

1.38
1.45

Cherokee (?.)

1.942

Texan.

2.83
2.531

It is much to be desired that the weights of internal organs be better
determined in future in all enzootic diseases and during all seasons.
This field of inquiry promises ample and valuable results.

r- OD a>

0 a t~

.c a> ^

Native western

Cherokee

(?)

Texan cattle.

General totals.

^ X if

cattle.

cattle.

Cattle
the
ulon
weig

*j

tu

1

a

cn

0)

■a
a

1

a

£

B

_2

«

g

^
■«

■a

3

lU

i

a

a

<i> ^

<D

u

sr

a>

u

aS

•S

"5

a

m

"3

a

a.

"a

a

■5

3D

0)

"3

a

53

en

■5

>

a

£

4J

>
ce

0

9

s

ct

00

e

*

a

a

ti

t^

0

H

a

u

H

J^

.—1

o

^

01

CJ

5?

t3

^

00

CO

S

n

<A

f-4

"

n

•<r

•^

tn

Ci

a

•"^

Lba.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

JJ>S.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

T'l weight

of BpleenH.

375i

1,44U

l,963i

577J

241

1,034}

1,109}

Gil}

701

3, 780}

1,853. 25 l,679i

183} 301 J

530

AvernKi'..

1.4G

1.423

1.467

1.60

1. 585

2.345

2. 259

2. 377

2.675

1.45

1.942 2.531

1.38

2.36

2.83

T'l weight

of liverH..

2,929

12,3611

16, 679i

3,731

1,611

4,702f

6,070

360

3,139

31, 970}

10, 0441

9,569

Average..

11.39

12. 214

12. 466

10. 335

10.6

10.06

12.36

12.413

11.98

12. 263

10.529'12.236

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 10

9

The examination, after death, of cattle in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri,
and Kansas, indicates that the usual post-mortem appearances, in well-
marked cases of splenic fever, are as follows :

The skin, very often infested with ticks, is occasionally seen studded
with dried drops of blood, as if the animal had sweated blood in dying.
Then small blood clots have been found freely distributed over the neck,
trunk, and limbs, and especially between the thighs.

On removing the skin, blood-extravasations, or serous infiltrations,
are sometimes found beneath the lower jaw and brisket. The subcuta-
neous areolar tissue, as a rule, is pallid and not congested, as in anthrax.

The muscular system is normal, and I have not l)eeu able to distin-
guish any deviation from the common appearance of slaughtered cattle,
if the animals are examined immediately after death.

The organs of respiration are, in many instances, healthy. The res-
piratory passages are always so. The lungs, sometimes the seat of cada-
veric congestion, on the side on which the dead body has been lying
are occasionally ecchymosed, and the pleura is of a dark purplish color,
over distinct lobules which are found intensely congested, but never
hepatized throughout their substance. It has not occurred to me to find
a single portion of lung tissue which would not float on water.

In nearly half the cases the collapse of the lungs, when the chest is
opened, is imperfect; and according to the extent of interference with
this collapse do we find interlobular emphysema. The areolar tissue
between the lobules is blown up with air ; and on the outer aspect of
the lung, especially on the arteries and middle lobes, a beaded and
streaked appearance, owing to the distension of the connective structure,
is striking and well marked. The pleume are rarely found changed;
but occasionally, scattered over the mediastinal reflections or on the
diaphragm, are well-marked ecchymoses.

The pericardium is unusually empty, but I have found it considerably
distended with bloody serum. The surface of the heart is almost inva-
riably blood-stained to a greater or less extent. The most common seat
of these ecchymoses is on the apex, or the auricular appendages. In
the right side a small blood clot is very commonly found in animals that
have been lying dead for several hours, and the left side is found
empty. Both ventricles, and sometimes even the auricles, may be found
entirely ecchymosed ; but, as a rule, the extravasations are most marked
and extensive in the left ventricle, and especially on the fleshy pillars.

DICfESTIVE ORGANS.

The mouth, pharynx, and cesophagus are always healthy. The
rumen is usually full of food, and its coats healthy. The mucous mem-
brane alone has been found congested in two cases.

The recticnlum, or second stomach, containing semi-fluid material,
has been often found reddened ; but especially in cows which had swal-
lowed nails, wires, needles, and other foreign objects, that are so com-

104 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

nionly fouiul in tlie second .stomach of cattle. In two cases wires had
perforated the recticuhim and diaphragm, and in one the pericardium
"vvas adherent to the <liai)hragm, and injured.

The omasum, or third stomach, is ahnost invariably in a normal con-
dition; and whereas there are some instances in Avhich it is consider-
ably distended, and the food i^acked dry between the folds, there is
no api)reciable difference between the condition in which we have found
it iu our numerous dissections, and the state we should expect to find it
in a similar number of healthy cattle.

The abomasum, or fourth stomach, is almost invariably the seat of
distinct and specific changes. On opening it, throughout its whole length
it is found varying from a pink to a deep blood-red color over its cardiac
end. The pyloric end is more commonly of a natural color. But
although there is this marked difference in the general aspect of the
two sections of the abomasum, both present further and very character-
istic morbid appearances. In the cardiac end, three different forms of
lesion are seen, iu different cases. In some the folds, and even the mem-
brane between the folds, are studded irregularly with minute petechia3
of a <lark, blood-red color. Each petechia is like a flea-bite, though
somewhat smaller, aiul darker in color. Its center is dark, and some-
times softened or perforated. The areola around this center is well
defined and regular, offering a marked contrast to the surrounding mem-
brane, which, though usually congested and reddened, is not of the same
depth of color as the petechial spot. In other cases the reddened folds
are studded with minute yellowish-gray granulations, due to a change
iu the epithelium, which becomes swollen, and has a tendency to drop
off. Each granulation does not usually exceed the size of a pin's head.
This appearance is most marked where the folds are most congested;
and in some cases, where the congestion is slight, itrequires a somewhat
careful inspection to recognize the presence of this change. Scattered
throughout the folds, especially near their free edges, we find the
third change, which consists in marked erosions, as if the epithelium
had been peeled off" with a sharp finger nail.

The maigins of the erosion are well defined, and of the color of the
surrounding membrane, or they are often paler. The center of each ero-
sion is of a blood-red or brownish color.

It is very rare to find the pyloric end, however natural its general
aspect, Avithout some well-defined patch, off which the epithelium is strip-
ped and a dark, granular surface left, to which the green food adheres
more or less firndy. On the pyloric gland this erosion, as freiiuiMitly
observed, is of a zigzag form, and toleral)ly deep fissures into the mem-
brane give to the glaiul a shrivelled and wrinkled appearance.

I have seen nearly the whole of the mucous surface in the i)yloric
antrum eroded ; but more commonly there are three, four, or more iso-
lat(id patches, varying from half an inch to even two inches in diameter.

The duodenum is often of a deep red color. Sometimes its mucous

SPLENIC OE PEMODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 1C5

membrane is deeply tinged with bile. At others it is tlie seat of scat-
tered eccliymoses, less nnmerous and regular than those on the folds of
the abomasum.

The jejunum and ileum may be reddened throughout on their mucous
surface. Sometimes the redness is in patches. It is punctiform ; and,
in parts, eccliymoses heighten the general color. In one case I found oiie
of Peyer's glands somewhat tumefied, but free from any dei)osit around,
and simply turgid and congested. The caicum is often extensively ecchy-
mosed, especially on the free margin of the effaceable mucous folds, so
that, when the membrane is stretched, it has a striped appearance. The
stripes may be of a bright or rusty-red color, but are often blackened, as
we so commonly find, with blood extravasions in the large intestine of
cattle. The ileo-colic fold is usually ecchymosed, tumefied, or of a black-
ish color. Scattered i^etechia^. are not uncommon, and the fundus of the
cfBCum may be found the seat of marked, ramified redness. The general
appearance of the mucous lining of the colon is often the same. In the
rectum the folds are commonly ecchymosed, and we have found free but
delicate clots adherent to the membrane. The blackened appearance of
the interstitial extravasations is nearly as common m the rectum as in the
cpecum.

The liver, so often the seat of chronic lesion in cattle, such as thicken-
ing and induration of the capsule in spots, is often the seat of fatty de-
generations, and is found congested and lieavy in some cases ; whereas
the reverse holds good in others. Eeference to the weights of the livers
will show that there is no relation between any distinct state of the organ,
as ascertained by the sealer, and the existence of splenic fever.

The gall bladder is usually distended with viscid bile, and its lining
membrane is at times the seat of ramified redness. The coats of the gall
bladder have been found, in several cases, much thickened by intersti-
tial, serous infiltration, which, from being retained in the areolae of the
connective tissue, had the appearance of a gelatinous mass.

The spleen is uniformly eidarged, as indicated by the many observa-
tions noted in the tables published in the appendix. The weight varies
from two to ten i)ounds. It rarely exceeds six or seven. One of the
largest Texan sj^leens, weighing eiglit pounds, and found by one of Dr.
Kauch's inspectors in a slaughtered animal, measured twenty-seven inches
in length, seven and one-half inches in width, and three inches in thick-
ness at its thickest point.

The spleen is of a iiurplish color, its peritoneal surface sometimes
ecchymosed ; and, on making an incision into its capsule, the pulp oozes
out. A section shows the complete efi'usement of the usual granular
look, due to the very marked M;d[)igliian bodies, so well seen in the ox's
spleen. The scraping with a kniie readily forces out the currant-jelly-
like pulp, and leaves the trabecuhe free and clear. In thirty well-marked
diseased spleens, Ur. Mannheimes found only two in which the trabe-
cuLiB were firm and sound. They were destroyed and completely unrecog-
nizable from any other part of the tissues of the organ.

106 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

URINARY ORGANS.

The kidneys may be perfectly healthy, but are most commonly of a
dark brownish -red color, from intense congestion. The pelvis of each may
be normal ; but, in the earliest staijes, I have found linear interstitial
blood dejtosits in the mucous meiubrane. At first these are of a bright
arterial hue, but they become more extensive and dark in color as the
disease advances. Whenever there is bloody urine in the bladder, the
jjelvis of each kidney contains some of the same. In one case I found
one of the lobes of the right kidney fluctuating on pressure, and, when
opened, it was found to contain a cyst, distended by a couple of ounces
of dark, bloody urine. In the majority of cases the urinary bladder is
found very much distended with blood-colored urine. Its mucous sur-
face may be normal and pallid, but is sometimes congested ; and, in
several cases, I have found it studded with very minute ecchymoses,
which have existed either in the fundus or at the cervix, or have been
thickly disseminated over the whole of the internal lining. The organs
of generation are found healthy, and cows with calf have always re-
tained the foetus, whether it was a few days or several weeks old. In
one case I found the peritoneal surface of the womb studded with ecchy-
moses precisely similar to those seen on the internal surface of the blad-
der , and in another, the broad ligaments of the uterus had a marked
ai^pearance of the same description.

NERVOUS SYSTEM.

In all the cases in which partial paralysis of the hind quarters alone
was marked, we found the upper cornua of the gray matter in the lum-
bar region reddened; and the microscopical examination showed blood-
extravasations and staining of the nerve cells. This appearance could
be traced in all parts of the cord, in cases of more general paralysis; and,
in one instance in which it was most general and marked, there was
blood-extravasation outside the dura mater, beneath the medulla oblong-
ata. The gray matter of the medulla was itself slightlj' blood-stained.
On opening the cranium, in one instance, we found the inner surface of
the dura mater studded with bright red spots, similar to the small ecchy-
moses seen in the urinary bladder ; and the spots were distributed over
the whole of the cranial surface. The pia mater is often congested, and
the gray matter of the cerebrum and the cerebellum often reddened. The
puncta vasculosa, in the oval centers, are very marked ; and the lateral
ventricles, in one case, contained a little reddish-colored serum. Beyond
this tendency to congestion and occasional blood-extravasation, no lesion
was discovered in the nervous system ; and both white and gray matter
was usually firm and not softened.

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 107

CAUSES AND l^ATURE OF THE DISEASE.

In those parts where the splenic or periodic fever of cattle is enzootic,
the prevailing inflnences are such as favor the development of intermit-
tent disease in man. There are parts more healthy than others ; and
the beneficial effects of constant winds, a dry soil, adequate elevation,
and the introduction of good systems of culture, tend to make many
regions in the vast countries over which malarious conditions prevail
favorable for the healtli and prosperity of man. In the most swampy
parts those diseases annually recur with the intense heat of summer
which are known to characterize low and unhealthy lands in all parts of
the world, and these often persist even in the winter season. The bilious
remittent and intermittent fevers in man are represented in animals by
the deadly charbon or anthrax, the black tongue of domestic and wild
ruminants, as also by a marked form of the splenic fever which I am
describing.

Texas and Florida have been chosen as resorts for invalids— for con-
sumptive people during the winter. They are considered so healthy
countries, that to cast a doubt over the salubrity of Texas might lead
any one into difficulties in that State. It is not too much to say of the
State that its acclimatized inhabitants prefer to live there rather than
choose what might be viewed as a healthier climate further north. But
it is impossible for an unprejudiced stranger traveling through the State
not to observe the usual spare habit of body, the sallow, yellowish com-
plexion, and the want of activity that prevail among the inhabitants.
There are exceptions and exceptional spots ; but any one traveling from
Maine to Texas can satisfy himself that some condition, whether of soil
or climate, is untavorable to the health of man.

I had not anticipated witnessing the universal indication of a low
standard of health in animals. Texans pride themselves on their herds
of beeves, on the size cattle often attain, on the masses of fat rolling
over the bones aud muscles of steers fed only on mesquite, and they
look on Texas as a center whence the world may be supplied with beeves.

There is every reason for believing that Texas must remain one of the
greatest, if not the greatest, cattle-growing State of the Union. But its
progress and prosperity demand that farmers should be informed of the
conditions whicli are ever in operation against them, and they will
doubtless bring their intelligence aud industry to bear in correcting evils
that are far from imaginary.

Inquiries as to the diseases of Texan cattle in Texas are almost always
met by people of that State by the declaration that cattle are never sick
there; — yet a " norther" may sweep down and drive the cattle onto a
narrow neck of land, wliere they have to starve at times for want of
food; drought, as in 1 SOI, sometimes destroys thousands; whih» in the
winter excessive wet destioys the grasses, favors diarrhea, and unless
the cattle can get in the woods and eat some swamp moss, wild

108 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

onions, or otlicr prodncts of the river bottoms tliey must occasionally
succunib.

The chise of ISOS and beginniny- of ISOO have been remarkable for an
excessive amount of rain. CattUi liave suffered largely, and on all
the sedj^e grass lauds along the Brazos starvation has been uncommon.
Farther west, on the mesquite, not far from Ci)r[)ns Ohristi, &c., cattle
have been in fair condition ; but some idea of the scarcity of really fat
cattle during- the winter months may be obtained from the fiict that, at
Indianohi, cattle for New Orleans market could not be had under twenty
dollars in gold. We hear so much of cattle being worth oidy a few dol-
lars a head in summer, and ])eople killing them by the thousand for
their hides and tallow, that the only reason to be given for heavy win-
ter prices is the scarcity of really fat stock, ami the great distance it
has to be driven, even to such a port as Indianola.

I have seen many large herds of Texan cattle that had been wintered
in Illinois, Indiana, or Missouri, and have made myself acquainted with
the average run of weights of cattle in Texas, and one most important
fact appears, viz., that a Texan steer will increase in twelve months, on
the grasses of a more northern latitude than those of his native State,
by one, two, and three hundred pounds over and above the highest
weight he will ever attain in Texas. Let us take the cattle fed on the
mesquite, said to be fat all the year round — and where, therefore, an
animal has not to make up for lost condition — and age for age, it will
take three of them to weigh down the Illinois steer, and probably four.
I take the best and the average, and it will be found, on careful exami-
nation, that the cattle on the noted grasses of Texas, whether from the
soil, heat, water, or other cause, do not attain the weight and condition
that the same cattle do if removed to the north, nor that northern or
western cattle do on their own native prairies.

Texans are finding this out; and, much to their credit, they are intro-
ducing a system of corn-feeding that gives them cattle that can compete
in western markets with other corn-fed cattle. They can, it is true, show
us some prodigies off mesquite grouuds, but the average run of grass-
fed catthi in Texas might be improved enormously by attention to the
subjects of breeding, shelter, artificial feeding, &c.

What are the active causes in operation, which tend to influence pre-
judicially the stamina of southern herds? Trav^eling over the prairies,
no one can fail to be struck by the large number of dead animals to be
met with. The dissection of these, or the slaughter and dissection of
the first animal jnet with, reveals three distinct and unfavorable man i-
festations. The spleen is enlarged; the animals have, without exception,
the "ague cake" — the stamp of a malarioU'i district; the liver is fatty,
and this is a lesion that miglit bo autiiapated in so warm a country ; the
true stomach is reddened at its left end, the membrane is eroded, or ap-
pears scratched wiili a sliarpnail on its folds, and although there maybe
only a single and small erosion, nevertheless the trace of gastric disor-

SPLENIC OK PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 109

der is there. I Lave not fiiiled in a single instance in Texas to trace
this, and I have opened as many as twenty-six animals per day, weigh-
ing their organs carefully, and watching closely for these sigas. Some^
times the scars of old ulcers are more marked than the erosions on the
mucous folds, and it is not uncommon to find there tracer of ancient
lesions about the pylorus, or intestinal opening.

My observations extend further. From the earliest age that the calf
feeds on grass, to the oldest that a bullock attains, the moibid lesions
alluded to are found. They grow better and worse, and, in dissecting
a dozen animals, one or two will be found to have blood extravasations,
of a very limited and delicate character, in the pelvis of the kidney, in
the urinary bladder, and in the intestinal mucous membrane. During
the summer, so far as I can learn, more than at any other season, a few
bullocks in a herd may be seen to droop behind, and void bloody urine.
Mr. Louis Brandt, now a practicing veterinarian in I^ew York, and who
lived twelve years in Texas, ofteu witnessed these symptoms ; and per-
sons engaged in shipping large quantities of cattle throughout the year,
have told me that they have at times seen the symptoms.

It is difficult to get at the truth ; but from personal observation, and very
careful and numerous inquiries, I am in a position to state that almost
if not quite universally in the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico,
and for a distance of at least two or three hundred miles inland, the
cattle do not attain the full weight they can and do reach elsewhere ;
that they very commonly appear in blooming health, and are usually free
from acute and marked symptoms of any disease ; that, nevertheless,
these animals are usually more an.nemic and less firm than northern cat-
tle, and that, without exception, all of them that I have dissected have
shown the spleen enlarged to twice or thrice its usual weight, the liver
slightly or very fatty, and the true stomach reddened and eroded. The
removal of these animals to a northern State results, especially as Avinter
approaches, in a diminished size of spleen, a great deposit of fat and
development of blood and muscle, and the cicatrization of the gastric
lesions.

Side by side with observations made by me in Texas, on the bodies of
animals that had died, and on others slaughtered in apparent health,
must be placed Mr. Tiavenel's researches in relation to the cryptogamic
origin of the disease. I do not wish to forestall his observations, or the
report of Doctors Billings and Curtis, but certainly it appeared that the
grasses which the animals ate had a healthy aspect, were not infected by
parasitic plants, and could not, on a casual observation, be recognized
as presenting any peculiar character that might account for the ill health
of animals eating tliem.

Conjecture is not always profitable, and fs yet it is impossible to say
more with certainty than that, in a warm country, where a rich and re-
tentive soil is ever charged with considerable moisture, and where arti-
ficial systems of culture are in their infancy, a general low tone of sys-

110 DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTURE.

tern prevails, which luanifests itself in the shape of an imperfect devel-
opment of blood, an enlargement of blood glands, and very significant
lesions of the stomach and liver.

Descrii)fionsof the Texan fever, wliich have been pul)lished for years
past, all agree that the Texan and also Florida cattle, which have cansed
so mnch mischief, appear themselves to be in perfect health ; and the
thriving condition of many herds in Indiana, Illinois, Missonri, and
Kansas tended, at first, to convince us that whatever injured the im-
jjroved breeds indigenous to these States had no effect on the natives of
the country', the long-horned Texan cattle. It is true that at Cairo we
were informed, by a gentleman whose statement we had no reason to
doubt, that he had seen many Texan cattle die in the railway pens; and
as many as nine or ten in one morning had been found dead, having, in
his o])ini()n, succumbed to the same disease as that destroying the cows
of the inhabitants of Cairo. He s.upplied the hay for all the cattle landed
there, and about the first lots, landed in April, appeared sound ; but he
afterwards saw three or four lots, numbering from two hundred and fifty
to five hundred head, which were aft'ected by the prevailing disease. He
distinctl}^ avers that six, eight, and even ten head of dead cattle were
hauled off the boats when they arrived laden with stock, and the men
in charge got medicine for the disease. One lot of two hundred and
fifty animals, referred to by this informant, was taken off the cars at
Farina, after leaving Cairo for the north, simply because they were suf-
fering severely, and it was supposed that this arose from the journey;
but they communicated disease to all the cattle that fed in their path,
and killed forty-seven out of fifty Illinois cattle with which they grazed,
from the 10th of May to the middle of June.

In opposition to hearsay evidence, it was my duty to examine cattle
alive and those which were dead. I saw sixty-four Texan steers, fresh
from New Orleans, which were unloaded at Cairo, on the 1st of August.
They all appeared healthy. We had previously seen a considerable quan-
tity of the same kind of stock without being able to detect the slightest
evidence of disease ; and were happy to receive an invitation to visit
Mr. Alexander's farm, at Brondlands, near Homer, where there were four
thousand five hundred and twenty-seven Texan steers, which had been
driven to Brondlands, and had communicated disease not only to the cat-
tle feeding on their trail, but also to a herd of Illinois cattle, Avith which
they were mixed in reaching their destination.

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

Ill

The numhers and dates relating to the several importations at Brondlands

are as follotvs :

Purchased at —

Date of arrival at Brondlands.

No.

Tolono

May 31, 1868

499

Tolono

June 2, 1868...

228

Tolouo

June 18, 1868

496

Tolono

June 20, 1868

349

Abeline

June 25, 1868

537

Tolono

June 26, 1868

140

Tolono

June 30, 1868

107

Abeline

July 2,1868

248

Abeline

July 3,1868

241

Chicago

July 4, 1868

195

Tolono

July 22, 1868

362

Tolono

July 25, 1868

611

Tolono

July 28, 1868

514

4, 527

Up to the 12th of September, the date of a letter from Brondlands,
thirty-one of the animals had died, "most if not all of them from inju-
ries received in transit." Out of four thousand five hundred and twen-
ty-seven animals driven or transported in steamers and on railroads,
considering- the great distances these had to travel, it is not surprising that
some should die; and all which we examined alive api)eared healthy
and thriving. That they communicated disease to a very serious extent
is proved beyond doubt; and it would have been important to deter-
mine, by the slaughter of many, their real condition.

On the Cth of August I visited Brondlands a second time, for the
purjiose of dissecting a Texan steer which the i:)eople of the neighbor-
hood believed would show signs of the disease. We inspected the herds
generally, which still looked in perfect health, but one of the imported
cattle was reported ill and dying. He had reached the farm about the
middle of July, and had not thriven well. It was, as usual, supposed
that he had sustained injuries on the journey. When I saw this animal
alive, he was lying down, with his head stretched on the ground; imper-
ceptible pulse at the jaw, great listlessness and prostration, but pre-
senting no distinctive symptoms of splenic fever. After death 1 fouTid
that there was an efiiision of bloody serum uiuler the jaw. The organs
of respiration were healthy, and the lieart sound. The whole of the
stomach and the intestines were normal; as also the liver, gall bladder,
and spleen. The kidneys and bladder exhibited no signs of blood
extravasations, or alteration in the urine, such as is seen in splenic
fever. From the general emaciation of the body, and the absence of
any lesion of disease, it was evident to me that this animal had died of

112 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

hoctie; or, in other Avoids, of the ill effects of prolonged starvation and
ill usage, which had permanently arrested the functions of assimilation.
The Texan cattle were intermixed in the i»astnres of Brondlands witli
about six hundred native animals. All but two hundred and eighty of
these were soon sent to eastern markets, and those which remained with
them began to die on the 2Gth of July. They were then phujed on green
corn; but they continued to sicken and succumb to the disease, until
one hundred and ninety-eight of all kinds, including an old yoke of
Texan steers which had been some time on the farm, had been buried.
At the time of my visit, the mortality was raging at its highest point,
and men were busy, from sunrise to sunset, skinning, digging graves,
and burying. Infornuition afterwards received was that one hundred
and fifty of the cattle sent to New York died before they arrived there,
and the rest were sent to the rendering tanks.

Colonel Sullivan, of Twin Grove, Vermillion County, 111., purchased
five hundred Texan steers at Cairo, on the 24th of May. They remained
healthy, but communicated disease to forty Illinois steers and twenty
heifers and cows. The disease appeared at Twin Grove on Tuesday,
the 2Sth of July. Of the Texan steers three have died as the result of
accident. The next group of southern cattle, which came under special
observation, was that of J. A. Harris, near Champaign. He had eightj'-
five head of southern cattle, purchased last fall. There were with
them thirty-eight Illinois steers, and this herd of one hundred and
twenty-three had grazed together the entire season. On the 15th of
July they were placed on pasture over which a herd of Texans had
been driven on the 15th of June. On the 3d of August the Illinois
began to die; and, in four days, twenty out of the thirty-eight were
buried. The eighty-five southern cattle remained in perfect health.

Tliis special immunity of the cattle imported from the south indicated
that they had overcome the influences which operate, however mildly,
to the prejudice of their health in the south.

On the 13th of August we visited Hickory Grove, near Oxford, Indi-
ana. There were there one thousand animals, which had been imported
in the fall of 1807, and had caused no disease either in transit or on the
farm. On the 1st of June, 18()8, two hundred and sixteen head Avere
purchased, which came from New Orleans and Memphis ; and, on the
12th of July and the 8th of August, two separate droves of one thousand
head were taken on the farm from Tolono, The condition of the whole
of this stock Avas as perfect as any grazier could desire. Many of them
Avere quite fit for the butcher; and those ])iir('hiised lastAA^ere in a thriA'-
ing condition. Tiie last two droA'es communicated disease on their trail ;
but, being by themselves at Hickory Grove, had no opportunity of
inflicting any damage.

At Parish Grove, adjoining the last named fiirm, a herd of about fiA^e
hundred Texan cattle had just been imported from Tolono. It Avas said
that the cattle, on their Avay from Paxton to Hickory GroA^e, in July,

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 113

referred to above, had crossed the prairie in wliich the Parish Grove, '
Illinois, cattle, numbering five hundred, had grazed. Within seven or
eight days after the last herd of five hundred cattle had reached Parish
Grove from Tolono, the Illinois cattle began to die. Fifteen car loads
of these had just been sent by rail to Chicago ; and, of the remaining
number, few survived. I inspected four sick steers, and it was evident
that the malady would destroy nearly all the Illinois stock. On an
adjoining farm Mr. Edward Sumner had nearly one thousand head of
northern cattle, among Avhich the disease had appeared.

On the lith of August we visited Mr. Joseph Heath's farm, near
Oxford, Indiana, and found there one thousand one hundred Texan cat-
tle which had been purchased at ISTew Orleans and Tolono. These had
communicated disease over the road they had passed, and Mr. Heath's
native stock, numbering seventy or eighty, were dying fast- We exam-
ined three alive, and dissected two, showing all the indications of splenic
fever.

On the next day, at Eeynolds, we visited a herd of over two hundred
Texan steers, which had arrived on the 27th of May; and disease
appeared at Reynolds the beginning of June. One car load of the ani-
mals was unloaded at Chalmers, and driven onto J. M. Bunnell's pasture,
at Reynolds. Thej^ remained there only two days ; but, five weeks after-
wards, the disease appeared, and killed the whole of Mr. Bunnell's stock,
amounting to eighteen head or thereabout. The bulk of the Texan cat-
tle were sent to Kenton's i)asture, three miles from Reynolds, where they
were mixed with seventy-three head of native cattle. Of these, at the
time of our visit, from fifty-five to sixty had already died, and others
were sick. Cattle on the west side of the track at Reynolds were safe ;
but cattle east, between the station and Kenton's pasture, had died.

It is worthy of special mentiou here that, for the first time, the trans-
I)ortation of Texan cattle was established in 1868 from New Orleans, by
steamboats up the Mississippi to Cairo; and thence, via the Illinois Central
road, to the pastures of Illinois and Indiana, having heretofore been sent,
since the war, from New Orleans up the Mississippi to Louisville, Ken-
tucky, with the same results as at Cairo. The first lot of Texan cattle
was landed at Cairo on the 23d day of April; and between that time
and the 1st of August, when the railway peremptorily refused to trans-
port any more stock, about sixteen thousand animals j^assed from the
south on that route. At Cairo the splenic fever appeared about the end
of May, or beginning of June; at Farina, early in July; at Tolono, on
the 20tli of July ; and thence, at later periods, usually dating five weeks
from the time the Texan cattle were driven onto the roads and i)astures,
where disease afterward a])pcared. The majority ot the cattle, amount-
ing ])robably to ten thousand, were handled by the railroad ]»eoi»le at
Tolono; and Mr. Charles Troyford, of that place, who had lost forty-
eight out of ninety-eight Illinois cattle by the disease, at the time of oiuv
visit, informed me that he had not seen a single Texan steer diseased,
8

114 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

out of tlie whole ten tliousaiid; the feeding, driving', and delivering of
whicli lu' had personally superintended.

From the coninieneenient of my in(juiries, I had considered it highly
probable that eases of splenic fever would be found even among south-
ern stock; and rewards were ottered, at Tolono and elsewhere, to any
one who would indicate cases alive or dead. Considering that, wher-
ever we traveled, tlie people whose stock had been destroyed were most
anxious to furnish us the positive proof, if such could be obtained, it is
remarkable that not a single case was brought under our notice.

I returned to Chicago, and again had occasion to inspect both Texan
and Illinois cattle in the slaughter-houses; and having, by that time,
ascertained the means wherel^y even the latent forms of the disease
might be discovered after death, I had no ditticulty in tracing lesions in
steers reputed healthy, and slaughtered for hunuiu food. This infor-
mation I communicated at once to Dr. Ranch, medical officer of health
of the city of Chicago, who invited me to address a meeting of the
board of health, on Tuesday, the 18th ot August; and, as what 1 then
stated is of material nujment in the history of developments made by
me on this subje(;t, 1 do not hesitate to transcribe, from the short-hand
writer's notes, the following passages :

I was called upon, a foitniglit ago, to reply to the question whether, if any of the
flesh of the sick animals happened to be sold, it was probable that human beings
might sufier 1 I unhesitatingly asserted then, what I repeat uow, that the meat is not
poisonous, and is incapable of injuring hunian beings. To that opinion I adhere.

If 1 should be asked what regulations should be made by city authorities, in relation
to the traffic in diseased meat, I have simply to declare, what I have said for many
years past, viz., that it is impossible to draw a line between health and disease, except
as the two conditions are known to medical men ; and, notwithstantling the apparent
disadvantages of condenuiing nun-e meat than there is any necessity for, it is essential
that a sanitary officer should be supported, on the broad general principle, that a dis-
eased animal is an animal unfit for liuman consumption.

The danger of an abundant supply of auinuil food, the xiroduce of animals aifected
with Texan fever, has almost passed. Some farmers and shippers have learned
that it is not safe to send stock to such markets as these, and the action of this, as of
other boards of health, has no doubt been already beneficial.

But any systtmi of inspection now to be adopted must almost inevitably fail, if
directed mainly to the condition of live stock at the Union stock yards.

It is in the slanght<u--h()uses that a ready means of ascertaining the real condition of
cattle can be secured; and the recognition of the Texan fever rests in the examination
specially of the spleen, which is much increased in size, sometimes before animals
show any external signs of sickness. A medical inspector would likewise detect blood
extravasations in th<" internal organs, ulcerations of the stonuich, and, as the disease
advanced, l)l(Midy urine; but tlu^ most satisfactory sign, for the purpose of meat inspec-
tions, is tin- condition ol' the spleen. The flesh of animals slaughtered, when aifected,
.shows no signs of morliid change, so that it is essential to examine the internal organs
in order to draw conclnsions as to the condition of any carcass.

On the 20th of August we left for St. Louis, Kansas City, and Abi-
lene. We met with cases of splenic fever in the tirst nanunl city ; but,
from the manner in which the Texan droves are segregated while
awaiting their transfer to the cars at Kansas City, the indigenous stock

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 115

in that district was found healthy. At Junction City we found a lierd
of sick cattle which had crossed the Texan trails at Salina, having been
vised in the west for draught purposes. We proceeded to Abilene, the
center of the shipment of Texan steers. It had been confidently
asserted that the stock, driven by easy stages from Texas through the
Indian Territory and unsettled lands of Kansas, had communicated no
disease ; but this we found erroneous, as the nidigenoiis stock around
Abilene had suffered, and herds had just been seized, from among which
we had ample opportunities for examining such cattle, both alive and
dead.

We learned at the Drovers' Cottage that, scattered along the creeks
at intervals of four or five miles, large herds of Texan cattle could he
seen over a distance of forty or fifty miles. This led us to undertake a
journey across the prairie, as far down as Big Turkey Creek, near the
Little Arkansas Eiver; and it is but just that publicity be given to the
anxiety manifested, and assistance tendered us in our investigations, on
the part of the gentlemen engaged in the southern trade. Major Call,
who owned two of the largest herds, zealously undertook the necessary
arrangements for our journey ; and, by this means, we had an opportu-
nity of examining carefully considerably over fifteen thousand head of
cattle, which had arrived at their destination during the months of July
and August.

In general terms, it may be said that the whole stock indicated how
much better it is for cattle to be driven slowly, where there is an <^mple
supply of food and water, than it is to transport them, even for two or
three days, in railway cars. There was a difference in the herds accord-
ing to the speed they had maintained on the journej', and it appears
that an average walk of eight miles daily, over the whole journey, is as
much as the cattle should be subjected to, in order to secure improve-
ment, rather than deterioration, in tlieir condition. The best drovers
avoid shouting and the stock-whii); and much depends on the intelli-
gence of the person who sujierintends a herd as to the selection of the
best grazing ground, and searching for a sufiicient supply of water.
The creeks, scattered throughout the whole of the i^rairie lands of
Kansas, dry up in summer, and cattle must sometimes be driven thirty
or thirty-five miles before water can be found. This is rare ; but, under
the most careful management, the driving of cattle from Texas to any
jioint on the eastern division of the Union Pacific road at or west of
Abeline, is attended with some such inconvenience. Nevertheless,
wherever proper supervision is exercised that the animals may never be
overheated, it is found that they imi)rove in condition, gTow stout and
hardy, and are in fit state for slaughter at the end of their journey on
foot.

Of the stock we examined, two hundred head of Indian cattle, from
the Chickasaw Xation, wei'c in pasture five miles from Abeline, and all
appeared in very fine condition. The greater part of the remaining

116 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

stock we inspected was I'roiii uortliwcsteni, from central and from east-
ern Texas.

The only evidence of suffering was, at first, lameness, which in some
eases was due to injuries from animals fi<?hting, or spraining themselves
in getting through difficult places. At times a steer gets lame from the
long sharp grass, wounding the skin between the hoof; and at other
points, as on Smoky Hill, the stony surface, with angular fragments of
iron-stone and other hard and sharp bits of flint, wounds the feet and
disables a considerable nund)er of cattle.

On Suu>ky Hill we found, on the 27tli of August, a herd which had
been collected, from forty to two hundred miles from the coast, in South-
ern Texas, between the 1st and the 18th of May. They arrived at Smoky
Hill on the 22d of August. Two animals had died on the route; one
died after getting lame, and the other refused to eat, was depressed,
languid, and passed blood with the excreta. At the time of our visit,
there were twenty or thirty animals which looked gaunt and weak, but
we were told that they were work-oxen in poor condition. One animal
was lame and stiff, but was reported as improving in condition. Another
had died during the night, and we proceeded to examine its internal
organs. It was a dun Texan steer, four years old, that had been stam-
peded with others the day before, and shortly afterwards had succumbed.
The body was still warm, and free from all trace of decomposition. The
skin and subcutaneous tissues presented no mark of injury or disease.
The organs of respiration were healthy. The heart, of normal volume
and consistency, was ecchymosed at its apex, and circumscribed blood
extravasations dotted the reflection of pericardium over and around the
pulmonary artery. The right cavities of the heart contained a small
• clot of blood, and the left were em^^ty. The endocardium was of normal
color and thickness throughout. The mouth, fauces, pharynx, oesopha-
gus, and the first three stomachs were healthy. The fourth, or true
stomach, was reddened over its entire mucous surface. The folds at the
cardiac end were of a deep red, with numerous petechia? scattered irregu-
larly over their surface. The petechite were usually dark in the center,
where the membrane was softening, and of a lighter crimson hue on their
circumferences. Many were round, and others of irregular sha])es, either
from coalescence of several extravasations or the irregular spreading of
one original bleeding spot.

The small intestine, of a reddish or purplish hue externally, was the
seat of ramified redness, with some petechite scattered tliroughout its
whole extent. Peyer's glands were healthy. The ileum was, however,
nu)re congested than the duodenum or jejumim.

Tlie ca'cum, somewhat reddened on its entire mucous surface, was
strijx'd with blood extravasations which had occurred along tlu' promi-
nent edges of the mucous folds at its fundus, and there were several
Avell defined ecchymoses scattered irregularly over tlu> whole lining. Tlie
color was more or less reddened throughout, until near its termination,

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 117

where it had a natural cohir. The rectum was uot discolored, but near
the anus there was a small patch with a thin film of coagulated blood
on its unabraded surface, and, when the membrane wrinkled by the ac-
tion of the sphincter, the free margin of the folds was streaked with
interstitial deposit of blood. The spleen, of a dark purplish color,
weighed three and a lialf pounds, and its structure was soft and friable.

The liver was of normal size and color, but the gall bladder appeared
thickened from an exudation of yellow serum in the substance of its
coats. These appeared three or four times their normal thickness. The
small arteries and veins of the raucous membrane were much distended
with dark blood, and there was also some capillary congestion.

The kidneys were healthy. The bladder was moderately distended by
clear-colored urine, but its mucous surface, reddened at the fundus, was
dotted with small petechije of a vermiliou hue at and around the neck
of the organ.

Failing to obtain further evidence of splenic fever in this and an ad-
joining herd, from a careful inspection of the animals, I determined on
having some of them caught and examiued with a self-registering ther-
mometer. Four steers, caught with a lasso, indicated a temi)erature of
103.40, 102.40, 1030^ and 104.20. This indicated a somewhat exalted
temperature for animals which to all appearances were in health ; and I
was fortunate in getting an animal that had been used in a wagon driven
quietlj" to camp, and then examined. This indicated a temperature of
1030 Fahrenheit. My conviction that the lasso would not vary the
temperature was thus confirmed, and it is hard to I'econcile the observa-
tions made with perfect freedom from disease.

The inspections of herds grazed on and near the Santa Fe road, and
inquiries among drovers and herders, failed to bring to light any other
cases of sickness or death ; and the evidence of Texan cattle suffering
from splenic fever, so far as our observations in Kansas go, rested on the
very marked case examined at Smoky Hill, on the high temperature
manifested by animals in the undoubtedly infected herd, and on the ob-
servations as to the relative weights of spleens in healthy and sick cattle,
reported in the foregoing pages.

Notwithstanding, however, the favorable report which can be made
regarding the general appearance of southern herds, it is proved by the
experiences of past years, and of this, that they disseminate disease
among cattle north or west of the Gulf States. The imj^ression was left
on my mind, after the first observations of the malady, that the Texan
steers might be found to communicate the disease only for a limited time
after leaving Texas. There is reason to believe that such is the case,
though we found that two months' journey, from Texas to the Union
Pacific road, had not sutiliccMl to etfect tliis object. Experiments on this
point would be desiral)le, tliough expensive, and demanding mucli time
and attention. We w^ere told, however, that the (;attle which had in-
duced so much disease at Farina, on being removed to Loda, were placed

118 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Oil l;ui(ls wliic'li broufjlit tlicm iu contact with Illinois cattle, and no bad
results ensued. Mr. liobert Clark, of Indianola, who has had great ex-
perience in driving cattle through Missouri into Illinois, states it as his
decided opinion, from rejieated observation and inquiries among drovers,
that the Texan steers are most dangerous immediately ai'ter leaving
Texas, and hence the great opposition to their importation into Missouri;
but that, after they have traveled a long distance, they were far less
liable to do any mischief. This point is of great importance in relation
to means which might be suggested for the prevention of the disease,
and it is worthy of note that, without doubt, cattle driven into Kansas,
Missouri, or other States, iu the summer or autumn of one year, grazed
in such State during the winter, fail to retain any deleterious principle,
and can readily be intermixed with any stock during the winter and
spring. Texan herds, therefore, do purify themselves; and the jioint of
greatest importance in relation to the traflic in such stock is to establish,
without doubt, what length of time is required for such jniriti cation, and
if means can be adopted to accelerate so desirable a resnlt.

NON-TRANSMISSION OF THE DISEASE BY NORTHERN OR BY WESTERN

STOCK.

During the three months last summer, too many well-marked cases
have been seen of communications of splenic fever to Illinois and to Indi-
ana cattle. At first these animals were allowed to die; but, as soon as
large herds of grazing stock Avere attacked, an effort was made to save
what could be saved, by shipping and sending to eastern markets. Cat-
tle trucks have thus been filled in large numbers with infected steers,
and they have died or been slaughtered and committed to the rendering
tanks. But not a single case has transpired to show that these animals
have induced, directly or indirectly, any disease in the stock of Eastern
States. How different from this is the working of a contagions disease !
Had any malady of the nature of rinderpest or lung plague been favored
in its transmission, as this one has been, the farmers of Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, and New York w^ould have similar bitter experiences to record,
to those of the much-injured Illinois farmers. That which is obvious,
in relation to the progress of the disease through the country, is also
apparent in any district invaded by the disease. None but southern cat-
tle cominnnicate disease, and they rarely if ever do any mischief through
stockyards and cattle cars, and only by feeding on pastures over which
other stock is apt to roam and feed. No case has been brought forward
to show that a railway car, loaded with Texans, will communicate dis-
ease to other stock afterward placed in such car. Numerous instances
of this description would have come to light, had we been dealing with
what is commonly understood as a contagious plague.

I

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 119

COMMUNICATION IN STOCK YARDS.

The earlier reports from Cairo stated that the cows in that city had
caught the disease from the Texan cattk^, in steamboat and railway pens.
Indeed we AA^ere informed that many of the Cairo cows had been in the
habit of wandering not only near, but into, the cattle pens, and eating
the hay the Texans left behind them. This is the only observation that
would give color to the view that hay might be a means of propagating
the disorder. But we learned, at Cairo, that Texan cattle had been
loose on the common within the levee, and some stray animals had
remained for some days on the very prairie Avhich is the only pasture
for the cattle of the town. It was impossible to find a single case which
aftbrded reliable grounds for supposing that the only chance for con-
tamination was in the cattle pens of Cairo.

It may be suggested that eating hay which has been poisoned, must
be as bad as eating prairie grass over which Texan steers have wandered.
But there is this difference, that cattle are not ajjt to eat hay on which
the excretions of other cattle have been deposited, and they would
attempt to pick up only the clean fodder. On grass lands the growth of
grass, and the washings of the pasture by rains, clear off the filth,
though they may often leave adhering deleterious principles which are
swallowed. A good illustration of this is afforded by the dissemination
of tapeworm, the ova of which are distributed with the excrement of dogs
and other carnivora ; and, while the fteces are washed away, the ova
adhere to blades of grass, and develop in the systems of cattle and
sheep.

I Avould not wish to be understood that I consider it improbable that
hay may, under some circumstances, be poisoned by Texan steers, and
afterwards give disease to other stock ; but, as yet, no facts prove that
such has been the case. On the contrary, the most reliable, though
accidental experiment, is afforded by cattle fed by Mr. Sherman, of the
Union stock yards, Chicago. He has thirty-five cows which have grazed
all summer, close up to the cattle pens, where thousands of southern
steers have been inclosed, Avithout intermission. Of these cows the
majority have been purchased out of the yards at different times, some
last spring, and some haA'e been in the cattle pens with Texan droves.
On the occasion of my visit to the yards, I have also seen a Texan calf
placed with the cows ; and yet no animals could be in better health than
those in Mr. Sherman's dairy.

This suggestive case proves, in the most incontroA^ertible manner, th; t
western cattle can be mingled with Texans in stock yards, can graze
side by side Avith Texans, if separated by a fence, and coavs can suckle
the Texan calves, Avithout becoming affected with splenic fever. I am
not prepared to say that any of tlie cows purchased by Mv. Sherman
were fed on liay in the yards, Avhile they Avere in the same pen Avith the
Texans, but in all probability they were.

This point has acquired some importance since the British go\'ern-

12(^ DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

ment inoliibited the importation of hay from the United States. Act-
ing- on the .side of prudence, Avith th<' limited information that coidd
necessarily have been at its disposal \Aiieu that order was issued, and
in view of the losses by conta<;ious diseases which have become chronic
in the British Isles, it was in all ])r<)bability the only course that could
have been adopted. I>ut it may be well to state, for future guidance,
that it is not possible for bales of haj' shii)ped to Europe to carry the
splenic fever. For years to come, the opeu prairie lands, on which we
have witnessed the dissemination of the disease, cannot yield hay for
the markets of America. That hay is produced in the Eastern and the
AVestern States, in localities where Texan cattle never have been, and
probably never will be, grazed; and, moreover, in the fields mown for
hay, cattle are not pastured.

The larger tracts of country on which southern droves feed are likely
to remain unsettled for years to come, and neither scythe nor sickle has
ever reached them. England is as likely to get rinderpest as splenic
fever from America ; and the only way in which it might see the latter
would be by transporting herds of Gulf-coast cattle across the Atlantic,
to feed on British i)asture lauds, side by side with British stock.

SEASONS.

The intiuence of seasons on the development of splenic fever is most
. marked. A few nipping frosts check its ravages anywhere and every-
where. In Missouri and Kansas it has broken out as late as October
and December. Thus, in the report of the Department of Agriculture
for 1807, it was stated from Christian County, Missouri, that, in 18GC,
" Spanish fever was introduced into the western part of this county by
droves of Texas cattle, passing in October." From Woodson County,
Kansas, it was reported that the "Spanish fever broke out in December,
and raged until the 1st of January, ichen the cold weather set in and
checJced it" The droves of Texan cattle, which communicated the dis-
ease during the summer, leave Texas by the close of winter; So that the
Texan winter in no way interferes with the development of that state o^
system which renders Texas herds so dangerous.

In a case reported too vaguely to be of real value, in the report of
the DepartnuMit of Agriculture for 1807, we are informed that, in Doug-
las County, Kansas, "the Spanish fever, or soinethintj similar, made its
appearance, about the 1st of February, among a few cattle that were
driven from the south." In all probability this was not splenic fever ;
and the reporter adds: "I thiidc the severity of the winter caused the
greatest loss; about one-third of all the cattle brought from the south
have died." It is certain that, in States north of ^Missouri and Kansas,
splenic fever prevails in the months of June, .Tuly, August, and Sei»tem-
l)er. Straggling cases may oc(;ur in .May and in October; but the great
losses are observed during the four months just nanuHl.

Does this depend on the intiuence of heat and drought, or on the acci-
dental circumstances that Texan cattle have been mainly distributed

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 121

over the country duriug these mouths '? The second is tlie main reason ;
but it is impossible for me to reconcile many observations which I have
ma<le with the idea that heat does not favor the development of the dis-
order. It is not sufficient to name it, but it is asserted by practical men
that Texan cattle can be handled most safely \A-hen the summers are wet
and cool. The wet may wash the grasses, but the cold seems to lavor a
constitutional resistance to the attacks of the disease. A record of the
cases which demonstrate that Texan cattle can be freely placed with
western stock in winter would fill a volume. At Brondlands, Hickory
Grove, near Champaign, and in a host of other places, southern cattle,
purchased last fall, were placed with indigenous stock, have remained
with them ever since, and induced no disease. This is very generally
known and admitted. A reporter from Cedar County, Missouri, writing-
in 18(16, said : " It is tliought that our cattle w^ould not take the disease
in the winter season, but this may only be conjecture, as no large droves
have yet been driven here from the south iu the winter." Of late years,
however, there has been an effort to drive from Texas for the October
and ]SroAember markets, and we have not heard of a single case where
stock-drivers, up at that time, had done any mischief iu Illinois and
Indiana. Nipping frosts may and do kill the disease, by destroying the
pasture, and compelling people to feed their cattle. This completely
arrests that method of transmission, which I believe to be the main or
only one. As soon as western stock is deprived of the pasture ou which
Texans have been fed, they are safe ; and this is an unanswerable argu-
ment in favor of the views I have promulgated since the time of my first
observations. It is not the breath, nor the saliva, nor cutaneous emana-
tions, which are charged with the i)oisonous principle, but the fieces and
the Tiriue.

It has, however, been very generally remarked that Texan cattle are
covered with the tick. I owe to the kindness of C. V. Riley, esq.. State
Entomologist in St. Louis, a drawing of the tick as found on Texas cat-
tle. In the annexed engraving is an upper
and an inider view. As the legs do not
alter in size in proportion to the body, a
view has been given of a smaller specimen mmji^ nat.size
between the two. This tick belongs to the Fig. is.

arachnidte, subdivision tracheariie, and family ixodide. It has eight
fine, jointed legs. It is not confined to cattle in the south, and is seen
iu many woodhind pastures of the United States. For convenience,
and to distinguish this species from Ixodes reticulatus, 1 proptDse to call
it Ixodes indentafus, from the peculiar indentations on the body and
absence of stripes. These ticks pass to the bodies of native cattle, and
■ breed. The young ticks are distributed iu myriads ou the grasses, and
it has been supposed that the grasses are thus poisoned.*

*For the scientitic desciiptiou of this iuaect see Mr. Riley's remarks ou the Ixodes
Bovis, \>. 152.

122 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICl'LTURE.

Tlic " tick tlicorv" has acquired quite a renown during the past sum-
mer; but a little thought should have satisfied any one of the absurdity
of the i(U'a. In the tirst place, ticks are not easily fenced on a ))iece of
hind, by a wood ience, as cattle are. A wood fence sufliciently isolates
cattle to prevent splenic fever.

Secondly. We have seen Texan cattle without ticks; and such cattle,
and also dead western, quite free from these parasites. There has been
no relation whatever between the abundance of ticks and the severity of
the disorder. The malady has been quite as malignant where few or no
ticks occurred.

Thirdly. We have been asked to watch for the irritating parasites in
the stomach and intestines, as it was believed that they acted mechan-
ically ; but we have never seen a tick during any stage of its develop-
ment in the alimentary canal.

Lastly. The tick is not confined to Gulf-coast cattle, which we know
communicate this disease ; but it is met with in various parts of the
States where cattle are reared that never cause splenic fever. Why
should the ticks not communicate the malady from western cattle to
other cattle, if they can induce it by crawling from the Texan to western
stock ! Many erroneous views as to the origin and propagation of the
Texan fever may be set at rest by showing what it is not ; and for this
reason 1 shall proceed at once to discuss the analogies and differences
between splenic fever and other disorders afflicting cattle, and even the
human species.

THE NATUEE OF SPLENIC FEVER.

The history of splenic fever would seem to indicate its complete isola-
tion from every disease, and especially every form of plague hitherto
described. But a careful study of its progress and development, with
the light afforded by a knowledge of other cattle diseases, enables us to
demonstrate points of givat resemblance, and indeed of identity with
maladies which annually recur in various parts of the world. It is,
moreover, important, in a practical point of view, to show how it differs
from maladies which spread from country to country, and from the east
westward, devastating broad tracts of land, and calling for the most
decisive and energetic means for their suppression.

Splenic fever is not an epizootic, properly so called. It is not propa-
gated through time and space by contagion. The true plague of ani-
mals, or e]uz()otics, such as the Russian nuirrain or rinderpest, the lung
plague or contagious pleuro-pneumoniaof cattle, the foot and the mouth
diseases of all warm-blooded animals, variolas fevers, hydroi)liobia, and
the like, spread ]»y direct or indirect transference of an animal poison, a
virus, fronj sick to healthy animals; and the sick, as a rule, indicate, by
very manifest outward symptonis, in the old world the divsease under
which they are laboring. The i)oisons take effect without regard to sea-
sons, and are alike developed in the systems of sick animals. It is not

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 123

cout.ict between Texan and southern or western cattle that induces the
malady ; and, so far as recorded observations and my own inquiries at
present extend, the animals contaminated by feeding on Texan trails
have not in a single instance propagated the disease to other animals.
Indeed, I have not met with one instance where sucking calves have
caught the affection from their dams, or from other cows which they
have been made to suck. Many cases have come under my observation
of cattle in Illinois, Indiana, and elsewhere, coming in contact with
Texans through a fence, by drinking in the same water, and even being
housed in sheds with sick natives, and yet escaping the disease. We
must, therefore, distinguish it from the contagious maladies alluded to,
and refer it to another group.

Splenic fever is an enzootic. It originates in various parts of the
Gulf States. Florida cattle driven north are as dangerous as Texans,
deriving the same deleterious properties from the soil on which they are
reared, and in all probability the vegetations on which they feed. In
the south, si^lenic fever is distinctly indigenous, and, so far as Texas is
concerned, I have satisfied myself that the disease is universally preva-
lent in that State.

Its complete manifestation is readily witnessed in States north of
31° north latitude. Here the malady can no longer be declared
indigenous; but there are numerous instances which can be cited, of
I)ui'ely enzootic diseases spreading a certain distance by contagion. Two
of the most marked instances are furnished us by the malignant anthrax
of Eussia, better known as the Siberian boil plague, and the milk-sick-
ness, or trembles, of the United States.

The milk-sickness is due to cattle feeding on low woodland pastures,
where certain poisonous plants abound. It originates only in a very
limited area of country ; but the animals may travel, and their flesh and
milk will communicate the disease when eaten by other animals, and
even by human beings. Trembles is, therefore, an enzootic disorder,
capable of being primarily produced only in definite localties ; but the
poison which contaminates the food is capable, through that food, of
attacking a second and a third animal, or as many as partake of it.
There is another striking similarity between the course of milk-sickness
and splenic fever. The animal food, poisoned in the disease-producing
district, may show no signs of disease, unless subjected to a definite
existing cause, such as being driven or frightened. In classifying
trembles among the diseases of the lower animals we should undoubt-
edly place it among the effects of vegetable i)oisons, and study it as
a very remarkable toxicological phenomenon. I should be disposed
to deal with splenic fever in the same way. Southern cattle, accustomed
to feed on certain pastures in Florida and Texas, thrive, antl their sys-
tems become charged with principles which are thrown off in the excre-
tions for many weeks, and probably two or three months after they leave
their native soil. Herds of these animals necessarily deposit a large

124 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

amount of whatever they excrete; and thns i)astures are coutaniinated,
the grasses of wliieh prove deadly poisons to healthy and susceptible
cattle. It is certain that the feeding- of cattle on the land over which
Texan animals h ive passed is the ordinary, and probablj' invariable,
canso of s])l(Miic fever.

The circiuustances under which the disease manifests itself tend to
favor the view that it is allied to the numerous forms of anthrax fever,
which prevail very generally in hot countries, and usually in low lands.
These diseases, it is true, are scattered throughout the temperate zone ;
but their development depends upon heat, wherever it appears on stiff,
retentive soils ; and in some sandy but fertile lands, their ravages are
especially witnessed during wet seasons. Heat favors and creates the
manifestations of splenic fever. The malady springs in a warm country,
and is propngated most readilj- with heat and drought. It is indigenous
where vegetation is rank, and the soil charged with an excess of organic
life, which, for want of direction, tends to waste and mischief. During
the hot summer months, anthrax or carbuncular fevers force the stock-
owniers of Southern Europe to seek the hills vnth their flocks of sheep
and goats; and to disregard this injunction implies, not only the death
of their animals, but the. destruction of other warm-blooded creatures,
including man himself, by malignant pustule. To this category undoubt-
edly belonged the various pests of old ; and, by traveling northward,
the virulence of these diseases, the development of the anthrax poison,
and the propagation under any circumstances, by contagion, diminish
by simple and imperceptible gradations, and ultimately cease. The
black water of Great Britain and of America is one of the forms of this
deadly anthrax, which, even so far north as Aberdeen, in Scotland, has
been conununicated, by the flesh eaten, to a whole family of human
beings, who succumbed from malignant pustule. The Siberian boil plague
is one of the typical forms of anthrax, and its history in relation to
splenic fever is interesting, inasmuch as it occurs in a vast country,
where stock is driven in masses from the east westward ; and an oppor-
tunity is thus afforded for contagious transmission, which is not often
witnessed elsewhere.

Many so-called blood diseases, all enzoi3tic in their nature, and capable
of limited transmission, are classitied, by the ablest veterinary patholo-
gists of France and Germany, with the anthrax fevers. In Germany
the most destructive forms are so often characterized by enlargement,
softening, and even rupture of the spleen, that the forms of anthrax are
included under a generic term, " Milzbrand." The condition of the si>leeu
in si)lenic fever would induce many a i)ath()logist to classify it unhesita-
tingly among the forms of "Milzl)rand." Ihit there is a line of demarca-
tion wliich, in my opinion, can be fairly established.

Southern cattle, capal»le of propagating this disease, usually start
from their homes in the winter, or early in spring. They do not die, as
is always the case where anthrax originates, in large numbers so as to

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 125

attract decided attention, on the lands which foster the development of
that subtle poison they carry northward. Their systems are not charged
with an inocnlable virus, such as the anthrax poison always is, when
there is a suflficient heat to develop it. The heat, during the suujnier of
18C8, was higher than is usually required for the production of the
anthrax virus. Tlie best and fattest animals in a herd are the first to
die of anthrax, and death is sudden, unexpected ; and an animal in the
apparent enjoyment of health at night is dead before morning, or seen
well in the morning and found dead by noon. French authors speak of
their dying "d'une apoplexie fulminante." Had the cattle which have
been slaughtered as human food, during the past summer, in Chicago
and elsewhere, been tainted with a true anthrax, as they have been with
splenic fever, medical reports would have developed many instances of
malignant pustule in man, which they have not done. With the ther-
mometer at 108° or 110° such a result was inevitable.

There is one disease in Europe, which prevails in various parts of the
United Kingdom, and is common on woodland pastures during the
spring and summer months, which presents most of the characteristics
of splenic fever. It is the black-water enzootic hsjematuria, or bloody
urine, which on the banks of the Dee, in Aberdeenshire, is termed the
" darn." The Germans call it " Blutharnen," " Rotharnen," " Maiseuche,"
"Weidebruch," and speak of it as an enzootic occurring in spring and
summer among "grazing" cattle. It is described as characterized by
bloody urine, and weakness of gait in hind quarters, associated, in some
cases, with intense fever; and in others with the weakness of antemia,
or the bloodless state. There is sometimes discharge of a little blood
with the fieces. There is occasionally diarrhea, but more commonly
the excrement is nearly of normal character. After death the bladder
is found distended with bloody urine, the kidneys are dark colored, and
their pelves distended with similar urine ; the blood is dark, the liver
usually light colored; but the spleen congested, and of a dark color;
and there are blood extravasations on the mucous and the serous mem-
brane. Indeed, Spinola speaks of the fourth stomach, and even the
intestines, as very inflamed. It is important and instructive to notice
the circumstances under which enzootic hamiaturia occurs in Great
Britain, and other parts of Europe. Since the introduction of turnip
husbandry, a malady has arisen among cows, which is usually known as
"red water," after calving, due to the condition of turnips grown on
ill-drained lands. In 185G I was engaged in investigating the diseases
of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire, for the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland. 1 tlien distinctly ascertained that tracts of land
of the same character, and adjoining one another, grew turnips capable
or incapable of producing the disease, according to the state of drainage.
Indeed, farmers whose lands were well cultivated were sometimes sur-
rounded by poor people, growing turnips on small phits, or so-called
"l)endules," of the same lauds, but without the advantages of good

126 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

draiuago. Tlie fjinners' cows were healthy; whereas those fed on the
poor peo[)k*'s crops suffered from "red water,'' after calving. This is a
distinct form of enzootic haimatnria, due ai)parently to some modili(;a-
tions in the character of a root, grown on damp and retentive soils. It
is, therefore, proved that the conditions of soil may injuriously aftect
domestic animals, and produce a definite and <listinct disease, tlirough
foods that are usually wholesome. But the enzootic h;ematuria Avliich
does not depend on a root crop, and which attacks steers, heifers, preg-
nant and even calving cows, has usually been ascribed, like the milk-
sickness of Illinois, to some definite poison; and the singular manifesta-
tions of the disease, as it travels from Texas, would give weight to such
an opinion. Tlie "darn" of Aberdeenshire was supposed at one time to
be due to a harmless, wild anemone, and afterward to the "darnel
grass," or LoUum temulentum ; but the opinion which I formed on the
spot was, that the cattle died from eating the young shoots of oaks,
and other astringent plants.

Medical men have had their attention directed to this subject during
the past summer; and, in some instances, they have referred to it as a
malignant typhus or typhoid fever. It is widely dift'erent from both in
its origin, development, and progress. The morbid lesions, so far as
blood extravasations are concerned, might suggest an analogy to typhus;
but this is not the only disease associated with blood changes and
petechia?. AVho ever saw a spontaneous development of malignant
typhus on the healthy, open prairies of this country, even in mauf If
it be typhus, how is it that it is not contagious, and certainly not infec-
tions ? If typhus, why do the sick Avestern steers not communicate it as
readily as the Texans ? It is assuredly neither typhus nor typhoid fever;
and its origin, in the causes whicjh we have reason to believe operate
most in its production in the south, approaches ague more closely than
any other disorder. Splenic fever is not an intermittent or remittent
disease ; but it probably manifests itself spontaneonslj" in districts, such
as are commonly invaded by malaria, and this is what we see constantly
in relation to the enzoiitic diseases of animals, and especially those in
which the spleen has atendency to congestion, hemorrhage, and enlarge-
ment.

There is really no analogue in man, so far as our observations extend;
and, in stating that the circumstances of its «levelopment are more like
the reputed results of malarious intoxication, it must not be thought
that we believe in the commonly accepted, but very vague and unsatis-
factory, notions as to the nature of malaria. The conclusions, therefore,
which 1 am disposed to draw from all the facts and arguments, adduced
in relation to the causes ami natur«' of si)lenic fever, are —

First. That southern cattle, esin'cially from the Gulf coast, are affected
with a latent m- an a|)i)arent form of the disease.

Secondly. That they become affected in conse(pience of the nature of

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 127

the soil and vegetatiou on wliicli they are fed, and tlie water wliicli they
drink.

Thirdly. That their systems are charged with poisonous principles
which accumulate in the bodies of acclimatized animals that enjoy an

immunity.

Fourthly. That southern cattle may be driven so that they improve
in condition; and yet for some weeks, and probably not less than three
months, they keep excreting the deleterious principles which poison the
cattle of the States through which the herds are driven, on their way
north or west.

Fifthly. That all breeds of cattle in States north of those on the Gulf
coast, without regard to age or sex, if they feed on grass contaminated
by southern droves, are attacked by the splenic fever ; that the disease
may be, but is very rarely, propagated through the feeding of hay.

Sixthly. That the disease occurs mainly during the hot months of
summer and autumn and never after the wild grasses have been killed
by frosts, until the mild weather in spring returns; that then the grasses
are healthy, and continue healthy, unless fresh droves of Texan or of
Florida cattle are driven over the land.

Seventhly. That heat and di'ought aggravate the disease in individual
animals. ^

Eighthly. That there is not the slightest foundation for the view that
the ticks disseminate the disease.

Ninthly. That the splenic fever does not belong to that vast and
deadly group of purely contagious and infectious diseases of which the
rinderpest, the lung plague, and eruptive fevers are typical.

Tenthly. That it is an enzootic, due to local influences, capable of only
a limited spread, and analogous or identical with the black water of
various parts of Europe.

Eleventhly. That, however warm the weather may be, cattle affected
with spleni(i fever have not developed in their systems any poison like
the anthrax poison; and that the flesh, blood, and other tissues of
animals are incapable of inducing any disease in man or animals.

Twelfthly. That splenic fever is not malignant typhus or typhoid fever.
That it has no anah)gue among human diseases, but is, however, devel-
oped under conditions which prevail where the so-called malaria injuri-
ously affects the human health.

CURATIVE TREATMENT.

The great majority of epizootic and enzo{)tic diseases never can, and
never will, be arrested bv the medical treatment of the sick. Even the
benignant epizootic aphtha', which is rarely fatal, spreads rapidly through
a coumtry ; and, in the long run, owing to the certainty and rapidity of
its transmission, entails more loss than some of the most fatal diseases.
Splenic fever may be classed among the incurable maladies, inasmuch
as we know of no antidote to the mysterious poison inducing it; and,

128 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

while we can alleviate some of the sufferings of the affected cattle, a
verytritiiiiji- nieiisure of success atteiuls the most assiduous nursing and
medication. Bleeding has been, in some parts, a favorite remedy ; and
I have known one animal recover, either in conseciiience or in spite of
the remedy. Purgatives have been freely and fairly tried, with good
result in very few instances, and with depressing and killing inliuences
in many more.

The "red water" of cows in Scotland is often cured by opiates, which
check the discharge of blood; and with alcoholic stinudauts in modera-
tion, with the free use of mucilaginous drinks. I have tried the same
treatment in splenic fever, Avith little or no success. Page after page
miaht be rilled with notes on the administration of nitrate and of chlo-
rate of potash, iodide of potassium, quinine, salts of iron, sesquicarbo-
nate of ammonia, Epsom or Glauber's salts, sulphur, ginger, calomel,
soap, and oil ; and even guano from the goose cote has been said " fre-
quently to effect a cure, given in doses of one quart, until a thorough
evacuation is produced." A reporter from Woodson County, Kansas,
says this is "a sovereign and unfailing remedy for the dry murrain."
None of these agents (and some have been extolled as specific) have
affected the steady progress and fatality of the disease.

Shelter, protection from flies, linseed or flaxseed tea, friction of the
limbs, and injections, are humane, and, to ff trifling extent, useful expe-
dients. I have seen coavs return to nearly their full quantity of milk on
such treatment, with the aid of half-ounce doses of sulphuric ether, in
four ounces of the solution of the acetate of ammonia and a quart of
water, given thrice daily. Relief has been afforded by giving an ounce
of tinctm^e of opium for the first day or two; but to enter further into
the history of experiments on this point is to recount a history of failures
such as the worlcfts accustomed to, in speaking of the medical treatment
of human cholera and small-pox, or rinderpest and the deadly forms of
anthrax in cattle.

THE PKEVENTIOI^r OF SPLENIC FEVER.

The main object of the investigation which has brought to light the
facts noted in the foregoing pages, has been the discovery of means
wherebv the direct and the indirect losses sustained for several vears
past, but especially in 1868, may not again harass American farmers,
and injure the traders in Texan cattle. Hitherto the ouly measures sug-
gested, and very partially adopted, have consisted either in prohibiting
the importation of southern cattle into certain States, or portions of
States; and, in one instance, in preventing their introduction only dur-
ing the summer months.

Stringent lawshave failed to avert the most disastrous and wide-spread
losses; and while on the one haml persons interested in the Texan trade
have justified their inattention to legal restrictions, by declaring them
one and all unconstitutional, instances have not been wanting of mob

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 129

law adopting its own expedients. Dealers and farmers wlio owned
southern cattle have been threatened, they have been pounced on in the
dead of night, that they raight surely be found in their homes; and
there and then they have been requested to attend meetings of indig-
nant and impoverished neighbors. Lastly the stampeding and sliooting
of Texan cattle, whenever and wherever they might be seen, have been
the mild alternatives which seem to have satisfied a thirst for revenge ;
or in some instances human life would, in all probability, have been sac-
rificed. Indeed, threats have been numerous, and lieavy bonds or tlie
actual payment of cash for dead, dying, and infected stock, have alone
saved tlie persons of traders, commission agents, and farmers, who hap-
pened to have any dealings in long-horned beeves. The prevention of
splenic fever, therefore, implies in many instances the i)revention of law-
lessness, and the preservation of the public peace.

We have seen that splenic fever is a malady indigenous to Texas. It
is there an enzootic, and whatever may be the plant or i)lants inducing
the disorder, it is indisputable that the conditions prevail there which
are rife in all parts of the world where enzootic blood diseases, fatal
parasitic maladies, and periodic outbreaks of mysterious affections, which .
annihilate herds and even depopulate districts, occasionally predomi-
nate.

The extirpation of noxious plants, the purification of streams, the
equalization of the balance between animal and plant life on a given
extent of soil, are agricultural problems which cannot, in Texas, be
solved for generations to come. Thorough drainage, breaking up pas-
ture lands, fencing off low wood lands which are crammed with a disease-
producing vegetation, are measures neglected in Great Britain, which
will tax the industry and capital of many of the sons and grandsons of
the present race of farmers, north, east, and west, in the United States;
and how much longer must not the exuberant soil of Texas wait for the
hands and the brains engaged in making two blades of grass grow where
there was once but one I Fertile, and reeking with the decay of excess
as it is, we cannot anticipate the time when it will be so densely
peopled as to secure attention to definite sanitary laws which, if not
impracticable under the circumstances, might be applied for the preven-
tion of splenic fever in Texas, Florida, or wherever else it may be dis-
covered to exist as an enzoiitic.

The question next presents itself whether the trade in live cattle
between the south and the north is to be permitted. Its annihilation
would effectually prevent such outbreaks as I have had occasion to study;
but such an expedient, thougli it might commend itself to some short-
sighted farmers in Illinois and Indiana, would not be tolerated. It is
true that, notwithstanding all the dil1li;ulties experienced in the past,
wherever attempts have been made in the south to slaughter, and con-
sign their animal pro<luce to northern and other markets, the time will
arrive, in all probability, for some such outlet to be secured. But, with
9

130 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

beef at twenty, twenty-five, or thirty cents per pound in P]iila(l('li)liiii,
New York, and Boston, Avith the i)ackin<»' interests of Chicago, and the
demands of Europe, esi)ecially in times of war, it is idle to conteni])hite
the fencing in of steers, whidi may be purchased by thousands and
tens ot thousands at eight or ten dollars a liead in Texas. The ])rairie
lands ofStatesliivored by geographical position, and nearest the gieat cen-
ters of consumption for all animal produce, caiuiot be utilized for some
time to come, without the advantage of supplying food for stock bred at
a little cost elsewhere.

To suit a northern trade, the Texan will doubtless attend to crossing
his cattle with short-horned blood ; and this, while it will encourage the
l)urchase of such animals by the farmers of Missouri, Illinois, and Indi-
ana, will in no way tend to modify splenic fever. Fortunately for all,
it is possible to establish rules which, if intelligently attended to, will
effectually protect any susceptible animal from destruction by contact
with members of its own race from the Gulf States. All these rules
must aim at a complete isolation for a sufticient period of time.

With our present state of knowledge, it is imperative that we should
deal with all cattle from the Gulf States in the same way. But
numerous observations warrant us in believing that a careful study
of the geographical distributions of the splenic fever in the south
would indicate that there are broad tracts of land in Texas where the
stock is free from all contamination, and may, in all i^robability, be
freely mixed with cattle in any part of the States. It w'ould not be safe
to indicate the regions supposed to be healthy, inasmuch as they may
be more or less intersected by plague-stricken spots; but it is safe to
assert that the most decided and best ascertained manifestations of dis-
ease, and capability of communicating disease, have been observed
among herds derived from and near the Gulf coast.

That the hardshii^s and privations to which Gulf-coast cattle are
subjected in being transported to New Orleans, and up the Mississippi
in steamers, may act as existing causes to the full development of fatal
symptoms, is probable; but such and similar lUTJudicial influences
do not, and cannot, engender the disease. They may facilitate intelli-
gent observations; and a competent veterinarian, inspecting the dead
and injured cattle taken into the port of New Orleans, or landed at
Cairo, might add very largely to our store of knowledge on this and
allied subjects. Such inspection might be of value in securing the
isolation of badly infected herds, inasnuich as ordinary observers have
noticed, where opportunities were aiibrded for seeing many herds from
the Gulf Coast, that some were a])])arently sound, and others nund)cred
many sick and <lying animals. Wherever such cattle are landed, there
should be a sullicient amount of closely fenced land, beyond which the
cattle should not be permitted to pass on foot. They might be trans-
ported thence by I'ail, but only to definite points for immediate slaughter,

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 131

or to certain stations on railroad lands, where they can be placed alone,
and without coming in contact with other cattle.

There are serious impediments in the way, which may prevent the
adoption of the last suggestion ; but, having stated the principles which
should govern legislation in this matter, we must leave the practical
working of any well-matured scheme to those whose interests are at
stake. Thus, if the stock taken from the cars at Tolono (and which
destroyed almost every cow owned there) by the inhabitants had been
unloaded in inclosed yards at a distance from the town, and then driven
through a fenced road on which no other cattle were permitted to pass,
they would have caused no loss. It must be left to local authorities to
state whence, when, and how such stock shall be driven to secure such
isolation ; and it will probably be found most practicable, under such
circumstances, to limit the traveling of Texan cattle on foot to the
winter season when the grasses are withered and the local stock is
tended at home. Indeed, if a dehnite tract of prairie ground is devoted
anywhere to the Texan trade, the conditions required for the prevention
of splenic fever consist in the people keeping their cattle on their own
inclosed farms, or in well-fenced yards and feeding sheds.

A visit to the far west will convince any impartial person that judg-
ment and enterprise can be exercised with a certainty of success in
enabling Texan drovers to drive to points on the Union Paciiic road,
eastern division, where they can do no harm. Traveling north from
Texas through the Indian Nation into Western Kansas can intiict no
injury. With the completion of the Union Pacific road to San Fran-
cisco, it is not improbable that drovers may find it to their advantage
to drive further than they usually do now, and make for other stations;
but, whatever course they adopt in this respect, they can safely relieve
the overstocked State of Texas by utilizing the vast prairies of the west
in their important trade.

The question to settle is whether they should travel earlier in the
season or later. It is my opinion that, if they wish to hear no more of
splenic fever, they should reach Western Kansas in the summer or in
early autumn, keeping their stock fresh on the abundant grasses, and
shipping it east when the packing season commences, about the middle
of October. An experiment on a large scale has been made by Messrs.
McCoy Brothers, at Abilene. This spot on the eastern division of the
Union Pacific road was selected as the most isolated, and it is situated
within four hundred miles of the Texan frontier, and one hundred and
sixty-three miles west from the State line.

It is east of the sixth meridian, which is the line established by the
laws of Kansas as the limit over which Texan cattle slmll not pass ; but, by
common consent, the advantages offered by this spot have been hitherto
secured to the Texan trade. The yards were completed by the oth of
September, 18G7, and from that time to the close of the season, one
thousand car loads of cattle were shipped east from Abilene. The trade,

132 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICILTURE.

therefore, began late, tbe season was wet, and the Texas fever gave no
concern.

This year, however, hirge herds were collected early in the sjning in
Texas, and the lirst car load of cattle left Abilene on the lOth of June.

The people of the new town and its neighborhood had accuuiulated
more live stock than they had last year, and, withont taking the precau-
tion Avhieh could readily have been adopted, permitted their cattle to go
over the ground traversed by Texans, and black water appeared among
them.

It is evident that, as the property of a very large and important town
may be founded on this very traffic, precautionary measures should be
adopted for the isolation of the local stock. There can be no difficulty
in this ; and, with the exi)erience of 18G7 before us, the system of
driving late for the fall markets is calculated to preserve the most
promising of all outlets for southern farmers and drovers. There are
objections, perhaps, to this plan ; but, since it is impossible for the
trade to go on in a reckless and ill-regulated manner, it is for the
interest of all that the least objectionable plan, and yet the one most
certain to prevent the ravages by disease, should be adopted.

We are not in a position to recommend any system of quarantine ;
but all who intend to further the interests of this trade should remember
that during the summer season they cannot, without damaging their
business, intermingle southern with northwestern stock.

The line of demarcation must be distinct; and whereas in some
places the local stock nuist be fenced in, in others the Texan steers will
have to submit to some crowding, aud conditions which are not the most
favorable for so large a trade.

APPENDIX.

POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES.

Observation I, Jnly 30, ISOS.— lied cow ; the property of IMr. A. J.
Moore, of Tolono, killed by bleeding. Blood flowed freely, and was of
a bright arterial hue. The skin was removed and the respirat(ny organs
first examined, and found in a normal state. The peri(!ardium was
opened, and its retlected portion was sound. The heart of normal size
and consistency, but studded with punctiform extravasations of blood
around the apex, on the left auricular ai)pendix. The right cavities
were found empty and normal. The left were also em])ty, but there was
extensivi^ discoloration of the endocardium over the Heshy i)ill:iis and
the sei»tnm. It was of an alternate pur[)le and blood-red tint, and o,i
cutting througli the endocardium it was fouyd infiltrated with blood.
This infiltration extended in some parts to a sixteenth of an inch in
depth beneath the serous membrane.

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 133

The month, fauces, oesophagus, and the first three stomachs, were
health.y. The fonrth stomach contained a greenisli liqnid, and its mncous
snrface was intensely reddened, with the exception of antrum pylori,
which retained its normal color.

The folds of the cardiac end were thickly studded with ecchymoses,
which appeared to have coalesced, and the membrane had in many parts
given Avay, so as to induce the appearance of small, irregular ulcerations.
There was no thickening around the ulcers, nor evidence of progressive
ulcerated change, but the solutions of continuity seemed due to the dis-
charge of epithelium and death of the subjacent membrane in the center
of the bloody extravasations.

The duodenum was of a deep yellow, bile-tinged color. The jejunum
and ileum were carefully examined throughout their whole extent, and
found reddened. Peyer's glands were healthy.

The caecum was reddened around the ileocolic opening, and the colon
had irregular patches of congestion. In the rectum blood extravasations
were found all along the free margin of the folds.

The spleen was of a deep purple hue, weight seven and one-half pounds ;
and its structure was so disintegrated that a black mass of pulp oozed out
of the incisions; and with the slightest force nothing remained intact but
the trabeculte.

The liver and gall bladder weighed twenty-seven and one-half pounds.
They were congested, but otherwise apparently healthy. The liver
afforded indications of fatty change.

The kidneys were of a dark color, and contained bloody urine in the
pelves. The urinary bladder was enormously distended with dark,
blood-colored urine, and weighed with its contents nineteen pounds.
The uterus was healthy, and contained a foetus about a month old.

The brain and spinal cord were carefully examined. The meninges
were generally congested, and the posterior part of the cord, when cut
across, indicated very decided redness of the superior coruua of gray
matter.

Observation II, July 30, 18GS.— Cow ; the property of Mr. C. B. Cham-
berlain, of Tolono. This animal was also bled to death and skinned.

The thoracic organs were found quite healthy.

The first and the second stomach were likewise normal ; but the third
was somewhat inordiimtely distendiHl by dry food, firmly impacted
between its folds. The folds themselves were sound.

The fourth stomach was congested throughout, but its folds, at the
cardiac end, were of a deep, modena-red hue. In the vicinity of the
pylorus were a couple of small patches of erosions of the mucous mem-
brane.

The small intestine was the seat of ramified redness throughout its
entire length. In the large intestine, from the cuH'um to the rectum,
there was a dark, inky-looking deposit of blood along the free edge of
the mucous folds, and between these, at points, the membrane was con-

134 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

siderably conj?estod. The liver was mucli congested, fatty, aud weighed
twenty-one pounds.

The spleen was of a purple hue, its tissues undergoing disintegration,
and it weighed two and one-half pounds.

Tlie kidneys were dark colored, and the bladder largely distended
with bloody urine.

The spinal cord only of this animal was examined, and the gray mat-
ter found of a dark red color in the jiosterior part adjoining the cauda
equina.

Observation III, July 31, 1868. — Two-year-old steer; the property of
Mr. Mathews, near Tolono. Examined three hours after death. ^Marked
cadaveric rigidity. Organs of resj^iration healthy. The heart, of nor-
mal size and firmness, was extensively ecchymosed on its outer surface,
especially down the anterior and the posterior ventricular furrows. The
right cavities contained a small amount of blood. The left were empty,
but the fleshy pillars were of a deep purplish tint from extensive ecchy-
mosis.

The mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, the first and the second stomach,
were healthy. The third stomacli was considerably distended by dry
food. The fourth stomach was the seat of diffuse redness over its entire
mucous surface, but the depth of color was greatest at the cardiac end.
Freely dispersed over the surface were small, circumscribed erosions
with red areolse round them ; and these evidently resulted from ecchy-
motic patches, which sloughed in their centers. In the pyloric end
were several irregular j)atches of cuticular degenerations. The green
contents of the stomach adhered to the denuded surfaces.

The jejunum was the seat of ramified redness over its mucous surface,
and a similar congestion i)artially afltected the ileum and large intestine.
The liver was normal in size and general aspect.

The spleen was of a dark i)urple tint, about three times its natural
size, and its pulj) softened.

The kidneys were turgid with blood, and the urinary bladder much
distended with bloody urine.

Observation TV, August 1, 1808. — Seven-year-old steer; the property
of L. D. Ayers, of Farina. This animal was first seen ill on Thursday, the
30th of July, and died at noon on the 1st of August. Eespiratory pas-
sages healthy. On opening the chest it was noticed that the Inngs were
only partially collapsed. They had rather a blanched ai)pearance, and,
on removal from the chest, it was found that through the posterior lobes,
and all along the upper aspect to the anterior lobes of the lungs, there
was well-nuirked interlobular emphysema. Incisions in various ])arts of
the emphysematous tissue indicated the normal asi>ect of the lobules,
with free extravasation of air in the connective tissue around them.
The hiiigs weighed fifteen pounds. Tlie mediastinal reflections of the
pleura were densely studded with e(;chymoses, and the same appearance
I)ervaded the pleural portions of the same membrane. The pericardial

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 135

sac contained a little yellow serum ; and the heart, of normal size, was
extensively ecchymosed around the base of both ventricles. The right
side contained a small quantity of partially clotted blood; and the left
ventricle, also containing- a little dark blood, was the seat of extensive
ecchymoses over nearly the whole of its inner aspect.

The alimentary canal, from the mouth to the third stomach, was in a
normal state. Tlie contents of the third stomach were soft, and moder-
ate in quantity.

The cardiac end of the fourth stomach was of a dark red color, and
its folds thickly studded with small yellowish elevations, having the
appearance of vesicles, but solid, and apparently consisting in opaque
epithelial enlargements. The pyloric end was of normal color and free
from erosions or other signs of disease.

The small intestines, of a i)inkisli hue externally, were intensely
reddened on their mucous surface. There was general capillary con-
gestion, and the ramified character of the red tinge was most marked.
One of Peyer's glands had an elevated and somewhat thickened appear-
ance. The color was rather less deep than the adjacent membrane, and
on making an incision into it there was no evidence of deposit beneath
it, or noteworthy change in structure.

In the coBcum a very marked ecchymosis surrounded the ileocolic
opening, and several marked blood extravasations, well circumscribed
and limited in extent, existed in the colon and rectum. The liver and
gall bladder weighed twenty-nine pounds. The structure of the liver was
congested, and betokened active changes in the shape of fatty degener-
ation.

The spleen was dark, friable, and weighed eight pounds. The two
kidneys weighed four and one-quarter pounds, and were of a dark red
color. The bladder was much distended with bloody urine. Its mucous
membrane was congested at the fundus.

The cranium was opened and its entire contents found abnormally
vascular. On removing the brain the dura mater was found studded
with bright vermillion blood spots, about the size of an ordinary pin's
head. The medulla oblongata was healthy. The gray matter in the
cerebelluni was of a very decided reddish hue; but the consistence of
both white and gray matter appeared normal. The cerebrum showed
very marked puncta vasculosa on making horizontal sections of its
hemispheres.

Observation V, August 1, 1SG8. — Red cow ; the property of S. F.
Eandolph, of Farina. Died at 2 p. m., and examined at 5 p. m. Cadav-
eric rigidity marked. Eespiratory passages healthy. On opening the
chest it was found that the right lung collai)sed imperfectly; it was
jialish, and the seat of interlobular emphysema on its upper border, and
between the middle and the inferior lobe. The left lung was somewhat
ecchymosed. On the surface of half a do/en lobules there was a dark,
flea-bitten api)earauce, which corresponded with considerable conges-

136 DErARTMI<:NT OF AGRICULTUKE.

tion of the lmi<»- tissue within. The structure floated on water, and was
certainly free from intianiniatory deposit. The luiijj;s weij^lied twelve
])ounds. The heart, of normal size and consistence, was freely ecchy-
mosed over its entire outer surface. The ri;u;ht ventricle contained a
little frothy blood, but was not blood-stained. The left ventricle also
contained a little dark tluid blood, and was free from ecchymoses. On
opening- the left auricular appendix, it was found studded with puncti-
form i)etechiix,\ Alimentary canal, all anterior to the fourth stomach
Avas healthy, but this organ was of a dee]) red color over the mucous
folds of the cardiac end. The antrum pylori was studded over its
entire surface with irregular erosions, exceeding twenty in number.
Koue of these had the granular surface or peculiar edges of true ulcers,
but looked like abrasions, the epithelium having been removed and the
reddened mucous surface more or less discolored by adherent vegetable
matter, constituting the base of the solutions of continuity. The duode-
num was of a dark yellow color, and the areolar tissue around it was
oedematous. The whole internal surface of the small intestines was the
seat of ramified redness, with marked ecchymoses scattered in large
numbers through out. Some of blood-stained spots have sloughed in their
centers. The ileo-colic fold was blackened and tumefied, and the longi-
tudinal mucous folds in the colon and rectum were stained with
blackened blood extravasations. The liver and gall bladder, to all
appearances in a healthy state, weighed nineteen pounds.

The spleen, of a dark color, with a deep red pulp which oozed out of
incisions made through the capsule, weighed five pounds and four ounces-
The kidneys weighed two pounds, but, with the exception of urine of a
port-wine color in the pelvis of each, appeared sound. The bladder was
distended with bloody urine, but its coats were of a healthy color. The
cranial contents appeared rather unusually vascular, but otherwise
healthy. The spinal cord was not examined.

Observation VI, August G, 18G8. — Three year old cow ; the property
of G. F. Byers, of Sodorus. Died the night previous to the examination.
Ko cadaveric rigidity. Decomposition commenced. On removing the
skin it was found that effusion had taken place under the sternum. The
organs of respiration were found healthy. The heart was somewhat
soitened from incipient decay ; b.oth outer and inner surlace were the
seat of cadaveric blood-staining. The entire alinu^itary canal was found
normal, and free from congestion, ecchymoses, or erosions. The liver also
was sound. The spleen, much enlarged, probably four times its natural
size, was soitened at its base, and blood had tiowed freely out during
the life of the animal, as clots and licpiid Itlood droi)i)ed out of the ix'rito-
neum when it was fii-st oi)eiied. Tiie kidneys were normal, and the
bladder wondeifiilly distended by clear-colored urine. It is worthy of
note that this cow had been noticed to be sick for two days, but dis-
charged clear urine on the evening- of the 5th, and did not then appear
in a dyinj; state. She succumbed suddenly and unexpectedl}- during

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 137

the uigbt ; and, as tlie post mortem indicated, from liemorrliage from the

spleen.

Observation VII, August 7, 18G8.— Steer; the property of Mr. P.Har-
ris, of Champaign. Organs of respiration healthy. General aspect of
heart normal. Right cavities containing a little blood, and free from
ecchymoses On the fleshy pillars of the left ventricle there was marked
and diflused extravasations of blood. The anterior part of the ali-
mentary canal, as far down as the third stomach, was quite normal.
The fourth stomach was slightly reddened ; and, at the cardiac end, the
folds were studded with small, yellowish eminences, as described in a
previous case. The pyloric end was the seat of marked and numerous
erosions. The intestinal tract was quite healthy, with the exception of
slight redness of the nnicous surface of the small intestine.
The liver and gall bladder were nornml.

The spleen was at least twice its natiual size, of a dark color, and soft-
ened structure.

The kidneys were dark-colored from congestion, and the bladder very
much distended with urine of port- wine color.

On severing the head from the neck, it was found that around the
dura nniter, in the foramen magnum, there was an exudation of yellowish
lymph, studded with numerous confluent petechia of a very dark color.
On removing the brain it was found of normal consistence. The spinal
cord in the dorsal and the lumbar region was reddened, especially in the
upper horns of its gray matter.

Observation VIII, August 7, 1SG8.— Steer; also the property of Mr. .
P. Harris, of Champaign. Killed for the purpose of dissection. Organs
of respiration healthy throughout. Heart slightly ecchyrnosed on the
outer surface of the ventricles. The right side contained a small quan-
tity of fluid blood, with slender clots somewhat adherent to the auriculo-
ventricular valves. Left ventricle empty and healthy.

Pharynx, gullet, the first and the second stomach, healthy. The third
stomach impacted with dry food. The fourth stomach of a deep red
color over its cardiac folds, and studded somewhat with small, grayish
eminences of the size of ordinary pins' heads. The mucous surface of
the pyloric end, wherever it was whole, was of normal color; but it was
freely spotted with very distinct erosions of irregvdar shape, dark in
the center; and the largest of these was on the pyloric gland and
extending on the transverse fold at the pyloric -opening. The duode-
num, and indeed the entire small intestine, was found with the mucous
surface congested. The ctecum, colon and rectum, throughout their
entire length, were reddened within, and ecchymoses were freely dis-
tributed over their whole interior. The liver and gall bladder were
normal.

The si)loen was dark colored, soft, and thrice its natural size. The
kidneys were somewhat congested, and the urinary bladder, though

138 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

presenting? no abnoiinal ai)pearance of its coats, was distended with
bloody mine.

Observation IX, Anji'nst 8, 1808. — Small two-year-old steer; the
l»roi)erty ol" .Mr. Frank Peters, Scott townsliip, six miles west of Cliam-
l)ai^n. Had died the i)revions nij^ht, and presented the unnsnal apjtear-
ance of dried, clotted drops of blood, each about the size of an ordinary
drop of water, freely distributed over the neck, tianks, body, and limbs.

Orj>ans of respiration healthy. Heart beginning' to decomiK)se, but
showing no signs of disease. First three stomachs healthy. The fourth
stomach was slightly reddened at its cardiac end; but its folds were
thickly studded with snuill, grayish eminences, having the general
appearance of a vesicular eruption. The color of the mucous surface
of the pyloric antrum was healthy, with the exception of two small,
irregular erosions. The small and the large intestine were entirely free
from congestion or other indications of disease. The liver and gall
bladder w ere sound, and weighed eleven pounds. The spleen was freely
ecchymosed on its surface, soft and enlarged, weighing three and a half
pounds. The kidneys were dark colored, and beginning to decompose.
The bladder was healthy and much distended with bloody urine. The
brain and spinal cord were healthy.

Observation X, August 8, 1808. — Four-year-old cow, belonging to the
same proprietor as the last steer.

On opening the chest it was found that the lungs collapsed imper-
fectly; and that on their dorsal aspect, especially of their posterior
lobes, there was very marked interlobular emphysema.

The external aspect of the heart was normal. Tlie right cavities were
full of dark blood, and indicated cadaveric blood-staiuiug of the endo-
cardium. The left ventricle, also, contained uuich dark blood; and its
free wall, as well as the coluinnaj carnete, was extensively ecchymosed.

The first three stomachs wxre healthy. The fourth w^as the seat of
ramified redness on the mucous folds, at the cardiac end ; and numer-
ous punctiform eminences of yellowish color gave the eruptive appear-
ance, noticed in i)revious post-mortem examinations. The pyloric end
was normal, and free from erosions.

Both the large and the small intestine were (luite normal.

The liver was swollen as the result of decomposition, and the gall-
bladder was distended with normal bile.

The spleen, of a dark purplish tint and friable structure, weighed five
pounds.

TIic kidneys were congested, and the urinary bladder distended with
bloody urine.

On severing the head from the neck, a considerable (puintity of bloody
serum flowed out of the meninges. The cranial contents were somewhat
congested, but otherwise healthy.

Observation XI, ^Vugust 8, 1808. — Three-year-old steer; the property
of Mr. , of Champaign. Killed by division of spinal cord.

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 139

Organs of respiration liealthy.

Heart of normal appearance, with the exception of slight ecchyinoses
in the left ventricle.

Moutli, tauces, gullet, and first three stomachs healthy. Fourth stom-
ach of a dark red color over the folds at the cardiac end, which were
thickly studded with small, circular ecchymoses ; and, wherever these
congregated, the epithelium was detached, and the membrane exposed
of a brownish red color.

Many of the isolated ecchymoses had abrasions in their centers ; and
the red areol* around the erosions sometimes spread out irregularly.
The abraded surface, in various parts, had the green contents of the
stomach iirraly adhering to them. The pyloric end was, to great extent,
free from congestion, but was studded witli erosions and zigzag fissures.

Three of the abraded spots were much larger than the rest, extending
to an inch and a half, and one to three inches, in length, by an inch and
an inch and a half in breadth.

Over the larger abrasions a scab had formed, to which the food was
adherent. The irregular nlcers of the edges were red, but fiat, and with-
out tending to thickening or erosions.

The small intestine was congested throughout the fundus of the
cfecum, of a deep red color; and over the whole mucons surface of the
colon there was ramified redness.

In the rectum there was blood extravasation in the substance of the
mucous membrane, along the margin of the longitudinal folds.

The liver and gall bladder weighed twenty-one and a half pounds, but
offered no sign of morbid lesion, beyond fatty change in the gland.

The spleen, .of a dark color, with softened pulp, weighed five and a half
pounds.

Tlie kidneys were turgid with blood, and the urinary bladder much
distended by bloody urine.

The cerebrospinal centers were healthy.

Observation XII, August 11, 18G8.— Eed cow ; the property of L. E.
Hastings, Chicago. This cow had 'been sick about a week, and was
killed, by effusions of blood, for the purpose of dissection.

The organs of respiration, the organs of deglutition, and first stomach
were healthy. The second stomach contained many foreign objects, such
as nails and wires; and one considerable piece of iron wire perforated
the fundus. The mucous membrane was of a dull, dirty-red color over
its whole surface.

The third stomach was healthy. The fourth stomach, reddened at its
cardiac end, was studded, over the whole of its transverse folds, with
grayish-yellow eminences of the size of an ordinary pin's head, as ])re-
viously described. The pyloric eiul was also somewhat congested, but
studded throughout with irregular idcers, four of which were of consid-
erable size, and near the intestinal opening. There was ramified red-

140 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

ness tliroii^^liout the whole of the mucous membrane of tlie small intes-
tine.

The ileocolic; valve was ecchymosed, and ecchymoses were scattered
over the whole fundus of the ca'cum. The inner lining of the colon and
rectum was con.i;ested. The liver and gall bladder appeared generally
healthy, with the exception of some congestion of the gland and fatty
degeneration. The spleen was much enlarged and thicker in the center
than iu any previously examined case. It weighed seven and one-half
pounds.

Organs of respiration healthy. The heart was slightly ecchymosed on
its outer surface. The right cavities were full of frothy blood, and ecchy-
mosed on the free wall.

The left ventricle was empty, and infiltrations of blood in and beneath
the endocardium existed on the fleshy pillars and the septum.

The kidneys were much congested. On cutting into the pelvis of each
kidney, the mucous lining was found densely studded with ecchymoses,
as seen in the illustration.*

The bladder was filled with dark urine. The mucous lining was dot-
ted all over with small, veiniilion, punctiform ecchymoses, as delineated
iu plate. The uterus was studded over its horns with small ecchymotic
spots, similar to those on the inner surface of the bladder, as indicated
by plate. The cerebral meninges were slightly congested, and the
arachnoid sac contained an excess of serum. The gray matter of the
medulla oblongata was reddened. On cutting into the cerebellum its
gray centers were found ecchymosed, and similar well-marked extrava-
sations of blood existed in the gray matter of the crura cerebri. In other
respects the brain appeared healthy.

Observation XIII, August 12, 1SG8. — Red and white cow ; the prop-
erty of Mr. King, of Bridgeport; was killed by effusion of blood. The
organs of resi)iratiou were found health3\ The heart was of normal size,
but slightly ecchymosed at the apex, and the outer surface of the left
auricular appendix was of a uniform dark blood color, as seen in plate.

The organs of deglutition and the rumen were healthy. The mucous
membrane of the reticulum was throughout of a dull, port-wine color.
The third stomach was normal. The fourth stomach was the seat of
diffuse redness throughout, with an irregular abrasion near the pylorus.
The small intestine was reddened in every part, and the large intestine
ecchymosed in the caecum, and towards the end of the rectum.

The liver and gall bladder were healthy. The spleen was at least four
times its natural size, of a dark purplish tint, and its structure disinte-
grated.

Tlie kidneys were dark col<)re<l ami congested. The bladder enor-
mously distended with bloody urine. The brain and its meninges gave

*Tliis iiiid till! fdllowiiijf lutticfs reior t(» tli<! luicroiihoto^riiplis iii;i<li' under tlicdiivc-
tion of I'nvi't Liciifcnant CohnuAJ.J. Woodward, UniU-d States army, which arc not
published iu this edition of the report.

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 141

signs of intense congestion, and the puncta vascnlosa of the cerebrum
were very marked.

Observation XIY, August 13, ISGS. — Red steer ; the property of Mr.
Joseph Heath, near Oxford ; killed for dissection.

Organs of respiration healthy. Heart healthy and free from petechiii".
The mouth, pharynx, ojsophagus, and tirst three stomachs were found
healthy. The cardiac end of the fourth stomach was of a deep red color,
some of the folds ecchymosed, and some of the dark centers of the ec-
chymoses had sloughed. The pyloric end was much less congested,
but its entire surface more or less abraded.

The exposed vascular membrane was of a dark red color, and the food
firmly adhering to it.

Both small and large intestine indicated some congestion of the
mucous lining.

The liver was considerably enlarged, much engorged with blood, ami
was fatty.

The spleen weighed five and a half i^ounds, was dark in color, and
friable in consistence.

The kidneys were congested, and the bladder largely distended with
bloody urine.

Observation XV, August 14,1868. — Red steer; the property of same
owner ; also killed for dissection.

With the exception of slight ecchymoses of the pleura on the anterior
lobe of the left lung, the organs of respiration offered no indications of
disease.

The heart was of normal size, but appeared more flabby than in health.
The right cavities contained a little fluid blood, and the columnae car-
neiTB of the ventricle were slightly ecchymosed. The blood-staining of
the endocardium was much marked on the fleshy pillars of the left ven-
tricle.

The organs of deglutition, the first, the second, and the third stom-
ach, were quite healthy. The fourth stomach not quite so much con-
gested as usual, but its cardiac folds were studded with very numerous
ecchymoses, many of which were perforated in their centers. The pylo-
ric end was also somewhat congested, but the erosions were more marked
and extensive than on the transverse folds of the cardiac end. Xear
the i)yloric opening were several small ulcers, to the surface of M4iich
the gastric contents had adhered.

In the intestines, the only lesions discoA^ered were a number of puncti-
form ecchymoses in the rectum, especially near the anus.

The liver Avas fatty, much engorged with blood, and appeared greatly
increased in size.

Tlie spleen weighed four and a half pounds, was of a dark color, and
its structure softened.

The kidneys were of a deep red'color, and the bladder much distended

142 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

by l)l()o(ly miiu'. The mucous surface of the bladder was studded all
over with small i)ete('hije of a vermilion hue, as seen in other cases.

Observation XVI, August L*(), 180S. — lied steer: at slaughter-house, in
Bri(lge])()rt.

Organs of resi)iration healthy.

Heart tirm and of normal size, was slightly ecchymosed at the apex,
aud on tlic fleshy pillars of the left ventricle. Organs of deglutition
and the tirst stomach sound. The fourth stomach was slightly riMldencd
at the cardiac end; two small erosions, about one-third of an inch in
length, existed uear the pylorus, where the membrane generally was of
normal color.
/ The intestines were healthy.

The liver aud gall bladder, to all appearance, normal.

The spleen, of a dark color, weighed four and a half pounds ; but its
structure had undergone little change, was firm, and of a brighter red
than any previously examined in splenic fever. The appearance of this
spleen is shown in plate.

The kidneys were slightly congested, and, on cutting into the pelves,
SJine bright ecehymoses were found, as if in the earliest stage of blood
exbravascition in these structures. The bladder contained a moderate
quantity of clear-colored urine, but was slightly ecchymosed uear its
ueck. The cerebrospinal centers healthy.

Observation XVII, August 21, 18G8. — Eed cow; examined at St.
Louis. Killed by effusiou of blood. Eespiratory passages heal th3^ On
opening the thorax the lungs were found pale, and only partially col-
lapsed.

The posterior lobe of the right lung was the seat of extensive inter-
lobular emphysema. On the anterior aud the middle lobes were several
scattered patches of congestion, corresponding to congested lobules,
within which were simple reddened, not solidified, globules, and they
floated on water.

The heart, of normal size and consistence, was slightly ecchymosed
on the anterior aud the posterior ventricalar furrows. Internally the
right cavities, containing a little fluid blood, were healthy; but the left
was tinged by ecchymotic spots on the fleshy pillars of ventricle.

The mouth, pharynx, gullet, and first three stomachs, were healthy.
The fourth stomach was reddened at its cardiac end, and its folds stud-
ded all over with ecchymoses. This condition Avas kindly and most
accurately reproduced in a water-color sketch, by C. V. liiley, esq., State
entomologist.

The small intestine was the seat of ramified redness throughout. In
the ciccum, in a line with the nuiscous folds, the blood extravasations
which had occurred were of a dark rusty color; and similar changes
were seen in the rectum.

The liver and gall bladder, much congested, weighed twenty-five
pounds. In the liver were old atlhesions, and some deposits of yellow

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEYER OF CATTLE. 143

jxranalar lympli, near the surface, extending in one instance to half an
inch in depth. There was also marked evidence of fatty degeneration.

The gall bladder was the seat of extensive, ramified redness on its
inner surface.

The spleen, of a dark purplish tint, weighed six and a half pounds.
Wherever an incision was made, its softened pulp exuded without pres-
sure.

The kidneys, paler than usual in this disease, weighed three and one-
quarter pounds. They were free from ecchymoses.

The urinary bladder was much distended with bloody urine.

The cerebrospinal meninges were intenselj" congested.

The gray matter of the brain was'reddened, and the ijuncta vasculosa
in the oval centers A^ery marked.

Observation XVIII, August 21, 1868. — Black steer ; the property of
Messrs. Palmer and Perry. Died during the day. Post-mortem exam-
ination at 6 p. m. Respiratory passages normal ; cadaveric congestion
of left lung. On opening the pericardium, the heart was found exten-
sively ecchymosed at the base of the right ventricle, and over the origin
of the pulmonary artery. The right cavities contained a little dark,
semi-tluid blood. The left side was nearly empty, but on the columnfe
earner of the ventricle there was a dark piuplish tint of the endocardium
from extensive extravasations of blood in and beneath its structure.
The digestive organs anterior to the true stomach were sound. The car-
diac end of the abomasum was of a diffuse red color. The mucous
membrane of the pyloric end was of normal color, wherever it was not
eroded, but it was studded witli between twenty and thirty abrasions
of the epithelium, exposing the vascular membrane in patches varying
from oue-fourtli to one and one-half inch in length, and usually longer
than broad. The duodenum was turgid with bile. The jejunum was
extensively ecchymosed on its inner surface. The large intestine healthy,
except some extravasation on the rectal folds.

The liver and gall bladder, of general normal look, but congested,
weighed twenty-seven pounds. The gall bladder was distended by
inspissated bile. The gland itself was softened by fatty change. The
spleen, dark and softened, weighed seven and one-fourth pounds. The
kidneys were intensely congested, but not ecchymosed. The bladder
was full to repletion of bloody urine, but its coats were normal. Dark-
ness precluded the examination of tlie brain and spinal cord.

Observation XIX, August 20, 1808. — Two-year-old roan steer; the prop-
erty of Mr. Richard Callahan, near Abilene. Organs of resinration healthy.
Heart flabby and blood-stained on the posterior ventricular furrow. In-
terior of right side unchanged, but on the septum, and fleshy pillars in
the left ventricle, were extensive ecchymoses.

On opening the abdomen the peritoneum was found studded with
punctiform ecchymoses.

Organs of deglutition and first three stomachs normal. The cardiac

144 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

end of tlio fourth stoinach was intensely reddened, and its folds marked
by zi<;zn<; lissuresor ulcteratious, in the center of which were black scabs,
with adherent food. The])yloricend was of more normal color, but four
ulcers, about one-half inch broad, and of irregular shape, existed in its
jniddle; and at the pyloric end was a larger spot of idceration, about
one inch in length.

The duodenum was much congested on its minor surface, and diffuse
redness pervaded the mucous membrane of the jejunum and ileum. In
various parts of the latter were snmll, dark petechiie.

The mucous membrane of the whole of the large intestine was of a
dark red color, and the excrement in the rectum was tinged with blood.
Through the whole of the longitudrnal mucous folds extravasations of
blood had occurred. The liver and gall bladder weighed seventeen and
one-half pounds, and ai)peared healthy. The bile in the gall bladder
was thick. The spleen was very dark in color, its pulp soft, and general
weight live and one-half pounds.

The kidneys were much congested, and the mucous membrane of each
pelvis spotted with dark ecchymoses.

In the peritoneal cul de sac, around the bladder and rectum, were
numerous bright ecchymoses. The bladder was full of bloody urine,
and its mucous lining extensively dotted with small blood spots, of a
vermilion hue.

On severing the head from the neck, a large quantity of serum flowed
from the meninges. The meninges were dark, and of the general color
of the gray matter of the cord, and the brain was much redder than in
health.

Observation XX, September 5, 18GS. — Three-year-old red-and-white
cow ; the property of Dennis Doran, Brighton, near Chicago, This cow
had died during the preceding night, and was dissected at 3 p. m. on
the 5th. There was no sign of decomposition, and the internal organs
were still warm.

The organs of respiration were healthy.

Heart and pericardium sound, and free from ecchymoses.

Organs of deglutition and iirst stomach healthy. Secoiul stomach of a
dull red hue in its inner lining. Third stomach normal. Fourth stom-
ach of a dark red color at its cardiac end, with various ecchymoses, and
half a dozen small, circumscribed spots where the e])ithelium had been
thrown oH", and the dark red vas<;ular membrane exposed.

The general color of the lining in the antrum i)yhn'i, was much less
intensely red than in the transverse folds, but was the seat of several
erosions.

The pyloric gland had a zigzag ulcer on its summit.

The small intestine was the seat of ramihed redness. In the large
intestine the longitudinal mucous folds were all reddened along their
free margins, by blood extravasation.

The liver was sound, but the gall bladder thickened by serous iufiltra-

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 145

tiou; and its mucous lining indicated the ramifications of tlie lesser arte-
ries and veins, wliicli were gorged with blood.

The spleen weighed six and a third i>ounds, was of a dark purplish
tint, and its pulp softened.

The kidneys congested, but not ecchymosed.

The urinary bladder distended by bloody urine.

The broad ligaments of the uterus were thickly studded with ecchy-
moses of a bright arterial huej cerebro-spinal centers not examined.

10

14G

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

TABLKS OF WKKillT OK THH LTVHR AM) SIM.EKN, ITICALTIIY AND DISKASED, OF CATTLE
EXAMINED AND UEFEllKED TO IN THE KEI'OKTS OF I'UOF-^SSOll GAMGEE.

August 26 to August 30.

CHEROKEE Sl'LrKNS.

2i

2i

2J

24

2

2i

23

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

21

2

o

2t

2

2i

2

24

24

2i

2i

24

24

24

24

24

o

2

2i

2

2i

2i

24

2}

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

2.1

2i

2}

2i

24

2}

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

2*

24

24

2t

2i

^\

2i

2i

2i

24

3

24

2+

24

24

24

2^-

24

24

2i

21

2i

2.i

2i

24

2

24

24

24

2.!

24

24

24

24

24

2i

2.V

f>

:h

3

2*

ol

Hk

2

24

24

24

3

34

24

24

24

2

O

2.V

2i

2

24

t>

24

24

2

24

24

24

-4

Total

301 J

2.36

TEXAN SPLEENS.

3k

34

3

2^

21

24

24

24

24

3

34

3

24

24

3

2

24

3

34

24

2

24

24

24

3

34

24

2

24

24

24

24

24

24

3

24

24

2

2

24

2

3

34

3

2

24

2

24

34

34

34

34

34

3

24

34

3

34

3^

34

3

24

34

34

3

34

34

34

24

24

24

3

24

3

24

24

3

24

3i

24

3

34

34

3

3

3

4

9i

24

34

3

24

24

24

24

34

24

3

34

24

2i

24

o]-

34

24

2*

34

24

3

2

3

34

24

2i

24

24

24

34

34

■M

34

24

3

3i

24

3

34

34

24

24

24

34

34

2.'.

24

34

24

2

24

3

24

2

34

3

24

24

3

24

2

24

24

3

34

34

4

34

34

34

34

4

34

24

24

24

24

34

34

34

34

34

4

24

34

34

2.',

24

24

24

Si-

34

3.V

3

nx

24

24

24

3

Totnl

530

2.83

NATIVE SPLEENS.

Native cattle.

MALE.

14

ii

u

■ 14

14

14

li

U

14

14

14

14

U

14

14

14

1^

u

14

14

14

14

u

14

14

li

1

14

14

J4

14

1 '■

14

14

14

14

1 L

14

H

14

14

14

14

i4

14

U

14

14

14

14

14

14

14

U

li

14

14

U

14

U

14

14

14

]4

U

U

14

U

14

14

14

U

14

IJ

u

14

14

14

n

14

U

2

14

14

14

14

14

U

14

14

14

U

U

14

1.^

14

li

U

1.4-

14

li

14

14

li

14

14

14

14

14

14

14

14

14

u

14

14

14

14

14

14

14

Total .

....

183^

Avcr'c

......

1.38

a

CO

09

Vj

a

33

G

t

Date.

o

e

Date.

V

i-

Date.

<D

Date.

o

'H.

>

c.

E*

"2,

."Z.

"H.

t»

10

05

J

tx

^ \

m

3

Sept. 8

1

Sept. 9 . . . .

1

9

Sept. 9....

14

12

Sept. 10..

11

li

11

14

10

14

10 i

12

1

9

2

10

14

13 1

o

10

Sept. 9

14

14

1

8

li

15

9

o

15

14

9

1

12

8

li

15

14

10

1

13

12

ij

13

14

9

0

14

10

11

^

U

13

f

5

2

17

11

2

13

1

8

li

13

VJ

o

13

14

10

14

13

13

o

12

1

6

Sept. 10..

14

9

11

14

10

U

10

1

8 !

13

14

13

1

8

14

8

11

2

13

2

14

U

10

1-,'

u

11

1

9

14

11

\\

12

U

12

11

9

li

9 1

o

10

14

10

o

8

li

1« (

it

1

!)

1

9

14

10

l.'i

1

8

14

12

U

11

o

11

14

10

14

9

14

11 !

1

12

NoTi;.— R.v the tiTiii "native," as npplir-d to cattle or their diseased organs, is meant not hidigenouf
cattle not ruined iu districts whence the inlectiou originated.

bat

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

Native cattle — Continued.

147

MALE.

m

TZi

OQ

a

OQ

a

e£

a

■A

c

T-

Date.

>

Date.

"a.

>

Date.

CJ

o

p.

>

Date.

—

>

m

3

OD

J

m

3

m

3

Sept. TO ...

o

16

Sept. li ...

u

13

Sept. 13-...

li

12

Sept. 14 ...

2i

19

14

13

u

12

li

16

li

12

U

12

u

14

1

8

2

11

2

13

li

16

1

6

li

9

li

12

u

9

li

9

Sept. 15...

H

12

2

13

H

13

li

12

li

16

n

12

li

12

li

9

U

16

2

14

li

12

1

8

li

14

1

9

li

13

li

10

li

15

u

9

li

14

li

14

li

12

u

10

U

12

li

10

li

14

1

10

2

16

1

5

li

13

li

9

2 .

13

li

■8

li

12

1

10

li

14

1

7

1

9

n

11

li

14

Sept. 14...

li

10

1

10

1

10

li

13

li

9

li

12

li

11

1

10

li

10

li

14

1

9

U

12

li

9

li

14

li

12

1

9

li

9

1

10

2i

12

li

14

li

8

li

15

1

8

li

12

li

8

li

12

1

11

n

13

1

6

li

13

1

10

Sept. 13...

u

11

li

11

li

14

1

11

2

12

li

10

li

13

Sept. 11....

1

10

li

13

li

12

li

14

1

10

2

15

li

16

l'

9

U

9

1

11

li

20

1

11

1

11

li

12

li

16

li

12

u

12

2

12

U

13

li

13

1

10

li

12

li

9

1

10

1.^

11

o

15

li

6

2

16

u

11

U

14

li

8

li

13

u

11

2

13

li

16

li

14

H

11

li

10-

li

13

2

16

U

10

U

J6

li

12

li

11

H

9

1

8

li

11

li

13

H

9

1

7

li

8

li

10

2

13

1

6

li

9

li

11

2

16

H

11

li

10

li

13

U

18

li

13

li

10

li

9

H

9

li

12

u

12

1

11

H
2

16
11
14

li
li
H

10
13

7

li
li
li

12
12
12

Total

li

13

375i

2, 959

1

1

10

li

9

13

Average. . .

T46'

11.39

Native cattle — Continued.

FKMALE.

Sept. 8

o

16

Sept. 8

li

12

Sept. 9....

1

16

Sept. 9 . . . .

li

13

li

12

2

15

2

19

li

13

1

15

li

16

1

13

li

14

2

11 ■

2

13

4

li

13

li

12

*

2

14

2i

12

1

14 ■

H

14

li

12

2i

15

li

16

li

10

2

16

o

16

li

14

li

15

li

12

Sept. 9....

li

13

li

9

li

10

2

13

■ li

11

11

12

U

12

T

10

li.

14

li

10

li

10

1

9

U

a

li

10

li

8

li

14

2"

12

li

7

' li

12

1

11

li

12

1

7

1

11

li

15

li

13

u

9

1

11

1

9

li

15

u

10

2i

9

li

16

2

12

li

12

1

10

li

12

U

13

li

10

2

14

2i

10

li

14

2

10

li

11

»

li

11

U

13

li

10

r

8

2

15

1*

16

2i

14

li

11

2

16

li

12

li

9

Sept. 10 . . .

ij

13

2

20

2

20

li

9

1

8

u

14

1

13

li

U

li

10

2

13

1

12

li

13

3

11

148

DErARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Native cattle — Continued.

FKMAI.K.

X

in

X

«

c

r£

a

?°

a

X

a

?■

Date.

.2

Date.

Date.

0.

o

Date.

o

"c.

>

"E

>

"E.

t*

"5. ■

>

05

13

m

s

05

13

OS

ij

Sipt. 10

]■}

9

Sept. 11...

li

13

Sept. 13....

1

11

Sept. 14...

li

9

1

8

li

12

li

13

li

9

1.4

16

li

15

2

16

li

8

n

12

U

16

H

12

li

9

1.V

12

li

12

U

14

li

10

n

12

1

13

1|

12

li

9

u

14

li

12

2

15

li

10

1

8

li

13

1

16

If

17

H

15

li

15

li

16

li

16

ih

U

li

15

1

12

li

12

n

13

li

14

li

15

li

8

u

10

1

17

1

12

li

10

il

12

.

u

14

1

15

li

12

u

14

li

15

1

10

H

1(1

u

12

1

11

1

12

li

la

H

13

1

12

1

10

1

6

1*

15

1*

13

U

12

1

5

r

9

li

15

2"

15

•li

9

li

12

u

13

If

16

li

IS

H

13

li

14

2 .

13

If

18

li

8

If

14

li

13

li

14

u

10

Ji

15

1

U

li

16

u

12

li

13

li

12

li

14

1

7

1

10

1

12

li

10

2

10

li

14

li

12

li

12

1 +

13

li

12

1

12

li

10

U

7

li

10

1

12

li

8

H

8

li

16

1

12

li

10

li

9

1

7

1

10

li

10

u

11

1

6

f

1;;.'

li

10

ll

10

li

15

1

10

li

10

li

13

u

16

1

12

If

15

2

16

li

14

1

9

li

14

1

8

li

13

1

12

1

5

1

8

u

14

U

12

f

4

u

11

li

12

If

13

li

13

u

16

1

9

1

13

If

15

u

10

li

15

li

10

li

10

li

11

1

8

li

12

li

8

H

10

u

16

li

11

li

9

u

9

li

16

li

10

li

10

n

13

li

14

1

11

li

9

1

8

u

10

2

11

li

8

u

14

li

15

U

12

li

10

1

8

li

12

1

11

2

19

u

12

li

15

1

12

If

17

li

12

li

12

2

14

li

18

H

11

li

14

li

10

li

11

li

11

1

9

li

10

li

12

li

11

1

11

1

8

li

14

u

14

li

12

li

9

li

G

2

10

li

H

1

S

li

9

1.1-

16

2

If!

li

12

If

10

li

7

li

14

r

6

.

li

16

1

10

li

13

1

6

li

y

2

16

1

10

li

15

li

8

o

10

2

11 1

1

8

li

12

1

11

li

13

li

10

li

10

2

16

li

14

li

9

li

9

1.'.

16

2

16

Sept. 14...

li

9

li

8

:!

13

li

12

1

6

1

5

1

11

U

13

1

5

1

6

1

8

U

10

li

8

li

q

li

16

n

11

li

9

li

12

2

16

li

13

r

6

li

14

2i

16

H

9

li

11

1

5

H

16

li

11

li

10

1

«

o

14

H

11

n

8

li

12

li

14

li

13

li

9

li

20

li

15

n

13

li

10

If

21

I

12

\

10

1

41

li

10

1

14

li

12

1

6

li

9

1

12

li

13

11

10

n

8

li

13

li

14

2

16

li

9

Id

14

li

14

o

21

lA

10

Sopt. 11....

1

9

li

16

li

18

li

11

Ji

11

li

12

li

22

li

13

li

12

li

10

u

10

li

14

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

149

Native cattle — Continned.

FEMALE.

QC

w

M

X

a

33

a

00

a

so

a

;ja

Date.

3
>

Date.

"H,

Date.

Date.

'a

3
>

CO

2

05

3

m

»J

m

'\A

Sept. 14

H

15

Sept. 15...

u

11

Sept. 15....

2

12

Sept. 18....

11

J-4

16

U

16

1

12

li

13

12

n

17

n

9

1

10

13

Sept. 15

u

14

n

14

li

9

li

15

n

12

2

15

2

11

12

u

12

u

11

2

12

10

u

12

1

12

li

13

li

12

u

12

1

12

n

15

]i

13

u

11

n

15

0

13

14

u

14

1

11

u

15

11

1

12

•

u

11

2

10

-14

13

1

9

11

12

2

10

li

15

^?r

11

H

12

2i

12

10

H

12

2i

13

1

10

ji

11

u

8

1

11

li

12

11
J 4

10

li

14

»

U

10

2

10

H

11

]f

10

U

12

1

12

1 1_
■1 4

12

1

12

H

11

li

U

10.

13

2

15

H-

10

Sept. 10...

li

14

1 J.

J 4

9

1

12

%

U

11

2

16

li

10

1

12

o

13

li

17

IV

10

1

12

2i

13

li

16

12

u

12

1

9

li

15

10

1

12

H

11

li

• 15

li

1)

u

12

o

12

li

17

^4

12

li

11

1

11

li

17

]i

10

1

12

1

11

li

12

li

14

1

12

n

13

"li

13

15

1

11

H

11

li

13

i4

14

1

11

u

12'

1

14

li

15

u

12

u

12

li

14

17

1

9

If

13

]

13

16

o

11

1

11

li

14

li

14

h

13

H

U

li

13

li

13

1

12

1

13

li

14

12

H

10

n

12

li

14

11

U

12

1

10

li

15

li

13

1

10

li

12

U

15

15

li^

12

1

8

li

17

10

1

13

1

10

1

14

U

o

15

1

11

1

14

li

13

2

12

1

9

1

13

In-

12

1*

13

1

IL

li

13

14

]*

12

1

10

o

15

14

1*

13

u

11

li

12

li

13

u

14

u

15

1

13

12

H

14

li

J3

li

15

13

li

14

H

14

li

12

12

U

12

2

15

li

13

13

1

16

H

15

li

14

15

n

14

1

H

1

13

17

u

14

1.1-

12

1

15

li

15

2

16

li

16

li

13

14

• u

14

o

Ifi

li

13

12

u

13

U

11

I

10

i ii

13

u

14

2

12

1

13

14

li»

12

. U

11

li

14

15

li

10

2

12

1

13

li

14

1*

10

2i

13

li

12

15

1

10

2

12

li

13

li

14

1

10

H

14

li

14

li

15

U

11

2

12

1

13

17

li

13

2i

13

li

12

16

u

13

n

11

1

12

U

14

2

14

2

12

1

13

li

13

1

13

2

11

li

14

12

u

13

H

12

1

11

11

];,

13

1

10

1

10

n

13

n

12

1.V

12

i

14

li

14

*

H

13

2"

10

2

15

15

i'

12

H

11

2

13

10

u

13

U

11

li

12

li

11

u

13

2

10

li

14

li

13

H

12

U

u

1

15

14

1

10

2

10

Sept. 18...

li

13

11

1

11

H

8

li

16

U

1

10

1

14

li

14

li

12

• n

10

li

10

li

U

13

H

11

U

8

2

17

14

150

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Native cattle — Continued.

KKMALK.

tn

CO

on

ja

P

=;

a

i"

a

OS

B

»

Date.

Date.

<0

Date.

0}

Date.

0)

a.

>

"o.

f

"o.

>

'H.

>

02

s

CO

u

K

]2

00

'2

Sept. 18

1*

13

Sept.l&&20.

n

12

Sept.l8&,20.

u

10

Sept. 24...

1

14

1

12

1

10

1

11

1

16

1

13

u

12

li

12

15

14

1

12

u

10

2

13

1

9

H

11

u

12

U

16

11

10

2

15

n

11

li

15

U

12

1

16

2

9

1

14

1

10

U

14

li-

11

l-i

16

li

12

r

13

2

12

1

12

u

10

1

12

H

13

11

.10

li

13

I

15

1

12

li

11

If

13

1

17

U

13

1

13

1

12

1

16

n

12

11

8

11

12

U

13

2

10

n

10

11

13

li

14

If

11

H

12

1

10

1

12

H

13

li

14

li

12

1*

14

1

12

Ji

16

If

13

1

15

u

10

u

10

If

9

u

14

1

10

11

13

11

10

H

15

IJ

12

11

• 12

1

9

2

16

2

9

1

13

11

14

2

17

u

10

u

15

li

12

n

13

1

12

H

14

11

13

2

11

u

13

11

10

11

14

]

15

n

11

11

12

1

14

1

10

H

12

1

8

li

10

1

9

1

10

11

12

u

10

H

13

li

13

11

10

li

14

1

11

2

10

U

12

If

9

1

11

2i

12

11

12

1

8

H

12

H

9

li

10

If

11

1

13

1

11

li

9

2

12

1

14

1

8

11

13

11

13

H

13

li

11

li

12

11

10

1

12

2

12

li

14

li

12

2

17

n

11

u

16

11

14

2

14

2

9

u

15

11

10

H

14

u

10

11

13

11

12

1+

14

u

12

1

10

1

11

1

12

li

13

11

12

li

16

1

13

H

12

11

9

11

10

H

11

1

11

li

13

11

15

2

15

U

10

1

10

li

10

1

16

2

9

11

11

1

12

u

14

U

12

1

10

11

14

1

13

1

14

If

8

li

10

1

12

u

11

1

9

li

15

u

14

1

10

1.1

10

11

15

o

17

11

8

u

13

li

11

H

15

2

9

u

15

1

14

]i

17

11

10

11

16

u

16

u

14

li

13

9

21

1

11

li

13

11

12

Sept. 24...

1^

■ 16

u

15

2

17

u

10

1

15

1

10

u

14

u

12

H

16

11

12

1

15

o

14

U

17

1}

14

2

13

Jl

10

1

16

ft

n

16

u

11

u

16

11

15

11

15

H

14

u

11

1

13

1

14

U

15

11

12

11

15

11

15

1

11

1

10

1

16

it

](i

Sept. 18 & SO

2

13

11

11

11

15

U

14

H

15

1

9

11

15

1

14

U

9

2

12

1

14

11

15

]i

8

11

13

11

12

11

12

H

8

1

8

11

14

1

13

1

9

11

10

1

15

11

14

1*

10

u

12

11

15

li

14

1

9

2

14

li

12

Total

1

15

2

13

11

13

U

10

1*1

16

H
li

12
14
13

11
11
u

10

1

li

11

9

1 Averngo . .

10

12

12
14

8
12

1,4411

12, 36 If

1. 423

12.214

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

Native cattle — Continued.

151

MALE AND FEMALE.

X

1 i

X

a

f-

s

DC

a

i"

p

tc

Date.

a)

Date.

Date.

Date.

3

■q.

.-

>

"S.

.-

>

oo

^

m

3

m

hJ

!»

J

August 20..

1

]2

August 20.

1

9

Sept. 2....

li

12

Sept. 2

2

11

u

14

n

11

li

14

2

12i!

2

Qi

1

8i

li

14

2

9"

H

1.3'

1

14

2

16

2

10

1

15

1

12

li

15

li

11

U

16

u

14

li

14

li

11

2

9i

H

12

li

14

li

12

2

14

U

9

li

15

li

12

2*

13

ll

12

li

14

Sept. 3....

2

10

]«

12

1

14

u

15

4

9

]2

1

12

1:V

13

2i

13

13

li

9

li

15

2i

16

li

13

1

12

li

16

2}

10

12

u

13

1

Hi

2

10

li

14

2

14

2

9i

2

11

2

12

2

16

li-

Hi

2i

13

2

13

2

18

li

11

2i

15

2

15

U

9i

u

12

2i

15

u

18

1

14

li

12

2

10

H

16

U

15

IJ

U

U

U

1

12

1

12

H

12

ll

13

1

9i

If

16

li

10

2

12

H

14

1

12

li

11

2

12

1

12

u

15

2

12

2i

13

1

81

1

14

2

13

2i

14

U

12

1

15

2

10

3

14

1

12

1

12

1.^

9

3

13

U

14

1

9

li

9i

2i

14

1

1.5

u

8

1

9

2i

12

1

16

1

12

1

9^

U

10

1

12

J

8i

2

12

li

8

2

9

*

8

2

10

li

8

2

10

1

9

2

11

li

7

li

14

n

9J

2i

12

1

10

1

15

1

12

9

U

9

u

13

1

12

11

12

n

9

1

14

Sept, 2....

1

16

10

li

12

1

12

u

18

13

2

10

2

13

li

14

»

9i

^1

9

I

9

2

20

11

u

9

u

12

H

14

12

li

VS{

1

14

]

13

li

10

2

11

2

15

H

12

li

11

2

12

2

17

U

14

2'

ICi

2i

12

1

14

li

13

2

11

li

12

1

13

1

14

2

12

1*

12

u

14

2

20

1

11

1

11

1

15

U

14

1

12

2

12

1

16

2

20

li

10

2i

10

u

16

u

14

1

Hi

2}

9

1

14

1

13

li

12

2

s

li

15

u

12

li

13

2

10

1

12

u

14

1

11

2i

11

1

13

u

13

li

10

li

12

1

14+

1

13

1

9i

' 2

9

u

9

H

14

1

9

o

10

u

12

H

12

1

8i

2i

9

2

14

1

16

li

9'

2

10

2

15

U

13

li

8i

2

11

u

16

H

14

1

8

2

12

2

17

1

14

1

8.^

2

11

li

16

H

14

li

9-

Sept. 4....

li

14

li

12

1

13

li

8i

li

12

u

10

U

15

li

8

li

14

]J

12

u

18

\

8

li

14

1

16

u

14

li

9<.

n

12

2

18

u

17

1

10"

li

10

Ji

16

li

13

li

10

11

14

li

12

u

18

1

11

li

14

1

12

u

16

1

U

li

16

2

10

\

n

14

li

11

li

14

1

12

li

14

1

10

1}

14

u

13

2

19

li

12

lA

12

1

14

U 1

18

2

9i

2'

14

1

15

1

13

2

12

li

13

li

16

i..^

14

li

10

3

18

1

12

u

14

1

lOi

li

14

u

14

li

14

li

11

li

12

152

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Native catllr — Coiil iiiucil.

MALK AND FE.MAI.K.

X

X

X

m

S

£

?

£

S

t 1

a

00

Date.

©

V

Date.

0^

o

Date.

o

Date.

0)

CJ

>

>

"S.

"a.

O.

"o.

«3

"

r/i

ij

cc

2

w

'^

Sept. 4

14

Sept. 7

H

lU

Sept. 7....

2i

8

Sept. 10. ..

u

Hi

Sept. C

1

]()

li

11"

1

16

11

12

li

14

li

Hi

li

15

li

15

I

15

li

12

2

20

li

15

u

18

1

12

li

18

li

14^

u

16

\\

Hi

li

14 ;

1

12

u

15

li

11

1

12

1

1",

li

14

li

12

li

16

li

9^

u

17

li

13

li

14

H

13

u

14

li

10

li

15

li

13

li

15

2

11

li

18

1

13

li

14

2

10

1

13

1

9

li

15

li

12

li

14

2

9^

li

18

li

10

U

15

U

15i

li

17

1

11

li

18

li

11

li

17

li

12

li

14

li

12

2

I'i

li

lU

li

14

li

13

li

!■*

1

12

li

17

li

93

2

13

li

13

li

15

1

15

li

14

li

9i

li

14

1

8

U

10

li

12

2

18

li

13

2.i

H

li

lOi

i'i

17

li

12

li

10

O

9i

li

15

u

12

li

lU

h

lOi

li

17

2

15

li

Hi

li

u

1

16

2

\%\

1

i^i

1

12

li

14

li

\\\

2i

Hi

li

10

li

18

H

12

2

r.ii

1

i'i

li

15

I

14

li

VJ

u

10

*

14

li

13

1

10

1

12i

Sept. 9....

li

lOi

. 2"

12^

li

11

li

13

1

11

1

12

2

9

li

11

2

12

1

13

<)

H

o

13

li

13

li

14

u

Hi

*-4

13

u

15

A.

10

li

11

o

11

1

14i

2

15

li

13

li

12

0

]2i

*

li

10

li

9.i

1

11

1

13

li

14

2

lOi

li

12

li

9i

li

13

2

9i

1

11

li

15

li

lOJ

li

13

\h

10

li

11

11

H

li

m

1

10

li

13

li

12

li

10

1

12

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14

2

13

1

in

li

13

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2i

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1

H

1

10

IJ

15

11

15

li

11

U

12

u

12

li

9

li

10

1

9i

li

15

o

8i

13

m

li

12

2

14i

Ti

11

li

1!4

li

13

2

15

li

12

li

11

li

11

li

lOi

li

13

2

15}

2

10

1

12

li

11

li

11

li

11

li

13

2

14

2

13

2*

12

1

15i

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15

li

13

li

15

li

10

li

14

H

lU

3

13

li

12

li

lOJ

li

11'

2

10

li

Hi

2

15

2

Hi

3

15

li

14i

li

13

2

12

li

13

li

16

li

IH

li

9i

Si

14

S.-pt. 10...

li

12

ij

13

li

yi

li

16

1!

13

li

12

li

9}

li

13

li

14

It

13

li

9

o

10

1

Hi

Sept. ]1...

1

10

li

9i

2i

10

li

if

li

13

1

9

2J

11

li

10,

i

8

2

10

2i

12

li

9

1

14

Ti

12

li

11

li

14

1

9

Sept. 7

1

a

2

13

1

10

li

13

11

1(1

2

15

li

12

li

12

1

12

3

10

1

10

1

13

1

i:i

li

10

<)

12

2

9

M

10

li

13

2i

11

1

11

1}

10}

li

16

o

12

H

13

li

Hi

li

13

li

14

1

14

o

8

li

12

1

10

1

14

2i

li

Pi
I'-'i

'i

13

10

li

u

15
15

li

15
10

li

12

2

11

1

11

2

16

U

JO

2

13

')

9

1

14

li

9

3

15

1

H

13

1

15

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

Native cattle — Contiiinecl.

MALE AND FEMALE.

153

X

OQ

a

p

a

rfi

CD

^

Date.

ft-
>

Date.

0!

o
>

Date.

U2

2

Date.

1

"S.

>
2

Sept. 11....

H

13

Sept. 14...

1

15

Sept. 14...

U

14

Sept. 14...

14

15

li

16

]i

10

li

10

lA

14

1

9

u

9i-

1

15

1

14

J

10

U

14

14

16

u

15

li

13

2

16

1

14

14

13

u

14

2

15

14

13

1

94

1

12

24

15

14

14

o

12

1

14

U

12

2

12

H

14

1

15

14

14

24

13

14

15

U

13

U

94

24

16

1

16

H

16

14

9

14

10

i

84

1

9

2

16

U

11

1

12

i

10

1

12

li

10

1

14

U

13

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13

2

12

1

12

2

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14

2

14

1

14

2

12

2i

13

U

15

2

12

2

11

2

14

1

12

14

14

1*

13

U

15

2

10

U

94

H

14

14

15

1

14

1

12

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15

li

14

u

12

14

12

li

13

li

12

IJ

10

2

94

U

14 •

1

10

1

9

1

114

1

15

li

14

J

8

2

12

U

11

1

12

f

8

2

14

u

10

1

13

1

12

1

14

1

164

1-^

'.14

14

15

14

14

2

12

14

104

2

94

1

15

1

13

2

12

1

14

H

13

1

14

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13

14

15

2

14

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12

2"

12

1

12

1

14

U

14

U

15

14

114

1

15

H

lU

U

16

i

8

2

13

2

13

r

17

1

11

2

14

u

14

1

14

u

10

Sept. 15....

1

14

H

15

1

9

14

14

\h

15

]+

12

14

14

2

9

li

16

2

10

1

16

24

94

1

17

1

11

1

12

1

11

1

94

H

12

li

15

U

12

li

14

U

13

14

12

li

14

2

94

1

.11

1

14

14

15

2

12

1*

11

2

94

2

94

1

14

l|

19

2

14

2

16"

1

15

u

12

2k

15

1*

12

2

10

H

n

r

12

14

15

2

114

li

11

14

13

14

14

14

14

1*

13

2

15

14

144

14

15

1

84

2.1-

16

u

1!4

1

13

1

13

1

94

2

10

1

15

o

14

14

94

14

94

14

16

1

12

li

9

1

12

2"

12

1

14

14

12

1

14

1

11

1

164

H

15

14

15

1

94

2

12

14

16

14

16

1

14

1

16

o

15

1

12

1

13

14

13

1

14

14

16

li

14

H

14

U

15

14

12

li

16

1

12

l'

16

1

11

\

9

Sept. 14

1

12

H

14

14

9

3

10

U

14

2

94

14

10

1

14

1

15

2

10

14

9

1

12

li

16

14

15

2

12

14

14

H

13

2

13

14

14

1

17

2

U

24

14

1

13

1

11

2

16

14

16

I

12

14

10

1

15

1

14

J

8

14

9

li

12

14

13

1

12

2

11

u

10

2

14

H

14

Tt

9

li

8*

2

14

1

15

24

13

u

16'

1

12

3

9

1

12

u

14

14

13

3

94

1

9

lA-

8

2

14

4

10

2i

13

l"

9

li

15

3

11

2

14

1

8

14

16

34

10

1

15

}

8i

14

12

1

12

1

12

2

19

94

14

14

14

10

1

12

H

14

O

10

1

Hi

1

13

li

12

24

14

1

14

154

DEPARTxMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
Natite ca«/c— Continued.

MALK AND FEMAI.K.

Sept 16

Sept. 23...

Sept. 24..

1
IJ

]

U
11
1

u

1

2

].+

1

n

2

1

II
1

H

1

H

U

1

]*

2

2

If

1

l-i
o

]

U
1
2

u

1
1

i
u
1^

1

u
]

1}-

1

n

1

1

u

1

1

1

1

u

IJ

1

1

1}

u

1

I

u

H

1}

1

2

2

2

n I

o3

Date.

0^

05

3

Sept. 18...

1

14

u

10

I

l.T

u

1(1

1.3
12
]6
34
75
14
15
12
16
15
12
15
]:j
15
14
16
10
9
13
12
14
13
15
12
9l
15
14
13
15
14
13
15
16
13
14
12
16
15
!)*
8
12
14
16
12
13
J5
34
12
15
12
13
15
10
9*
9d
8i
14
15
Vk
12
14
15
9 J
14
!'■}
15
13
14
12
15
16
15
15

I

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.
Native cattle — Continued.

MALE AND FEMALE.

155

31

ro

u.

32

a

oi

c

«

a

X

a

■n

Date.

. Date.

■a

a;

>

Date.

>

Date.

o

>

c

"E.

p.

Q*

m

3

m

13

Vi

i3

m

hI

Sept. 24....

If

16

Sept. 25 ..

U

12

Sept. 25...

H-

11

Sept. 25...

11

H

14

H

12

1

11

8

2

16

U

10

U

12

8

U

15

1

12

u

10

1(;4

]

16

U

12

u

8

1 J-

11

H

15

1

13

u

12

9

1

16

14

12

ll

9

11

U

15

o

13

1

10

14

11

X

14

o

11

n

11

14

12

1

15

24

13

1

12

9

If

10

■ 1

10

2

11

12 .

li

14

1

12

u

14

14

13

1

13

2

15

1

15

12

u

12

u

14

1

10

14

14

u

15

1

12

\\

12

12

1

16

1

11

\\

13

14

13

1

12

u

10

14

14

14

H

%

1

9

1

14

12

u

12

H

12

1

11

14

1

14

1

8

1

124

o

15

1

15

U

8

1

11

13

38

u

12

U

9

1

lU

1

9i

H

11

li

10"

Total

1, 9634

1 6, 6794

3i

11

13i

1
1

13

9i

H

14

13

12

Sept. 25

Average . .

1.467

12.466

Cherokee cattle,

MALE.

Sept. 8

2

10

Sept. 13...

14

8

Sept. 14...

24

12

Sepf 15...

24

13

1

10

14

12

34

11

2

12

2

10

14

10

3

14

14

11

u

12

24

12

14

10

14

11

2

9

2

12

2

9

0

13

1

7

2i

10

3

10

14

9

fc)

10

2i

14

24

9

14

9

T4

8

14

11

3

12

14

8

Sept. 9

2

10

14

9

0

11

14

11

14

9

14

12

0

10

14

12

2

10

0

15

0

10

0

12

0

13

14

10

3

10

14

U

1

8

2

14

Sept. 15...

14

8

14

12

14

8

14

12

14

7

0

13

Sept. 10....

14

7

14

10

14

8

14

9

14

9

14

10

2

12

14

10

2

12

0

12

14

13

2

11

U

13

24

15

14

9

'14

12

14

■ 7

<J

10

2

13

14

10

H

9

14

12

14

9

24

14

H

13

14

13

2

10

14

10

14

8

0

13

0

10

U

11

1

8

14

12

0

10

14

n

H

10

24

16

24

IJ

14

11

n

11

2

12

2

13

14

10

14

10

i'i

9

2

12

14

11

14

11

0

12

14

11

14

12

2

10

U

14

2

12

14

10

n

10

Sept. 14...

24

14

2

12

14

9

u

10

')

12

1*

11

14

13

24

14

n

9

14

10

14

12

14

14

14

13

14

11

2"

13

H

10

14

10

14

10

14

13

Sept. 13.-..

H

12

14

13

14

11

ll

11

14

13

u

12

2

12

14

9

14

14

14

10

2

12

14

11

2

13

].'.

10

2

12

14

10

24

10

14

10

14

11

14

n

2

12

y

14

14

9

0

13

2

12

14

U)

11

8

0

12

2

13

14

12

2

11

Ti

u

H

12

24

15

14

11

14

9

U

8

14

11

14

12

14

9

U

10

24

10

2

12

li

11

14

10

2

11

14

11

'»

13

156

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Cherokee aittlr. — Coiitinuecl.

MALE.

tB

X

1!

X

X

a

F

a

7-

□

F

a

?j

Date.

V

Date.

0^

Date.

a

Date.

h
»

>

>■

—

"5.

"E.

"E,

"S.

05

Ij

!»

s

m

13

CO

13

Sept. 15....

I*

11

Sept. 18...

1

12

Sept. 18...

H

11

Sept. 18...

1

8

2

1.)

1

7

1

13

1

9

2

12

1

9

2

12

li

7

o

13

H

13

2i

13

li

5

n

11

2

14

2

13

li

7

n

14

1

11

%

11

1

6

2

13

1

7

o

12

1

5

u

14

U

8

Ti

10

1

7

2

13

U

8

li

10

U

8

O

13

1

9

. li

10

1

9

2

12

u

9

li

11

1

7

J*

JO

1

8

2

U

li

8

]A

11

1

9

2i

12

li

9

li

12

. li

11

2i

14

1

9

u

9

1

8

2i

14

li

10

H

10

1

7

li

10

u

10

o

11

1

9

2

12

1

8

Sept. 18....

3i

7

li

10

2

12

1

7

1

7

1

10

li

11

1

6

u

8

H

13

li

10

1

5

1

7

1

11

li

13

li

7

1

5

1

U

2

11

1

8

1

7

1

11

2i

13

1

6

1

8

U

10

2

12

u

7

1*

8

1

11

2

12

li

9

1

11

2

13

2

13 1

1

8

H

7

2

12

2

13

li

7

2

9

1

11

li

11 ;

u

7

li

8

2

12

1

11

1

8

1

7

U

13

li

13

li

9

I

6

2

9

li

10 i

li

8

U

. 9

1

7

1

9 '

li

7

2

* 10

U

8

1

8

u

9

U

9

1

9

1

11

1

8

1

7

u

9

li

13

Sept. 25...

li

9

H

10

H

9

1

9

li

11

1

8

1

8

1

10

2

12

U

7

1

7

li

10

H

9

2

10

1

8

li

11

1

8

2

12

1

8

li

11 1

li

9

1

7

U

9

li

8 1

2

11

1

9

2

10

1

7

li

10

H

11

li

11

li

8 1

2

12

1
2

u

12
12
12

2
1
li

13
7

8

li

1

1

9 1

8 i

9 ^

Total

Average..

577}

3, 731

1.60

10. 335

F KM ALE.

Sept. 8

li

11

Sept. 10...

1

1

10 Sept. 13...

2

15

Sept. 14...

li

9

li

10

li

12 1

li

10

1.1

8

2

10

1

6 1

li

8

li

10

2

9

li

8

2

11

2

12

1

7

li

9

2

12 ;

2J

11

1

10

1

7

2i

13

2

11

2

10

li

13

St'pt. 14...

13

2i

9

2

9

li

10

15 i

li

8

2

8

li

12

14

2

10

Sept. 9

1

5

li

10

12

2

10

li

9

li

11

13

li

10

1

6

1

7

10

2i

9

H

12

li

9

10

li

8

li

12

li

9

11

2i

9

2

10

U

10

10

li

8

2

12

Sept. 13...

2

15

14 j

2i

14

U

9

2i

12

10 '

li

9

li

9 !

li

8

10 I

li

11

li

12

2

12

10 '

li

3

1

8

2i

14

13

2i

9

1

5

2

10

• 12

o

10

2

10

li

12

12 ;

Ti

11

li

10

li

13

10 1

Sept. 15...

li

11

li

8

2

14

12 !

li

10

Sept. 10....

li

14 1

2i

18

13 ,

1

9

SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

157

Cherokee cattle — Continued.

FEMALE.

CO

OD

1

m

xA

□

£E

a

VI

s

Ol

s

Date.

a-

0)

Date.

tu

CD

Date.

QJ

0-

Date.

aj

a.

a.

Q.

00

iJ

t»

a

m

^

VI

>-l

Sept. 15....

1

9

Sept. 15...

u

13

Sept. 15...

\\

u

Sept. IS...

12

H

11

1

9

\-k

12

n

11

U

11

u

10

U

11

H

9

H

12

u-

10

1*

10

7

2

12

u

11

u

10

1 "

8

2

13

1

9

li

11

1-1

9

o

12

u

n

u

12

1*

7

2i

14

u

12

Sept. 18...

u

11

9

1*

11

n

12

1

9

8

n

11

u

11

li

13

H

9

11
12

u
n

11
10

It

13
11

Total

241

1.611

u

12
12

u

14

11
11

IJ-

12
13

li

Average .

1.585

10.6

MALE AND FKMALE.

Aug. 20

3

9

Sept. 3

14

9

Sept. 3....

24

10

Sept. 4....

14

9

3.i-

8

o

10

24

9

14

11

3

12

24

n

24

9

24

12

2f

10

24

10

24

9

24

12

2

11

2

11

2

8

24

11

2*

9

24

10

24

9

24

12

2i

12

24

13

3

10

14

9

3

84

24

10

24

10

14

9

3

11

24

12

2

9

2

10

3

94

2

10

24

9

*-4

12

Sept. 2

3

94

14

8

24

16

14

11

3

11

24

12

24

12

14

11

3

11

24

13

2|

15

24

13

24

10

24

10

4

13

24

12

3

94

24

13

2

10

Oi.

12

2i

9

2

10

o

11

24

11

3-

9

24

12

2

10

u

9

3

10

24

13

3

11

14

9

3

104

2

10

3

12

o

11

3

9

14

9

2

9

24

10

3i

9

14

10

«

15

24

11

Sept. 3

2J

10

2

11

24

12

24

11

2.J

13

w

11

2

13

24

12

2i

10

*.4

12

21-

12

2

9

2

11

24

11

24

12

2

10

2i

14

24

10

2

11

14

9

U

10

24

12

3

11

24

11

ll

11

2

11

14

12

24

10

#

24

12

14

10

Sept. 4....

24

12

24

10

2i

11

14

12

2

10

24

12

2J

13

24

12

24

11

2i

11

24

14

14

10

24

13

24

13

2i

12

24

11

2

9

24

11

2

13

24

12

U

8

2

10

24

13

24

10

H

9

2

12

24

14

24

8

14

8

14

9

2.i

14

24

8

14

10

14

11

24

13

24

9

2

11

14

10

24

12

24

10

24

12

2.1

13

2i

14

24

9

24

12

Sept. 6....

o

13

24

l.'i

24

10

24

11

24

13

2

i:j

24

8

2

9

2

12

2i

14

24

10

24

12

24

13

24

13

24

10

24

10

o

11

24

13

24

9

2

9

2

10

24

14

24

8

14

8

U

10

24

13

24

10

24

12

IJ

8

24

13

24

8

H

9

14

9

2i

13

O

8

2

12

H,

U

2

10

24

8

14

10

2l

13

24

n

24

10

24

12

24

13

2

u

24

9

2i

11

24

12

24

12

24

10

24

11

2

10

24

11

24

9

24

12

2

9

2

10

24

8

24

12

24

12

24

13

24

8

2

9

24

11

24

a

24

9

14

9

24

13

24

12

2i

9

2

8

14

9

158

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Cherokee cattle — Continued.

MAI.K AND FEMALE.

oC

X

1

X

en

a

oi

S

S

CO

a

»

Date.

o

01

Date.

a

01

Date.

01

1/

Date.

Qj

>

^ ,

>

>

'a.

Q.

.-• 1

"H,

"S.

m

\3

05

^ I

05

3

t»

s

Sept. 6

2

10 '

Sept. 7

2i

1
14

Sept. 14...

n

13

Sept. 17...

2J

11

■ H

12

2

10

H

10

3

12

2

11

2

11

H

12

2*

114

21

12

21

13

u

12

'■)

94

-■ii

U

2i

14

14

10

3

10

21

10 1

2i

13

14

9

34

11

2i

9

2i

14

li

14

2

11

2

10

2

10

14

12

24

14

2

9

2i

14

14

18

24

10

2i

13

2^

13

34

10

24

10

2i

12

2i

12

n

12

Sept. 18-..

2

94

2i

12

2i

13

u

10

3

84

U

12

Sept. 10...

2i

9i

^

9

3

9

2*

13

2i

10

u

12

24

11

2

10

3J

10

14

12

2J

10

2

9

2i

11

14

12

3

9

2i

13

2*

91

2

13

34

8i

2i

14

3

11

14

10

2

12

2i

10

3i

9

U

10

24

11

:^i

11

3

H

14

10

2t

12

2

9

4

94 ,

14

8

3

9

2

8

3

104 ,

14

14

34

94

H

13

2}

9

It

16

S«^t. 23 -.

3

10

U

8

2f

10

14

14

34

9

2i

n

. 2i

9

l.V

13

24

94

2+

13

2J

14

1.1

12

3

12

U

8

3

11 .

1-4

14

3

• 11

2i

12

3i

94

14

13

• 24

10

2i

13

4

9

14

15

2}

14

U

8

4i

94

3

9

3

10

H

9

3

10

3

8

34

12

U

11

2h

9

4

10

2

9

2i

12

3i

Si

44

12

24

84

2

10

2f

94

3

9

Sept. 24...

3

10

Sept. 7

H

10

24

11

3

11

3

94

U

12

3

94

34

12

3

9

li

12

3f

9

3J

9

2}

10

n

14

3i

94

3

10

34

10

2i

12

2i

84

3,V

84

34

94

2i

13

3

9i

3

94

3

10

2

12

4

94

4

8

34

11

2i

14

Sept. 11...

2J

8

Sept. 16...

24

8

3t

114

2i

14

3

94

24

9

4

10

2

10

3

10

3

11

4

10

H

9

31

94

3}

10

34

12

H

10

Sept. 14...

2

15

3

94

3

94

2i

12

14

10

24

84

2i

9

2J

13

U

10

3

94

il

9

2i

13

li

12

34

8

10.

2i

13

U

13

Sept. 17...

24

9

2i

14

U

14

24

84

Total

1, 034 i

4, 702}

2i

13
14

n

11)

3
3

9
94

16

Average .

2. 345

10.60

2i

15

Tcran cattle.

.MALE.

Sept. 8.

Sept. 9.

34

12

34

10

34

10

3

9

34

12

3

10

34

12

3

11

34

12 1

3i

14

3

10

H

13

24

11

2

13

2

14

Sept. 9..

Sept. 10.

24

14

24

16

o

12 1

2

11

24

11

24

11

3

11

24

12 !

3

16

24

14

21

13

24

12

3

12

3

14

21

13

, Sept. 10..

3
3
2

24

24
2

24

24

24

2

14
2

24

2

2

17
14
13
11
14
13
14
12
13
12
10
10
12
10
9

Sejit. 10...

Sept. 11...

2.V
24

12
14

11

8

1

9

2

11

3

13

3

14

2.t

14

24

13

34

10

3

10

3

I J

21

13

3

11

3

14

SPLENIC OR PEEIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE.

159

Texan cattle — Continued.

MALE.

Date.

02

Sept. 11..

Sept. 13.

Sept. 14...

Sept. 15.

3

14

3

]2

3

12

3

12

3

12

3

14

2i

13

2i

12

3

14

2i

13

n

12

2i

11

3i

14

2J

10

-^2

14

2i

12

2i

10

2*

11

24

10

3

13

3

14

3

12

3i

13

2i

14

2

13

24

14

2

13

24

13

24

12

o

9

3

14

24

13

2

13

3

14

24

11

34

16

3

21

2

10

3

12

3

13

24

12

34

13

3

13

24

16

2

12

24

14

3

13

24

12

3

13

24

10

2

12

3

14

3

14

3

13

34

15

24

10

3

12

3

14

34

13

24

10

24

11

3

12

2J

10

24

24

24

12

24

10

24

11

2

13

3

13

34

14

21

10

U

10

2

8

3

13

24

15

24

13

2

10

24

12

Date.

Sept. 15.

Sept. 16.

o.

.1^

!» ■

^

3

16

24

15

2

12

24

13

14

10

o

11

3

13

3

12

2

9

3

12

H

9

o

10

01

13

14

12

2

12

24

13

o

12

3*

10

o"

11

3

13

2i

12

2

12

3

13

o

15

14

12

o

11

34

10

3

12

24

13

3

10

24

9

.24

12

3

13

24

15

2"

10

3

12

15

3

10

oi

13

24

14

2

15

3

15

Ol

12

o"

13

o

12

2

13

o

12

24

13

14

11

o

12

2

13

o

13

24

13

o

12

2

13

n

14

2

13

o

14

o

14

2

14

2

13

24

14

24

14

O

13

24

13

24

14

2

13

h

14

24

13

o

12

2

12

2

13

2

13

24

13

2

13

2

12

2

13

2

13

Date.

Sept. 16...

Sept. 18..

"E.

>

m

13

2

14

14

n

14

12

2

12

2

13

24

15

24

15

24

13

3

14

<>

15

24

13

24

13

24

12

o

12

24

12

2

11

2

12

24

13

24

12

2

13

2

14

24

13

24

12

2

14

o

13

2

12

2

13

2

12

14

11

14

11

14

10

2

12

o

15

24

14

24

13

o

13

2

12

14

11

14

10

14

10

14

11

J4

12

14

11

14

12

1

11

1

12

2

13

3

14

24

13

24

13

2

13

2

13

2

13

2

13

14

12

2

13

2

13

2

13

U

11

14

11

14

11

14

12

2

11

14

13

o"

11

H

13

2

13

n

13

3

10

31

13

21

15

2.i

12

3

13

o

16

n

15

3

13

2

10

3

15

Sept. 18.

3

24

14

2

3

24

3

24

3

2

24
3

2
3

u

2

3

3

3

3

3

24

2

3

2

3

ol

24
3
24
2

.3

24

3

2-

3"

2

01

3"

o

14

1

14

14

1

1

1

14

O

24

O

14
0

2

24
14
1

14

3

3
.3

oJ

2

24
1

14
24

O

1.^

IGO

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICl'LTURE.

Texan cattle — Contiuued.

MAI.K.

K

03

00

1

00

c

IK

a

00

a

p

a

i"

Date.

^
O

Date.

9

ba
¥

Date.

it

Date.

0/

"5*

"3.

>

■q.

>

a

>

OS

3

05

a

05

13

CO

Ij

Sept. 18

2i

13

Sept. 18...

2

12

Sept. 24...

2i

14

Sept. 25...

2i

13

2

14

2

11

2

13

2

14

n

13

n

13

2^

14

2i

12

H

14

n

11

2i

14

2

13

2

13

u

11

2

13

2

12

2

14

2

12

2

12

H

13

2^

15

2

12

2i

14

1

9

2

13

n

12

2.V

13

H

10

n

14

1

11

2"

14

U

12

1

12

H

12

2i

14

1

9

li

13

2

13

2

13

li

12

2

11

H

11

3

15

2

13

2}

13

U

11

2*

14

2

12

2

13

2

13

3'

15

2^

14

2

11

2

10

Sept. 25...

>■)

10

2

13

T*

12

2

11

h

12

2i

14

2

14

2

U

2

11

2

13

H

13

2J

12

2

13

li

10

2

14

2

13

2

15

li

11

2

13

2i

11

2

10

2

12

2i

12

2i

13

2.V

13

li

11

2

13

li

9

2

13

li

10

U

11

1

10

u

11

2i

13

n

10

u

11

2

12

2

12

2

13

n

9

2

13

li

12

2-i

14

n

12

2i

13

2

13

2

13

Sept. 24...

2i

14

2

12

2i

13

2

13

li

11

Total

U 109i

6,070

2

12

2

14

1

10

2

11

2

1.5

2i

13

Average . .

3. 259

12.36

o

11

2

13

2

12

FEMALE.

Sept. 8.

21

11

2i

10

2

30

2*

12

2i

12

2.t

11)

2

10

2i

11

3

13

Sept. 8....

2t

3

2i

2i
2
Si
3

2i-

2i-

15 1 Sept. 8..

12 ;i

16 1|

14 I Sept. 10.

15

13

16

15

16

3

15

2J

13

2i

16

2

11

H

9 1

2

10

2

10

U

10

2

10

Sept. 13...

Total

Average .

3

2i

6Ji

'2. 387

13

12

360

12.413

MALE AND FEMALE.

Sept. 3

3

12

Sept. 2....

3.V

11

Sept. 4

2i

12

Sept. 4....

2i

13

3

lOj

4

13

H

13

3

14

3

9A

3i

10

2

15

2-V

13

•1

12

3*

11

2

12

2i

12

3

11

3.^

9

2

13

2i

11

3

10

3i

10

2i

15

2

10

2i

12

'

3

10}

3

12

2i

13

3

12

^i

11

3

11

2i

12

3

11

3

10

3

12

2i

13

3

lU

3

10

3

10

2

10

24

10

3i

11

3

10

2i

13

2J

10

3i

9

3

V2

2i

14

2+

11

3*

lU

2i

!)

2i

12

2i

11

2i

9

2i

12

2i

14

3

11

Sept. 4....

2

10

2

13

2i

13

3

12

2

11

3

10

2i

12

3i

10

3

12

3

12

2^

13

3

12

2*

10

/

2

12

2

11

Sept. 2

2i

9i

U

10

2i

12

2i

14

3

lOi

2i

11

2

10

2i

13

2i

11

2

12

2

10

2i

13

2*

13

2i

16

2i

12

2f

13

3

12

2

14

2i

12

2i

14

2*

11

2i

10

2

12

2i

14

2i

9

2

12

2i

14

21

13

SPLENIC OE PERIODIC FEVEE OF CATTLE.

161

Texan cattle — Continued.

MALE AND FEMALE.

03

a

GQ

DQ

QQ

^

a!

CC

Date.

a.

a)
>

Date.

>

Date.

u
>

Date.

to
a,

S
t*

m

3

m

l-H

m

13

m

hH

Sept. 4

2i

14

Sept. 6....

2J

13

Sept. 6....

8

13

Sept. 7....

3

2i-

14

2i

13

3i

10

21

13

2

11

2*

14

3

10

21

16

2*

14

2i

13

3i

n

11

12

2*.

14

2i

13

4

10

21

10

2*

13

n

14

3J

11

3

12

2i

12

2

12

Sept. 7....

3

91

21

13

2i

10

2i

14

3i

10

2

13

2i

11

2i

14

3

101

2*

10

2i

14

2

12

4

91

21

12

2+

14

2i

14

4i

9i

21

113

oi.

12

2i

13

3

10

If

24

2i

10

24-

14

25

11

2

13

2i

12

2|

15

2f

9^

Sept. 8....

3

12

3i

13

2i

13

2

8*-

3.V

lU

2^

13

2J

14

3.^

91

4

91

21-

14

2i

13

Oi

14

3

9*

2i

13

2i

14

Sept. 7....

2i

14

Sept. 9....

21

101

2i

13

2i

13

2

12

31

9

2J

12

2i

14

oi

14

3i

10

2J

13

2i

13

2i

12

4

91

2i

10

2^

14

2i

14

41

11

2i

10

2i

15

2i

12

31

11

2i

14

o

12

2|

13

Sept. 11...

3

9

2i

13

2i

12

2

9

2i

81

2i

12

2i

13

2i

10

1

14

2i

13

21

12

2i

13

31

10

2i

14

2i

13

2i

15

4

11

2V

13

2

10

2^

14

31

91

2i

12

2i

12

3

13

31

12

2J

13

2i

10

4

15

31

9

2i

15

3

lOi

21

14

31

11

2i

14

3^

lU

2i

14

3

10

2|

13

2i

Hi

2+

15

n

12

2i

14

4

10

2i

14

3

8

2i

2

2i

2i
21-

14
10
12
13

12

o

2i

3i

2f

3

9^
10

llf

iH
11

ol

14
14
15
14
13

3

9

3"

3i

21

Total

701

3,139

Average. .

2.675

11.98

Sept. 6

2*

14

3$

12

2i

14

2i

14

2.!-

12

o

11

11

I

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CATTLE DISEASES

REPORTED ON.

BY JUlIX OAMGEE, JI. D,

The diseases of cattle -wliicli form tlie subjects of fhe three reports
herewith published are typical of three distinct classes of disorders
whicli teud to the impoverishment of the farmer and the country at
large.

The first and simplest in its origin and character is an enzootic or indigen-
ous affection, localized in corn-rearing States and districts, where, under
the influence of abundant moisture, and inattention to conditions which
prevent the propagation of parasitic plants on the farmer's crops, a fungus
is formed which destroys the nutritive value of cornstalks and grain.
These become indigestible, induce impaction of the third stomach and
constipation, which speedily terminate in death. The malady is not pro-
pagated beyond the farm or stable where the diseased fodder is supplied
to stock.

The third is the American cattle plague of 18GS, which, from an igno-
rance of its origin and nature, created serious loss, and, what is proba-
bly as bad, a panic that cannot readily be forgotten, on both sides of the
Atlantic. Its study has revealed characters hitherto unknown or unde-
scribed in relation to any disease of man or animals. The facts rendered
show that it is developed in the hotter parts of the United States bor-
dering on the Gulf coast where lands are rich, retentive, uudrained, and
constitute the hotbeds of malarious or periodic diseases in the human
family. Unlike these, so far as present knowledge goes, it is capable of
propagation in an intensified form among cattle which feed on pas-
tures traversed, in any part of the country beyond the original centers
of development, by southern herds. It is not improbable that compara-
tive pathology may here shed light on the precise nature of repiittent
and intermittent fevers in man; and the fact that these have not been
observed to extend by a form of contagion may be explained by the con-
ditions essential to the propagation of the bovine periodic fever. Large
masses of animals have to travel fresh from the breeding- grounds of this
indigenous disease, and discharge large quantities of excrement on the
food which is the carrier of the morbid material into the systems of cat-
tle that are contaminated and die. It is true that anthrax, Sil)erian boil
l>lague, or carbuncular fevers generally, from a peculiar decomimsition in
theliciuids and tissues of the a Mected animals, are capable of being trans-

REMARKS ON THE CATTLE DISEASES, 163

ferred by its inoculation under favorable circumstances, tobealtliy people,
and indeed to all warm-blooded creatures ; but there are indigenous mal-
adies, somewhat allied to the splenic fever of cattle, developed under like
conditions, and capable of moderate extension from the districts where
they originate spontaneously. But the cattle in the south are affected
with a maladythatisnot inoculable, that is not propagated by the bites
of insects and by the transference of decomposed or poisoned blood and
tissues into the structures of healthy men or animals, and manifests in its
method of propagation more of the features of cholera than of other prop-
erly recorded malady. It does not belong to the group of epizootics proper,
or contagious diseases like pleuropneumonia, rinderpest, and the varied
forms of variola. It is not an infectious disease ; and the single observa-
tion reported by the ISTew York commissioners cannot outweigh the hun-
dreds we have observed and carefully traced, and which indicate that the
cattle are not discharging, by their breath or skin, into the air around
them, the principles capable of perpetuating the malady. The plagues
I)roper spread regardless of soil, climate, food, geological formation,
altitude, &e., wherever sick animals approach or touch healthy ones.
Splenic fever is not communicated by a cow to its calf, and is absolutely
stoi)ped by a fence, unless some accident leads to the mingling together
of the southern animals with others they are capable of injuring. The
malady, engendered with peculiar virulence in western or eastern cattle,
is not, unless exceptionally — and no properly attested exception has
come to my knowledge — communicated by these to other amimals that
have not traversed the trails of Texan and other southern herds. It is a
modification, a poisoning of the food and possibly of the water tainted
by the manure of the southern cattle, whereby the malady is transmitted.
It is thus with human cholera. I do not wish it to be understood that
splenic fever is at all allied to cholera beyond the peculiar and ordinary
method of propagation from certain centers. We know nothing of
the spontaneous development of cholera and the centers whence it
springs. We can witness the independent and primary i^roduction of
the Texas or Florida fever by transporting western or eastern cattle to
the south, where, fed on the pastures apart from other animals, they con-
tract the disease and die.

Aniuially the Texan steers suffer, so far as my observations on cattle of
all ages go, from this same local influence, which, in their acclimatized
systems, does not usually lead to death. There is doubtless something
tangible and ponderable, which some future chemist may reveal, that ren-
ders the grasses, and maybe the waters, of the south so deleterious.

The disease, therefore, to which the third of the annexed reports refers,
is an indigenous or enzootic malady, susceptible of moderate extension
by tlie manner in which the grasses of healthy regions are modified by
the manure scattered broadcast from the systems of southern herds. It
is not a contagious plague, and Avill probably cease when the agriculture
of the soutll is fairly and fully developed.

164 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Not SO witli the destructive malady the hiug pUigue, or epizoiitic
ph'iiro-pneumoiiia, which is silently but seriously ravaging the P^asteru
States. This affectiou coustitutes the subject of my sec5ud report. Its
method of propagation, by diffusion through the air of a specilic animal
poison or virus, offers an instructive contrast to the comparatively harm-
less disease of the south. The lung ])laguc hills slowly and surely wher-
ever it penetrates, without regard to latitude, breeds, soils, conditions of
weather, or systems of cultivation. It can be stamped out ; and its propa-
gation in a mild form may be resorted to for the protection of cattle that
have been suspected of eutering an infected area. It attacks animals
but once iu their lifetime, and presents all the characters of specilic erup-
tive fevers, of which the human or oviue small-pox may be regarded
typical.

A few words may not be considered inappropriate as to the nature of
our investigations. They have extended over a period of ten months,
and iu all parts of the United States except in the far west. The turthest
point w est we have reached has been near the terminus of the Kan-
sas Pacific railroad, and southwest to Corpus Christi. The great object
iu view has been to determine and demonstrate with precision the causes
and signs of the several diseases examined, with a view to the sugges-
tion of means of prevention and cure. The history of special outbreaks,
the methods of extension, the essential symptoms and pathohigical
changes indicated by sick animals, and the institution of careful per-
sonal inquiries among those who have witnessed the maladies at differ-
ent periods, have specially engaged our attention.

We were first in having opportunities for a careful study of the changes
in temperatiu-e which occur in splenic fever, and, taken in conjunction
\\ith similar observations originally made by us in relation to the rind-
erpest or Kussian murrain, and since in numerous outbreaks of pleuro-
pneumonia, it will be found that very definite and highly practical re-
sults may be anticipated from persistence in this method of observation.
Indeed so important is the matter in connection with the entire subject
of comparative pathology, that it may not be deemed inappropriate to
give a resume of our operations on this particular point.

Last July we first used the only available thermometers that could be
obtifined in Chicago, Centigrade thermometers, of French nuinufacture.
The Surgeon General, however, kindly acceded to a request made through
the Uei)artment of Agriculture, and two carefully compared self-regis-
tering thermometers, nmde by Mr. L. Casella, of London, were forwarded
to the west for the purpose of our incpiiries. With these we were ena-
bled to correct and verify the earlier observations. The normal tempera-
ture of cattle varies from 100° to lO^o Fahrenheit. The average tem-
perature of Texan cattle is from one to two degrees higher than that of
lunthern steers. There may be accidental deviations, of which the most
noticealde is at the period of a-strum, wlien a cow nuiy indicate a tem-
perature as high as 100° Fahrenheit. It is, however, reularkable how

KEMARKS ON THE CATTLE DISEASES. 165

difficult it is in licaltliy animals to cause any great deviation from a nor-
mal standard, even during the hottest days of a western summer. Com-
parative observations on a number of animals at the same time consti-
tute a valuable and essential test. It was, however, striking and strange
that in examining Texan cattle caught with the lasso, the temperatures
obtained were the same as those among work cattle of the same herds,
and which could be handled readily near the wagons. Observations of
this kind are referred to in the report on splenic fever.

The best part — and only one which should be chosen — for the insertion of
the thermometer, is the rectum. The instrument must be introduced as
nearly as possible to the same extent in all cases, and retained in situ at
least three minutes. Animals are apt to defecate soon after the ther-
mometer is passed in, and the rectum then remains passive for a time.
This necessitates the withdrawal and reintroduction of the instrument,
and the time required for the observation must be taken from the sec-
ond intromission.

By this means animals in apparent health, grazing and moving in
perfect comfort, are often found sick ; and in the case of a contagious
disease like pleuropneumonia, this timely warning- is of the highest
moment.

In relation, however, to the nature of a malady, much is taught us by
the thermometer. The periodic fever of southern cattle begins, like the
rinderpest, with an increased heat of the body. The local changes ap-
pear secondary to the general fever, though it is difficult to estimate the
time that elapses from the flrst exaltations of temperature to the local
manifestations. In pleuro-pneumonia it is probable, and indeed our
observations are almost conclusive on the point, that there is first a local
change and commencing- deposit. A material grows and penetrates,
charged with and dependent on the presence of a specific poison, and
when it has sufficiently involved any important parts and become com-
plicated with ordinary inflammatory changes, the general fever sets in.
An elevated temperature is, however, observed in this disease long before
a farmer or dairyman suspects that an animal is affected. This is the
only Avay in which some latent cases of pleuro-pneumonia are recognized.

Scientific men have hitherto fiiiled in tracing the distinctive charac-
ters of organic poisons which differed from each other, and only recog-
nized by the very different effects produced on the animal economy.
Some attack a single species of animal; others induce the same disease
in a number of species. The lung-plague poison induces its character-
istic effects on cattle ; the poison of hydrophobia, most readily commu-
nicated among feline and carnivorous animals, is deadly to the omnivora
and vegetable feeders. Of the peculiar principles which tend to the
diffusion of those diseases which are known to us as indigenous in cer-
tain latitudes, and which we must disting-uish at all times, in classifying
diseases, from the contagious maladies of no known ])rimary source, we
have two equally remarkable instances in the splenic fever of the south,

166 DErARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

and the chaibou or aiitlirax of many parts of the Avorld. The one passes
from eatth^ to catth'; the other is deadly to men, horses, dogs, pigs, and
other warm-blooded animals.

It is evident that principles which exert such a variety of definite in-
flu(^nces must have fundamental characters to distinguish them — that
the virus of small-pox may some day be capable of distinction in its virus
form from the virus of rinderpest or the lung plague.

As far back as 1S49, Mr. L. E. Plasse a veterinary surgeon at Xiort,
Deux Sevres, in France, published a work, illustrated by tables and a
map, in which he announced the discovery of the causes of epizootics and
epidemics, with the distinguishing features of two forms of charbou or
anthrax, the one gangrenous and the other virulent.* It is a common error,
due mainly to the undetermined meaning of a much used medical term,
to regard epidemics and epizootics as typhoid fevers. Thus confounding
many maladies, M. Plasse, in vainglorious terms which characterize his
whole volume of near 500 pages, says: "JVy/ reconnu que les Jievrcs
typJtoides, qui, cliez Ics animaux, sont semhlahles a celle de Vhomme,
dependent toujours d'une seide et menie eause: des champignons micros-
copiques introduits dans Veconomie animale par les aliments ; et je demon-
trerai clairement que Unites les causes qui ont etc indiquees ne sont quHn-
directes et determinantes ; qu^elles sont le resultat de Verreur; et que la
veritable cause est une et invariable:^ M. Plasse was by uo means the
first to point to the lower forms of vegetable life as causes of disease in
men and animals; but it would be an unprofitable task to enlarge on the
earlier hints in this great field of error and of mystery. Plasse has the
credit of first publishing a comprehensive volume on the subject; and in
his succinct expose of the work before us, an expose which he read
before the Institute of France on the 9th of October, 1848, he says :
" I have had to substitute the general denomination of cryptogamy for
the various expressions applied to the diseases called typhoid, and I have
recognized four states of the cryptogamic maladies.

" First state, cryptogamic incuhation. The toxic principle here may
sojourn in the animal economy during a greater or less length of time,
without causing marked functional disturbance; the disease will never-
theless be recognized by certain general symptoms.

" Second state, cryptogamiG elimination. This is the discharge of the
poisonous principle from the animal economy, without apparent func-
tional trouble, whether by the excretions, the embryo in abortion, or the
sucking animal.

" Third state, external cryptogamy. The morbid principle is eliminated
without apparent disturbance, and is fixed in a more or less apparent
manner on the surface of the skin, or in certain cavities which have exter-
nal openings. In this category are included glanders, farcy scrofula,
lupus, canker of horses' feet, (crapaud,) elephantiasis, tinea, lepra, &c.

* Ddcouverte lies causes lies fipizooties et des 1^4>i»loiiii(s ; Causes ct distiuctiou de
deux genres.dc Cliurl><)ii. Ac. Par L. E. Plasse. I'oitiers, 1^49.

I

REMAKKS ON THE CATTLE DISEASES. 167

Fourth state, eryptogamic fever. Here tlie toxic principle is precipita-
ted ill tlie incubative stage, either in the liquids or in the solids, in the
interior, and in a manner whereby it determines a more or less intense
and very various reaction, according to the kind of fungus and the system
which is affected ; thence the different forms of typhoid fevers, such as
epizo(itic aphthic, grippe, the contagious typhus of cattle, suette miliaire,
gangrenous pleuropneumonia, variola, scarlatina," &c.

M. Plasse heralded forth his great diseoVerics in terms of no doubt-
ful meaning: ^'- Cest a la medicine veterinaire qiCil etait reserve War-
river a ces grandes decouvertes.''^ It might be thought that he had
arrived at this result after long and painful researches on cryptogamic
botany, and demonstrating, the presence of the lower forms of plants in
the tissues of such animals, or in the food which communicated disease.
Suffice it to say that M. Plasse's observations referred rather to the
character of seasons and localities remarkable for the development of
cryptogamic vegetation, and suppposed to induce epidemics and epi-
zootics. He has recorded some observations on intestinal disturbance,
induced by grasses and grains attacked by fungi which he does not
name ; but, apart from these imi)erfect records, his entire work is based
on the crudest hypotheses.

It is not my object here to give a history of the cryi^togamic theories
in relation to the origin of disease, nor to review the able work of
Charles Eobin on the parisitic plants living on man and animals, nor
analyze the observations of Swayne, Brittain, Budd, Baly, Sull, Griffith,
Bennett, Kobertson, Graves, Swain, Salisbury, Hallier, Eichardson,
Duvaiue, IJu Bary, and many more. Apart from the views enunciated and
slender facts recorded, it seems to me essential to the completion of the
work nndertaken to attempt some means whereby it might be shown
whether the periodic, or Texas, fever and the lung plague did owe their
origin, as alleged by the New York commissioners for the first, and Hal-
lies and Weiss for the second, to a peculiar cryptogamic vegetation.
When in the west last summer I had occasion to recommend an investi-
gation of the causes of the prevailing cattle fever in the South ; and on
its being resolved that I should visit Texas for the purposes of this
inquiry, I obtained the assent of the Commissioner of Agriculture to the
selection of Mr. H. W. Ravenel, of Aiken, South Carolina, so well known
as an enthusiastic and reliable observer and collector in the field of
cryptogamic botany, to accompany me.

At the same time. Dr. J. S. Billings and Dr. E. Curtis, whose attention
has been specially directed to the cryptogamic origin of disease, offered
to co-operate with me, if I Avould supply material for satisfactory e*[K^ri.
ments regarding the two disc^ases named. By a favorable arrangement
between the agricultural and army medical departments, these reports
are now enriched by observations of the most reliable and interesting-
description.

REMARKS ON THE IXODES BO VIS.

BY C. V. RILEY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOUKI.

tt

IXODES BOYIS, (Riley.)

A reddish, coriaceous, flattened species, witli tlie body oblong-oval
contracted just behind the middle, and with two longitudinal impres-
sions above this contraction, and three below it, more especially visible
in the dried specimen. Head short and broad, not spined behind,
with two deep, round pits. Palpi and beak together unusually short,
the palpi being slender. Labium short and broad, densely spined
beneath. Mandibles smooth above, with terminal hooks. Thoracic
shield distinct, one-third longer than wide, smooth and polished ; convex,
with the lyrate medial convexity very distinct. Legs long and slender,
pale testaceous red; coxjb not spined. Length of body, .15 of an inch;
width, .09 of an inch. Missouri Coll., C. V. Eiley.

This is the cattle tick of the Western States. Several hundred speci-
mens, in different stages of growth, have also been received from Pulvon,
west coast of Nicaragua, taken from the horned cattle, and on a species of
dasyprocta, by Mr. J. McNeil. They preserve the elongated flattened
form, with the body contracted behind the middle, by which this species
may be easily identified. The largest specimens measure .50 by .30 of an
inch. When gorged with blood they are nearly as thick through as they
are broad. In the freshly hatched hexapodous young, and the young in
the next stage of growth, the thoracic shield is one-third the size of
the whole body, which is pale yellowish, with very distinct crenulations
on the hinder edge. The fourth pair of legs are added apparently at the
first moult. It is called "garapata" by the inhabitants of Nicaragua.

LETTER FROM H, ¥, RAVENEL, ESQ.

I

To the Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. :

Sm: In accordance with an invitation to accompany Professor Gamgee
to Texas, and to make an examination of tlie botany of the country where
he investigated the cattle disease, and especially to direct attention to
the lo^^■QV cryptogamic flora, the fimgi, and algae, and also to examine
the grasses and other plants furnishing food for cattle, I reached Gal-
veston on the morning of the 28th of March, and proceeded at once to
Houston to join Professor Gamgee.

After making a cursory examination into the pastures in the neighbor-
hood of Houston, I accepted an invitation from Colonel Ashbell Smith
to visit his farm at Galveston Bay, Harris County,* and reached that
place on the 30th. Here T had an opportunity of seeing a variety of
soils, prairie as well a*s heavily timbered land, the latter rather rare
in this part of Texas. Colonel Smith offered me ample facilities for
investigation, and from his long residence in the country, and exten-
sive information, I was enabled to derive much benefit. I spent five
days at this place, and made large collections of fungi and some few
grasses. I made an examination also of hay which had been cut last
summer and stacked in the fields. It was perfectly sound, and of bright
and healthy color, without any indication of mouldiness or parasitic
growth. The hay was cut from a body of prairie land inclosed by a
fence, a portion of which had been biu^nt off for the purpose. The
remaining portion in the old dried grasses of the last season presented no
different appearance from dried grasses in similar situations; nothing to
indicate any increased growth of parasitic fungi, or of having suffered
from that cause. Colonel Smith was good enough to furnish me with
notes of his place, which I append, to give an idea of the quality and
situation of his lands :

"The Evergreen estate is situated in the 29° 42' north latitude, at the
head of Galveston Bay, within the debouchure of the united waters of
Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River, over Clopper's Bar, and on the
east side of the river. It is washed in its rear by the Cedar Bayou, which
empties into Galveston Bay some two miles lower down. This bnyouHs
from tweuty-five to thirty feet deep. There is scarcely any swamp or
bottom, properly so called. The g<M)logical formation is alluvial. The
soil on the San Jaciuto or bay side is chiefly a sandy loam. That at the
Cedar Bayou is a very black, stiff soil, and commonly known in this State
as ' hog wallow,' from numerous depressions of the surface as if made

170 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

by the wallowing of hogs. The estate comprises about four thousand
acres, pretty ecpially divided in quantity into prairie and heavily tim-
bered land; Oak -and cedar are the prevailing timber. There are also
pines, hackberry, pecan, elm, a«h, i)hini, persimmon, &c., &c. There
are four species of grapes, at least. The mustang and niuscardine
abound in immense quantities. Both these vinos, which are heavy bear-
ers, make an excellent wine. The grasses are numerous; those growing
si)ontaneously on the black lands, when protected from the bite of ani-
mals by inclosure, make an excellent hay. The adjacent waters modify
the temperature of the air most sensibly, both in summer and winter.
The winter cold is about 5^ milder than that of Houston, as shown by a
comparison of thermometers. The fields when cultivated in corn, cotton,
and sugar cane, as before the war, yield abundantl.y."

After my return to Houston I went into the country, about three
miles from the town, to a farm-house on the Buffalo Bayou, where I
employed about two weeks in examining the. pastures and grasses and
making collections of fungi and other cryptogams. The wooded
growth along the .banks of the bayou, consisting of Magnolia, Laurus,
Ilex, TJngnadia or Spanish buckeye. Pecan, Tilia, &c., &c., afford a fine
field for the fungi, and at this place I collected about two hundred dis-
tinct species. The pastures were quite green, but the grass still young
and scarcely sufficiently grown to be identified. I collected here all
that were in flower and could be distinguished. My attention was
directed to their examination, especially to ascertain the presence of the
lower entophytal forms of fungi or algte. I found them remarkably free
of such parasites as I expected from the early period of the year, (the
Uredos, Ustilagos, Puccinias, Tilletia, and other entdphytes most generally
appearing later in the season,) with the exception of a few species, and
they not in any abundance; and a Helminthosporium which infests the
same grass {Sporohohis Indicus) here in the Southern Atlantic States. I
found no fungus on the grasses or other cattle food to attract my notice.
This place, (Dr. Perl's beef packery,) on the Buffalo Bayou, and Colonel
'smith's farm, are both in Harris County. With very few exceptions my
entire collection of fungi, amounting to nearly three hundred species,
was made at these two places ; and it was also here that Professor Gam-
gee had the opportunity of examining some twenty-five or thirty cattle,
collected from the neighboring pastures and slaughtered at the packery.
On the I'.'jd of April we left Houston by steamer, and reached Galves-
ton the next morning, and on the 2Ctli took the steamer for Indianola,
where we arrived on the morning of the 27tli. Finding a sail packet
ready to start for Corpus Christi, we took passage and reached the latter
place on the 20th. The next day we rode out into the country some
six or eight miles from the town, passing tlnougli the "chaparral" or
pastures densely set with cactus and various tliorny shrubs. For several
miles above C'orpus Christi we passed tlirough the mixed growth of prairie
and chaparral. On the Nueces Bay, at the mouth of the river, the face of

FUNGI OF TEXAS.

•171

the country was beautiful, with a gentle rolling surtace some fifteen or
twenty feet above the waters of the bay, thickly covered with grasses
and flowering plants; and, interspqj'sed with clumps of- the graceful mes-
quite tree, {Algarobia glamhdosa,) it presented the appearance of a well-
kept lawn. On these prairies the grasses were much further advanced
in growth than further north, and I added to my collection many I had
not previously seen, and especially one or two species of mesquite grass.

On our return to Indianola, about one hundred and ten miles north of
Corpus Christi, we w^nt out some twelve or fifteen miles into the coun-
try— all prairie — and here I was also enabled to add largely to my col-
lection of grasses and other phaenogamous plants. I saw but few cryp-
togams either at Corpus Christi or Indianola, a few lichens and two or
three species of fungi comprising all from those localities. These prairie
grasses were as free of cryptogamic growth as those about Houston, and
although my attention was specially directed to them, I could see
nothing to excite suspicion as to their being differently affected from
grasses in other places. There were certainly no entophytal fungi infest-
ing them at that time in sufficient quantity to attract my notice.

The lands which I saw in Texas were all fertile, some of them ex-
tremely so. Most of the sm^face was of a fine clayey loam, in some
places rather tenacious. From this cause during a wet spring, as the
last one was, it was difficult to prepare for cultivation. I was informed
along the coast that the best pastures and the most nutritious grasses
were found higher up, from fifty to sixty miles above, and there are the
best grazing lands.

About Houston the grasses are killed for a few months during winter,
but at Corpus Christi and along the southern coast they remain green
and furnish good ])asture all the year round. I here present an analysis
of my collection of fungi according to their natural orders, and a com-
parison with those of Eev. Dr. Curtis's i^orth Carolina collection, the
only full catalogue published in the United States :

Orders.

Texan.

Fungi.

N. Carolina.

Fungi.

Hymenomycetcs

Ascomyeetoa

Xo. of species.
64
151
13

26

28

Percentage.
22
52

4

9

9

Xo. of apccks.
935
715
150
188
341

Percentage.
39
34

Gtistcroiiivfotcs

6

Hyj)hoinycetes

Couiomycetes

8
14

My whole collection amounts to three hundred and fifteen numbers ;
l)ut deducting for species too old to be determined, and some reiucsented
under other numbers, thirty, the wliole number may be estimated at
about two hundred and eighty-five good species.

It will be seen by the above comparison that the Texan falls below the

172 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Xortli Carolina collection in relation to numbers of Ilymenoniycetes, an
order which contains the Agarics, Boleti and other large and fleshy
species very dillicult to preserve except in dry weather. The number,
however, which I saw were few, and 1 was impressed at the time with
the A'ery few representatives of the order in Texas. Perhaps later in
the season that ine(iuality would not have been observed. I was also
surprised to find comparatively so few of the Entophytal Couiomycetes
which infest living plants, the rusts, smuts, bunts, &c. This diflerence
would also probably be less at a later period of the season, as it is mostly
towards autumn, when the seeds of grasses are matui-ing and the leaves
declining, that they are in the greatest profusion.

Attention has been drawn in the last few years to the "Texan cattle
disease," and much interest has been elicited as to the nature and cause of
this disease. In the voluminous and very able " Report of the iSTew York
State commissioners in connection with the Metropolitan Board of Health
of Xew York City," this subject has been very thoroughly investigated,
and one of the results which seem to be definitely reached is the con-
stant and universal presence in the blood and bile of the diseased animals
of certain cryptogamic forms of vegetation (Micrococci and Cryi>tococci
so-called) primordial spores or cells, and which, nnder the skillful ma-
nipulation of Professor Hallier, of Jena, have developed themselves into
a distinct fungus plant which he names Coniothecium Stilcsianum, after
the distinguished microscopist on the 'New York board, who first discov-
ered them. Professor Hallier, in his letter of December 18, 18GS, to Dr.
Harris, of the Metropolitan Board, says in regard to the plant : " Perhaps
you may succeed in finding out the places where this Coniothecium grows
in nature. At all events, it is a parasitical fungus growing on plants,
and to be looked for in the food of the wild bullocks."

Whether my examination of a limited portion of the flora of Texas,
and comprised in so short a time, Avill throw any light upon these inter-
esting questions, I cannot tell. My observations were made with as
much diligence and care as I could command, and present, as faithfully
as I am able to give them, the true condition of the pastures and the
cryptogamic vegetation of the region of country I visited. As far as I
was able to examine, I found no species of Coniothecium on pasture
gi'asses or on tlio dried hay. This, 1 know, is only negative evidence.
The spores of these minute fungi, wiien they exist, are generally in
great abundance, and may be wafted about by winds and carried by
rains into rivers and pools of surface water which the animals drink.
The nuxJuH operandi of these subtle agents of mischief, {semina mor-
horum,) and the manner in which they gain access to the animal system,
have long baCHed the scrutiny of scientific men. To establish the fact of
dircet agency in any of these forms of vegetation, and to trace satisfac-
torily the connection between cause and elfect, will require cumulative
proof of very strong and unquestionable character. The phases through
which they pass, and the different forms they assume at various periods

FUNGI OF TEXAS. 173

of tlieir growth, suggesting' an analogy with tlie imrtlwno-genesis (or
alternation of generations) in tlie animal kingdom, is another element of
difficulty in the solution of this question. Such investigations, however,
as those undertaken by the Xew York Commissioners conducted as they
have been in a truly scientific and philosophical spirit, must necessarily
result in throwing light upon the subject and be ultimately crowned with
success.

My collection of pha'^nogamous plants comprises about one hundred
and seventy species. Of these about two-thirds consist of graminese
and cyperaceffi, comprising the grasses proper and the rushes, sedges,
and reeds, and water grasses. I am now engaged in their examination,
and will furnish to the Agricultural Department a full series. Besides
these, I collected such lichens and mosses as I could readily obtain,
specimens of which will also be prepared for the department.

Eeca/pitulation of collection made in Texas.

Species.

Grasses and other phaeuogamous plants, about 170

Fungi, about 285

AlgTC, about 25

Musci and Hepaticoe, about 35

Lichens, about 85

Total, about 600

• Kespectfully submitted :

H. W. EAYENEL.

Aiken, South Cakolina, June 21, 1869.

REPORT OF RESll.TS OF HXA:\ITXATI0NS OF FLUIDS OF DTSEASED CATTLE
WITH REFERENCE TO PliESENGE OF CRYPTOGAAIIC GROWTHS.

1!Y 1U!KVET LIKUTF.XANT COLONKL J. S. HILLIX(;S, ASSISTANT SUKGKON U. S. ARMY, AND
BKKVKT MAJOR EDWARD CUR'JIS, ASSISTANT SURGEON U. S. ARMY.

In accordance with the request of tlie Honorable Commissioner of Agri-
cnltiire, and with instructions received from the Snrgeon General United
States Army, to investigate the question of the possible cryptogamic
origin of cattle diseases, we have carefully examined many samples of
blood and secretions from diseased cattle, furnished us from time to time
by Professor Gamgee, and have experimented with them in various
Avays. The residts of our investigations we have to report as follows:

The questions which we have endeavored to answer are these :

1st. Are any forms of cryptogamic growth present during life in the
blood or secretions of the diseased animals ?

2d. If so, of what character are they, and what is their probable source f

Supposing the above* queries answered, there would still remain the
problem of the nature of the connection between the cryptogam and the
disease, a problem which we have not attempted to discuss.

As the fungi are the only cryptogams which it is necessary to con-
sider, reference will be made to these only.

The fnngi which are supposed to cause disease in animals are, when
in their i^erfect state, or at least in such a state that they can be identi-
fied, composed of mycelium and spores. But according to the advocates
of the cryptogamic origin of disease, neither the mycelium nor the spores
of the fungus that produces the maladyarenecessarily or even usually to
be found in the fluids or tissues of the affected animal, their theory being
that the disease is pro'duced by the presence in the economy of minute
particles of protoplasm, (micrococcus of Hallier,) resulting from develop-
ment and breaking up of the spores or mjcelium of a fungus; from which
granules, they assert, can be developed perfect forms of fungi, of recog-
nizable genera and species, by proper " cultivation" outside of the body of
the animal fluids containing them.

Thus, when the blood of a pleuro-pneumonic cow fresh from the vein
is examined with a magnifying i)ower of 1,200 diameters linear, nothing
distinctive or unusual may appear; the red and white blood corpuscles
may be i>erf<'ctly normal, and nothing like spcu-es or mycelium will be
seen. I>ut there will j)robably be, either single or in masses, some minute
granules or molecules appearing as glistening points scattered over the
field. If such are not present at first, by keeping the blood exposed to
tlie air for a few hours they may be found in abundance.

Now it is these little molecules which are asserted to cause disease by
their presence in the animal economy, and which are claimed to be vege-

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES. 175

talile ill tlieir nature, as being developed from and capable of reproduc-
ing certain common fungi, popularly known as rusts, smuts, or molds.
To prove tlie truth of the latter .statement, experiments have been
made by various investigators on the principle of placing the fluids con-
taining the micrococcus in the proper conditions as regards warmth and
moisture for the development of fungi; supplying the germs with suita-
ble pabulum for their nourishment, and adopting such precautions as
are possible against the fortnitous introduction of spores of fungi from
the atmosphere. And if under such circumstances a mold or mildew
appears upon the suspected matter, the argument is that such mold
necessarily sprang from the micrococcus granules as its parent germs,
and therefore represents the perfect fungus of which such micrococcus
is a special form.

Xow, since the spores of the common molds are almost omnipresent,
the conclusiveness of all such experiments must depend upon the possi-
bility of showing that all extraneous bodies have been perfectly excluded
from the fluids cultivated.

in detailing our own experiments in this direction, therefore, we give
a somewhat minute description of the apparatus and processes employed ;
partly that the value of the results obtained may be judged by it, and
in part because it may be of use to others attempting a similar line of
research.

The first thing to be done is to obtain the suspected fluids in a state
of purity, without risk of contamination by spores floating in the
atmosphere, and in such a manner that they can be preserved for some-
time without risk of material change.

To eftect this we take a glass tube three-sixteenths of an inch or so in
diameter, seal oue end by the flame of a lamp, and, at a point about three
inches from the sealed end, draw it out to a slender tube. (Fig. 14-rt.)
The tube is then held nearly upright in the flame of a Bunsen burner
until the whole of the sealed end up to the narrow neck is red hot. The
part in the flame is held with pincers, the other end in the fingers, and
when the requisite heat is obtained the slender neck is rapidly drawn to

a point and sealed. We ^^-~~— ^ -^ — )

now have a pointed, her- ,

nietically- sealed tube, ^_...== — '

(Fig. 14-?^,) in which there Fig. 14.

is a partial vacuum, and in which by the red heat all organic matters

have been destroyed.

This we call a " vacuum tube."

Suppose, now, that we want some blood for experiment. As soon as
possible after the death of the animal, lay bare the jugular vein, prick it
with a lancet, introduce the i)uiuted end of the tube and break it oft"
within the vein, i^ressure being at the same time made upon the vessel
from above and below towards the opening, by the fingers of an assist-
ant. The blood will rush into the tube, and if it has been properly
made, will fill it for three-fourths of its length. Then, holding a lighted

17.6

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

spirit lamp or candle close to the vein, withdraw the point of the tube
directly from the vessel into the flame, and hold it there until sealed.

If the oi^eration has been properly performed, and the blood be healthy,
it will coagulate and then remain unchanged for an indefinite i)eriod.

Exudates in the pleural or peritoneal cavities, bile, urine, «&c., are
obtained and preserved in the same way.

The next step is to place the material thus obtained in favorable con-
ditions for the growth and development of any fungus germs which it
may contain. The requisites for this purpose are warmth, moisture, a
supply of nutritive material, and exclusion of foreign spores.
With regard to this last point, we reasoned as follows :
By no amount of precautious or of complexity of apparatus is it possible
to secure such absolute isolation of a fragment of tissue or a quantity of
blood from possible contact with foreign spores, that the results obtaiued
from its cultivation can be considered as positively conclusive. By no
meaus known to us can a piece of lung be transferred from the body of
an animal to the interior of a glass flask without contact with the atmos-
phere and with instruments, nor even with the more manageable blood can
we be absolutely certain when we see its surface covered with mold, that
the possibly single spore from which that forest sprang must infallibly
have been in the vein of the animal whence the blood was (b'uwn. It
was felt, therefore, that to adopt at the outset extraordinary precautious
against the introduction of foreign spores would be more apt to lead to
error than even taking none at all. The method of comparison was
therefore resorted to.

Let us first see, we argued, whether, without taking special pains to
prevent the entrance of extraneous matters, the tissues and fluids of a
diseased animal will produce fungi which healthy tissues and fluids
placed side by side with them will uot. The apparatus employed con-
sisted of the following :
1st. The so-called " isolation apparatus."

This consists of a thin flat-bottomed flask of from four to eight ounces

capacity, closed by a cork dipped in parafiQn.
Through the cork passes a glass tube bent
twice at right angles, reachiug about two
inches into the flask, and having the exter-
nal end loosely closed by a pledget of dry
cotton or jewelers' wool. (Fig. 15.)

This is used in operating upon consider-
able quantities or masses of material which
are to remain undisturbed for several days,
weeks, or months.

To follow out the changes which occur
from day to day, and especially to trace
under the microscope the conunencemeut
and progress of any fungus growth, grow-
ing slides of various patterns, and the so-

Fig. 15.

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES. 177

called culture apparatus were employed. This last was made as fol-
lows :

lu a flat glass capsule, six iuclies iu diameter and one and a lialf iucli
high, is placed a porcelaiu stand two inches high, on which is laid a glass
plate, which serves as a shelf to hold watch glasses, growing slides, &c.
In the capsule covering the stand and plate stands a bell-jar, closed at
the top by a rubber cork or cork
dipped in paraflin, through
which passes a tube bent and
packed with cotton, as in the
isolation apparatus. (Fig. 16.)
When in use the external space
between the bell-jar and the
capsule is filled with a strong
solution of permanganate of
potash. We thus obtain a moist
chamber, which, by means of a
water bath, can be readily kept
at any desired temperature.

The above-described forms of
apparatus are essentially those
used by Hallier, but he provides
for drawing into the flask or
bell-jar fresh air, which he puri-
fies from foreign nmtters by
causing it to pass through FIG. 16

alcohol or a solution of permanganate of potash. It seems to us
that this plan gives more complexity and trouble without additional
security, for we have repeatedly caused spores of various species of fungi
to germinate after they had been one or two minutes in alcohol ; and
spores being not easily wet by water, they would readily pass without
injury iu a bubble of air drawn through any aqueous solution. The risk
of spores passing through an inch of dry cotton loosely packed in a tube,
unless by the aid of a strong and long-continued current of air, is proba-
bly very small.

Of course the most satisfactory proof of the presence of fungus germs
in the blood would be to see them actually develop under the microscope,
and produce the forms by which they could be identified. To this end
we have made use of the various forms of growing slides known to
microscopists, but with not very satistactory results. For the general
purposes of a growing slide, that which has given the most satisfaction
is made by laying on an ordinary glass slide, three inches by one, a piece
of thin, fine, white blotting ])aper of the same size, with an oi)eiiiug in
the center three-fourths of an inch iu diameter, or a little less tliau that
of tlie tliin glass cover used. The edges of the paper may be cemented
to the glass with a little Canada balsam, although this is not necessary.
12

178 DEPARTMEXT OF AGRICULTURE.

To use it, put in strong* alcoliol for ten minutes, then in distilled water
for the same length of time; free the central o])ening from water; place
in it a drop of the flnid ^o be cultivated, and cover it with a very thin
glass cover. Care must be taken to keep it perfectly flat. Place the
slide in a culture apparatus, in which water alone is used as the isolat-
ing fluid; let one end of a piece of sewing thread rest on the end of the
slide, and the other dip into the water.

If the slide is to be used without being placed in a moist chamber,
the paper should be covered with a piece of thin sheet-rubber or oiled
silk, of the same shape and size, and with a corresponding opening. If
it be desired to use high powers, or to trace the germinations of a spore
found in examining a slide, the glass cover may rest on the slide, and
the blotting paper be placed on instead of under it.

If it is desired to develop the fruit, the drop of alimentary fluid should
be small, and a groove should be cut in the paper to the edge of the slide
"to allow the admission of air. The amount of moisture can be regulated
at will by varying the size and number of the threads used to keep the
paper wet. This slide is simple, cheap, and susceptible of being so modi-
fied that it is available for almost every purpose for which a growing
slide is required.

De Bary's growing slides were also used several times, and were very
satisfactory.

Another form of development apparatus which was used towards the
close of our experiments consisted of a six-ounce glass beaker, having a
little water at the bottom, and hermetically closed by a piece of thin
sheet-rubber tightly stretched over the top. From the center of this
cover there was suspended by a thread a strip of thin blotting paper,
which had been pre%iously soaked in alcohol and distilled water, and on
which the material to be cultivated had been placed. The thread was
attached to the cover and the paper by Canada balsam. This is a sort
of isolation apparatus, and is more satisfactory than the one used by Pro-
fessor Ilallier.

The material or substratum upon which the cultures are made, and
which is intended to furnish nutriment to the fungi, is of various kinds.
We used extract of beef, healthy blood, condensed milk, solutions of
cane and grape sugar, pulp of lemon, orange, potato, «&c., &c.

The solutions of sugar used were made with crystallized sugar, and a
little tartrate of ammonia and ashes of yeast were added to furnish the
nitrogen and salts required for the growth of fungi.

All the api)aratus W'as thoroughly cleansed previous to use, by wash-
ing with alcohol and freshly boiled distilled water, and the solutions of
sugar, milk, Ix'cf juice, «S:c., were thoroughly boiled; and, if filtered, re-
boiled before they were used.

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES. 179

Series I. — Examinations of blood and secretions from cattle

AFFECTED WITH CONTAGIOUS PLEUROPNEUMONIA.

A COW four years old died with the usual symptoms of pleuro-pneu-
monia, near Washingtou, on the 10th day of February, 1869. Examin-
ation made twenty minutes after death. The lungs were stuffed with
exudation, and the pleural cavity contained a quantity of turbid, very
fetid liquid, which, under the microscope, appeared full of actively mov-
ing- monads and bacteria. ' No communication was found between the
lung and tlie pleural cavity, but it is not positive that such did not exist.
The blood, under a magnifying power of twelve hundred diameters, i)re-
sented no abnormal appearance. Vacuum tubes were filled with the
blood, and specimens of the pleural fluid anil, of the bile were also pre-
served. The latter presented no unusual appearance under the micro-
scope.

Experiment 1, February 10, 1869. — Three six-ounce isolation-flasks
were prepared ; an ounce of Tourtelot's extract of beef placed in each,
boiled five minutes, and allowed to cool to 90° Fahrenheit. To the
first were added the contents of one of the vacuum tubes from the
cow above referred to ; to the second that of a tube of blood from a
healthy cow ; to the third, nothing. The flasks were then placed in a
water bath, and kept at a temperature of 85° Fahrenheit. On the 11th
of February ther flasks were opened. No. 1 contained large numbers of
motionless bacteria, single and in pairs. No. 2 contained a very few of
the same. No. 3 contained none. The flasks were kept one week longer,
at the end of which time there was no change from the appearances
above mentioned.

Experiment 2, February 10, 1869. — Six watch-glasses were arranged
as follows: -No. 1 contained pulp of fresh lemon and pleuro-pneumonic
blood. No. 2 contained pulp of fresh potato and pleuro-pneumonic
blood. No. 3 contained pulp of fresh lemon and healthy blood. No. 4
contained pulp of fresh potato and healthy blood. No. 5 contained
pulp of fresh lemon alone. No. 6 contained pulp of fresh potato alone.
All the watch-glasses were placed in a culture apparatus, which was
kept at 80° Fahrenheit in a water bath. February 14th a beautiful
growth of aspergillus glaucus (Lk.) and peuicillium glaucum (Fr.) appeared
on watch-glass Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 ; most profusely on Nos. 1 and 3. Watch-
glass No. 4 contained nothing.

Experiment 3, February 10, 1869. — Six watch-glasses were arranged :
three witli pulp of lemon, and three with potato. To four of them a
few drops of the pleural li(piid were added. They were placed in the
culture apparatus, and in four days aspergillus and penicillium were
in fruit in all.

Experiment 4, February 10, 1869. — This was a duplicate of experiment
1, with the exception that bile was used instead of blood. At the end

180 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

of ten (lays cnreAil exaiuiuatioii failed to discover any organic; forms in
either of the fhisks.

Experiment 5, Febrnary 25, 18C9.— One of the vacunm tubes of
Wood from tlie above-mentioned cow, and a tube of healthy blood wliich
had been put up at tlie same time, were opened and carefully examined.
The blood in each was coagulated, free from ofi'ensive odor, and under
the microscope presented no nnusual appearance. The contents of each
tube were placed in a one-ounce vial with a slip of purified blotting pa-
per, the vials sealed and kept at a temperature of 70° Fahrenheit. Ten
days later bacteria and vibriones were present in each, but no trace of
mycelium or of fungus fructification.

On the 2Gth of February, 18G!), a cow in the last stages of pleuro-pneu-
monia was killed near Washington, and vacuum tubes filled from the
jngular vein. Tubes were also filled with the serum contained in bulla?
fornuHl by the false membrane lining the bronchial tubes.

About four inches of each jugular vein were removed, ligatures having
been first applied. Eighteen hours afterwards the blood in the veins
from which the tubes had been filled was carefully examined with a
power of seven hundred and fifty diameters. It was coagulated, and
the serum contained some molecules, single or in chains of two or three,
which were motionless, (Fig. 1, PI. 1.) Blood from one of the f acuum
tubes contained no such bodies. The lung serum contained molecules
like those in the vein.

Experiment 6, February 26, 18G9. — In a culture apparatus were
placed three watch-glasses and two growing slides, arranged as follows:
The growing slides and watch-glass No. 1 contained boiled potato and
diseased blood ; watch-glass No. 2 contained boiled potato and healthy
blood; watch-glass Xo.3 contained boiled potato and lung fluid. Twenty-
four hours later, in the growing slides the red corpuscles had nearly dis-
appeared; bacteria and monads, single or in short chains, were -seen': a
few moving, but the greater i^art at rest. Seven days later there was
no change; motionless bacteria and monads were present in all the
glasses, but no trac^e of mycelium or spores.

Experiment 7, February 20, 1800. — Seven watch-glasses and five
gTowing slides were arranged as follows : AVatch-glass No. 1 contained
j)Otato l)oiled in distilled water; watch-glass No. 2 contained lemon boil-
ed in distilled water; watch-glass No. o contained lemon boiled with dis-
ease<l blood; watch-glass No. 4 contained diseased blood alone; watch-
glass No. 5 contained healthy bhxxl alone; watch-glass No. 0 contained
boiled potato with diseased blood; watch-glass No. 7 contained boiled
potato with healthy blood; growing slide A contained boiled lemon with
diseased blood; growing slide B contained boiled lemon with liealthy
blood; growing slide ('/ containecl boiled potato with diseased blood;
growing slide 1) contained lK)ile(l ])()tato with healtliy blood ; growing
slide Fj contained boiU'd i)()tato alone. Tiiese were i)laced in four sets
of culture apparatus, and kept at a temperature of 78^^ Fahrenheit. lu

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES. 181

twenty-four hours a few small cells were seen in slide B, which rapidty
developed into ordinary yeast, continuing to l)ud and increase for four
days. The fluids in watch-glasses 4 and 5 rapidly putrefied, and were filled
with bacteria and monads. In watch-glasses 1 and 2 and growing slide
E no change had occurred in eight days. In the others a few motionless
bacteria appeared on the second day, after which there was no change.
The precautions taken in this experiment to exclude extraneous bodies
were great, embracing every point which could be thought of as liable
to lead to error. In April one of the tubes containing lung serum from
this cow was given to Mr. Reid, residing near Washington, and with its
contents he successfully inoculated several cattle, producing in each case
the same effects, and, judging by the after results, conferring the same
immunity against the disease as if perfectly fresh virus had been used.
The jugular vein from this cow, which had not been opened, was sus-
pended in a glass jar, closed with a cork dipped in parafSue. This was
kept at the ordinary temperature of the room and in diffuse daylight.

June 3, 18G9, the jar was opened and the contents examined. The
serum had drained from the vein and collected in the bottom of the jar,
was of an offensive odor, and contained bacteria, moving and at rest.
Ko trace of mold on the outside of the vein The contents of the vein
showed no bacteria or molecular forms. .

Tiie contents of the vein and the serum which had drained from it
were cultivated upon various substrata and in the several forms of
apparatus, with the usual results, viz : luxuriant development of cryp-
tococcus and penicillium.

On the 3d of June, 1869, three months after it had been put up, one
of the vacuum tubes of blood from this animal was opened, and the con- '
tents carefully examined; they could not be distinguished from freshly
coagulated blood ; the corpuscles were perfectly normal, and there was
no trace of bacteria or micrococcus.

This blood was cultivated on growing slides and in the beaker isola-
tion apparatus— in one case with negative results, in others with the
productions of the usual penicillium forms. Healthy blood kept for the
same time and treated in the same way gave the same results.

Other experimeuts were made with the pleuro-pneumonic fluids by
cultivating them with solutions of cane and grape sugar, which will be
referred to subsequently.

The general conclusion from all the observations and experiments we
have made is, that in the contagious pleuropneumonia of cattle there is
no peculiar fungus germ present in the blood or secretions, and that the
theory of its cryptogamic origin is untenable.

The significance of the appearance of bacteria, monads, penicillium,
&c., in the experimeyts above given will be hereafter referred to.

182 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

SEUIES II. — EXA:\riNATI()NS OF BLOOD AND SECRETIONS FROM CATTLE
AFFECTED WITH THE TEXAS OR SPLENIC FEVER.

On the 30tli of Ai)ril, 1809, two four-year-old steers were killed at
Corpus Cliristi, Texas, and vacuum tubes were filled by Professor Gam-
gee with the blood, urine, and bile. Professor (iamgee's notes state that
the spleen of these animals weighed respectively three and a half and
three and three-quarter pounds; the livers were fatty; the true stomachs
presented erosions, and there were punctiform ecchymoses in the pelvis
of the kidneys and in the bladder.

The blood and secretions were examined microscoi)ically by Professor
Gamgee, immediately after the death of the animal, with a power of
live hundred and fifty diameters, but nothing unusual was discovered.

On the 25th of May one of the blood tubes was opened, and the con-
tents examined Avith a power of eight hundred diameters.

The blood was dark, firmly coagulated, and without offensive odor.
No white corpuscles were seen ; the red corpuscles were mostly normal,
a few being crenated or triangular. Patches of granular matter, a few
motionless bacteria, and molecules, single or in chains of two or three,
having a vibrating, swarming motion, were observed.

In short all the ai)pearances were those usually presented by blood
when the white corpuscles have disintegrated and it is in the incipient
stage of putrefaction. But besides these there were present yellow
globular bodies, smaller than the red blood corpuscles, mostly united by
twos and threes, though in some cases four or six were strung together,
and presenting the general characteristics of minute spores. Ether,
liquor potassa3, and sulphuric acid had no particular effect on them.
(Fig. 11, PI. 1.)

In two of the tubes from the same cattle, opened one month later, the
contents were putrefying, and micrococcus and bacteria were abundant.

On the 29th of May vacuum tubes of blood and secretions from two
yearling steers, killed at Houston, Texas, May 18, 1809, were received
and examined. These animals presented the usual lesions — enlarged
spleens, erosions of the stomach, &c.

The blood from these tubes was in an advanced stage of putrefaction,
and filled with bacteria and micrococcus.

The bile from the four-year-old steers was normal in appearance ; (hat
from the one-year-old animals was very dark and tenacious. Micrococcus
was found in each, but not abundant. In each there were found nu)ving
rods, (bacteria?) which were somewhat peculiar, one end being bent,
forming a little knob or hook. (Coi)i)er plate. Fig. 12.) They were of
an orange color, ])robal)ly owing to imbibition of biliary coloring matter.
The urine in each set of tubes was found to contain mi(aococcus,
bacteria, and cryi)fococcus.

Experiment 1. — Blood from the first series of tubes was i)laced in

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES. 183

a De Bary's growing slide, on blotting paper, in a beaker isolation appa-
ratns, and in a watch-glass under a cnltnre apparatus, with a few drops
of freslil}- boiled solution of sugar. In the growing slide cryptococcus
forms were observed in thirty-six hours ; in twelve hours more, delicate
mycelium filaments appeared, and on the fourth day the usnal fructifica-
tion of penicillium crnstaceum was seen in the air space in the slide.
The isolation apparatus was opened on the fifth day, and penicillium
found on the blotting paper. In the watch-glass cryptococcus was
developed on the second day; two days later this was very abundant,
and of various sizes and forms, including G. guttulatus of Ch. Robin.

Four days later mycelial filaments, with dilatations of various forms
and sizes, {Schizosporaiifjia of Hallier,) covered the surface of the blood.
(Copper plate, Fig. 13.) One month later careful examination showed
nothing bat penicillium.

Experiment 2.— The precautions taken in this case were very great,
and were as follows: The beakers, culture apparatus, watch-glasses,
slides, blotting paper, and thread were treated with dilute nitric acid,
then with liquor potassse, and finally rinsed with, hot, freshly- distilled
water. The knife, glass rod, and file used were cleansed in hot alcohol
just before being used. The vacuum tubes were cleansed with liquor
potassiE and alcohol just before being opened. The sheet-rubber was
thoroughly washed with the same fluids.

To prepare the beaker isolation apparatus, after the articles used had
been treated as above, the cover with blotting paper was placed on the
beaker, strong alcohol having been first poured in, and then it was thor-
oughly shaken. The alcohol was then removed by similar treatment with
fresh distilled water. The apparatus was then taken to a room in which
no experiments had been made, and the fluids added to the blotting
paper. During this operation the interior of the apparatus w-as exposed
for about one minute.

Blood from four-year-old steer (first set of vacuum tubes) was placed
in a De Bary's growing slide, in a watch-glass with pulp of lemon, same
with pulp of orange ; also in beaker isolation apparatus on lemon and
orange.

Bh^od from one-year-old steer (second set of vacuum tubes) was
arranged in the same manner.

And lastly, a similar series of apparatus was arranged with lemon
and orange without blood.

The growing slides and watch-glasses were exauiined daily, with i)owers
ranging from two hundred to one thousand diameters.

At the end of five days the isolation beakers were opened. The phe-
nomena in all, with one exception, were the same. Penicillium crnsta-
ceum (Fr.) was devijloped in all, more slowly and less luxuriantly where
no blood had been added. The exception referred to above was in the
watcli-glass to which the putrescent blood from the one-year-old steer
was added ; in this there was a luxuriant growth of mucor racemosus,

184 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

(Fros.,) and also coremium, a luxuriant and fasciculated form of peni-
cilliuui.

It is eousiderod needless to give the details of all the culture experi-
ments undertaken with this blood ; suffice it to say that it was placed ou
various substrata and compared witli liealthy blood, and the results
were in all cases the same; i. e., production of penicillium, coremium,
and mucor.

In cultures undertaken with the urine, either no result was obtained
or the usual penicillium made its appearance.

Culture of the bile upon lemon gave the same results, but the penicil-
lium growth was much less than when the blood was used. Disk-like
masses of mycelium, (the Sclemtia of Hallier,) usually bright yellow in
color, were produced alike with diseased and healthy blood.

To judge, therefore, from the specimens that we have had the oppor
tunity of examining, it would appear that in the blood, bile, and urine of
cattle slaughtered in Texas, apparently healthy while alive, but present-
ing after death the appearances considered characteristic of the splenic
fever, there are present minute bodies corresponding to the micrococcus
of Hallier, which exhibit the same behavior with reagents as the spores
of fungi.

In the bile and urine bacteria and cryptococcus cells also occur. The
micrococcus granules, however, have no specific characteristics, and can-
not be distinguished from similar bodies which are to be seen in any
blood in an incipient stage of putrefaction. Thus, on the 4th of June,
vacuum tubes were filled with blood from a healthy sheep slaughtered
near Washington, and this blood, examined sixty hours afterwards, con-
tained in equal abundance these same bodies (micrococcus) that were
found in the blood of the Texas cattle. The attempt to give these
micrococcus molecules a special and important character by the "cultiva-
tion " in various ways of the blood containing them, also failed. In all
cases the fungous growth that appeared upon the cultivated material
was composed of the commonest molds, and, instead of being unique
as to species or even genus, comprised various forms and sizes of
cryptococcus, torula, penicillium, coremium, mucor, and the so-called
schizosporangia of Hallier, of all forms and sizes; these various fungi
being either simultaneously or successively developed. JNIoreover, all
these varieties of fungi can be also developed by a similar cultivation of
healthy blood, though not as rapidly nor in as great luxuriance.

The fact that in our cultivations we never obtained any growths of
ustilago, coniothecium, or tilletia, Avhich were so frequently produced in
riallier's experiments, is probably due to the circumstance that no speci-
mens of those fungi were ever brought into the room where our exjjeri-
ments were conducted.

In cases of splenic fever of cattle our experiments, therefore, fail to
establish the presence of any peculiar or special cryptogamic germs in
the blood ; and, instead of supporting the notion that the micrococcus

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES. 185

gTanules wliicli are present in any way cause the disease, tend rather to
show that their occurrence shonUl be considered as an effect of the malady,
whether constant and inherent, or altogether fortuitous ; for since these
granules, if fungous in their nature, must be, as hidicated by the cultiva-
tions, forms of the very commonest molds, it is certainly a much more
probable hypothesis that the disease so destroys the vitality of a part of
the blood as to render it capable of supporting and nourishing a low
form of these ubiquitous fungi, which perish when introduced into a
healthy subject, than it is to imagine a deadly disease, occurring only
under certain rigidly prescribed conditions, as caused by the presence, in
the economy of the germs, of fungi notoriously harmless and of universal
occurrence.

It is, of course, possible that these fungi, developed in the fluids of a
diseased animal, may become the carriers of contagium. This can only
be determined by a series of inoculations upon healthy cattle.

While the experiments reported above were still in progress, we were
fortunate enough to obtain a copy of the Transactions of the New York
State Agricultural Society for 1867, containing the " Eeport of the New
York State Cattle Commissioners," in connection with the " Special report
of the Metropolitan Board of Health on the cattle disease." This report
we read with interest.

The conclusions of Professor Hallier we do not accept, for three reasons :
Fkst, because the fluids sent to him were not put up with the proper
precautions for exclusion of extraneous spores; second, because the
culture apparatus used by him does not give reliable results, as we have
found by experiment ; and lastly, because his reasoning is based on a
pecidiar theory of his own, that penicillium, mucor, &c., are merely unripe
forms of certain ustilagineous fungi, a theory which cannot be discussed
here, but of which it is sufficient to say that it has been accepted by no
other prominent mycologist.

The statement of Dr. Stiles, that "the fungous origin of zymotic dis-
eases is now conceded by the highest authorities in mycological research,"
will no doubt surprise the said authorities ; for Berkeley, Curtis, and
De Bary, the highest authorities in England, America, and Germany,
most assuredly concede nothing of the kind.

With a culture apparatus, a lenu)n, and a little albuminous fluid, such
as blood, serum, white of egg, &c., it is very easy to obtain almost any
kind of mold ; but the laws of <levelopment of such organisms are not
yet sufficiently known to enable one to draw decisive inferences from the
results.

With regard to the magnifying power necessary for the examination
of minute cryptogamic forms, it has usually been overratcnl. A good
one-fifth objective is all that is necessary, and in making observations
on growing slides is the highest power that can be conveniently used.
We have, it is true, used mucli higlier powers, but do not consider them
necessary, or even desirable, in microscopic investigations of this char-
acter.

186 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

REMAKKS.

Ill a geiicral way it may be stated, that all abnormal appearances
observed in the tlnids examined were such as might be attributed to
putrefaction. Although much remains to be learned as to the causes
and nature of this process, the tendency of modern science is to class it
as a species of fermentation, which may be dotined as a particular mode
of decomposition of organized bodies, accompanied by the growth of cells
of a fungoid character, supposed to be the active agents in the process.

In fluids undergoing the alcoholic, the acetic, lactic, or butyric acid
fermentations, in wine affected with the bitter fermentation, or in a
solution of tannic acid changing to gallic acid, we find minute cells, in
German called " Hefe," in French " mycoderms," in English " yeast."
Although the cells of ordinary yeast and those of the mycoderma vini
aceti, or lactis, ditfer in shape and size, it is supposed that these varia-
tions are due to the character of the fluids by which they are nourished,
and that they are all really derived from the same source, namely, the
ordinary moulds. Common brewers' yeast {Cryptococcus cerevisi) is now
thought to be not a distinct species of plant, but merely a stage of
development of several different genera of fungi, such as penicillium,
aspergillus, mucor, and perhaps several others. And the same is proba-
bly true of the other mycoderms.

\^^len organic substances rich in nitrogen decompose, the action is
termed putrefaction ; and in all such, when examined with a sufficiently
high magnitying power, there will be found little molecules, either single
or in chains of from two to six, and minute colorless rods, single or in
chains of two or three, straight or spirally twisted, rigid or flexible. All
of these may be at rest or in motion ; if the latter, it may be a vibrating,
trembling motion, without change of place, or a direct propulsion through
the fluid. These minute organisms have been successively considered as
aniumls, as algre or water plants, and as fungi. The globular molecules
are termed monads, and more recently micrococcus. The rods have
received many names, but are usually known as bacteria. The tendencj'^
of investigators of this subject is to consider these monads and bacteria
as the mycoderms of the i)utrefactive fermentation, and to suppose that
they also are but one form of development of penicillium and other
common molds. Mrs. J. Luders asserts that she has seen the bacteria
emerge from spores of penicillium ])laced in meat juice, and the pro-
duction of yeast by adding putrefying fluids to saccharine solutions
has been repeatedly accomplished.

We have performed some experiments on this subject which may per-
hai)s be of interest.

Our aim was to develop in a saccharine solution an unmistalcable
yeast cell with its attendant special form of fernu'utation, from a vibrio
or bact(Tinin ('ontained in a putrefying Huid ; and the practical ])rol)lem
was to devise some means whereby the putrid fluid might be added to

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES.

187

the sugar solution, witliont at the same time any yeast cells, which it
might accideutally contain, also passing into the solution and so vitiat-
ing the result. To accomplish this end we availed ourselves of the dif-
ferent behavior of yeast cells on the one hand and the various crypto-
gamic organisms of putrid fluids on the other, in respect to their ability
to pass through certain tissues. jS'ow, bacteria, vibrios, and molecules,
either single or in chains, {Monas, 3Iicrozymas^ Micrococcm, Leptothrix,
Zoofjiea and Sohizomycetes, of various" authors,) Avill readily pass
through thoroughly moistened filtering paper; while, as originally shown
by Mitzscherlich, (Pogg. AnnaL, 1855, p. 224,) and again proven by the
following experiments, yeast cells will not. Furthermore, none of the
above-mention(^d bodies will pass through vegetable parchment, although
fluids will. If, then, upon adding a putrefying fluid to a saccharine
solution, through the intervention of filtering paper, we produce yeast
and fermentation in that solution, while upon making the addition
through vegetable parchment we produce none, the method of the
experiment leaves no doubt that the yeast must have been developed
from cryptogamic germs other than yeast contained in the putrid mat-
ter. To carry out this plan of experiment, the following apparatus was
used :

In a four or six-ounce glass beaker (not lipped) was ])laced a tube,
made by cutting oft" the bottom of a common test tube,
three-fourths inch in diameter and as high as the beaker.
This tube was open at the toji, but closed at the bottoUi
by two layers of tine, strong filtering ijaper tied tightly
over the flaring end with waxed string, and rested on a
fragment of glass rod placed in the beaker ; all these
articles having been carefully washed, were put together
as described, and about two ounces of hot strong alco-
hol were poured into both the tube and beaker. A
piece of thin sheet rubber was next tied over the top,
hermetically closing both beaker and tube, and the
whole apparatus, having been thoroughly shaken, so that the hot liquid
should come fully in contact with every part, was then set aside to cool
until wanted.

The solution to be experimented on, which had been boiled, filtered,
and then reboiled in a flask fitted up as an isolation ai)paratus, was in
the mean time cooling in that vessel. When this had cooled to about
85°, the alcoliol was removed froai the apparatus and the tube Avas
rinsed with a little freshly distilled water. Tiien from one to two ounces
of the solution to be experimented on was i)laced in tlie beaker, while a
little of the putrefying or fermenting fluid was put in the iniun- tube.
Tlie sheet-rubber was finally stretched tightly over all and tied as before,
and tlie api)!natus was then kei)t at a^ temperature of 75° Fahrenheit
to 85° Fahrenheit in ditfused day light, (Figure -i.)

FIG. 17

>

188 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The solutions used were of caue or grape sugar, mixed witli extract of
beef, or with tartrate of amiuonia and ashes of yeast.
The two foHowing forniuhe gave the best results :

A.

Cane sugar 10 parts.

Tourtelot's extract of beef 10 parts.

Water 100 parts.

B.

Caue sugar 10 parts.

Tartrate of auiinonia 5 parts.

Ashes of yeast o parts.

Water 80 parts.

Experiment 1. — On the 21:th of March, 18G9, solution A was placed
in five beakers, the tubes of which were closed with paper. In the tube
of 2«ro. 1 was put a teaspoonful of fresh yeast ; in those of Jfos. 2 and 3
some putrefying fluid from lung of pleuro-pneumonic cow ; in Xo. 4 was
placed a fluid coutaining large and lively bacteria taken fi'om a can of
preserved roast meat which had spoiled ; to No. 5 nothing was added.
Two ounces of the solution were also retained iu the flask which had
remained uncorked for fifteen minutes.

In twenty-four hours the rubber cover of No. 1 was disteiuled, pre-
senting a well-marked convexity. Bubbles of gas were rising iu the
tube, but none iu the beaker. The covers of Nos. 2, 3, and 4 were
slightly distended, aud a few bubbles appeared on the outside of the
tubes. No. 5 was unchanged.

In forty-eight hours the covers of the first four beakers were strongly
distended, showing that the closure was perfect, (an important point.)

In No. 1 the bubbles were still confined to the inside of the tube,
while iu Nos. 2, 3, aud 4 they were chiefly on the outside of the tubes.
No. 2 was now opened. The fluid in the beaker was turbid, filled with
molecules, chains of granules, aud bacteria. It also contained well-
marked yeast cells, separate, and just beginning to bud.

The next day, ]\Iarch 27, beakers 1, 3, and 4 were opened. In No. 1
the yeast was confined to the tube, in which it was in full growth.
Not one yeast cell could be found in the outer fluid.

In Nos. 3 and 4 there was abuiubmt growth of yeast in the beakers;
greatest in No. 4. In No. 5 there was no change, nor has any occurred
at this date.

At the same time that the beakers were arranged a series of growing
slides was prepared and charged with the same fluids. The changes iu
these corresiK)n(h'd precisely with those iu the beakers, except that they
were more slow.

Experiment 2. — Two beakers were arranged with solution A. The
tube of No. 1 was closed with vegetable parchment, that of No. 2 with

INVESTIGATION AS TO ORIGIN OF CATTLE DISEASES, 189

filtering paper. Putrefying fluid from tlie lung of a pleuro-pneumonic
cow was placed in the tubes, care being taken in No. 1 that this fluid
should stand at the same height as the solution of sugar in the beaker.

In twenty-four hours decided osmose from the tube to the beaker liad
occurred in No. 1, and the rubber cover was concave. In forty-eight
hours the cover was still concave and the fluid in the tube was three-
fourths of an inch lower than in the beaker. In beaker No. 2 the cover
was distended and yeast Avas evidently in active development.

Four days later the beakers were opened. The cover of No. 1 was
now very slightly convex ; yeast cells were found in the tube but none
in the beaker, although the latter contained molecules or micrococcus.
In No. 2 the cover was now concave, owing to fructification of penicil-
lium within the tube. Yeast cells were found abundant in the beaker.
Experiment 3.— Eight beakers were arranged with solution B, the
tubes being adjusted as follows :

Nos. 1 and 2, closed with filtering paper ; contents, putrefying roast
beef. Nos. 3 and 4 closed with filtering paper ; contents, blood of pleuro-
pneumonic cow. No. 5, closed with filtering paper ; contents, fresh yeast.
No. 6, closed with vegetable parchment ; contents, fluid as in Nos. 1 aud 2.
No. 7 closed with vegetable parchment; contents, fluid as in Nos. 3
and 4. No. 8, closed with vegetable parchment; contents, nothing
added.

To each beaker, except G and 7, two growing slides were prepared
with the same fluids. April 14 the beakers were opened. Nos. 1, 2, 3,
and 4 contained abundance of yeast, and the covers were strongly con-
vex. Nos. 5, 6, and 7 contained yeast cells in the tube, but none in the
beaker ; the yeast in No. G was very scanty. No. 8 remained unchanged.
The growing slides were watched from day to day. Yeast cells appeared
in those corrt*spoudiug to beakers 1 and 2 in 48 hours ; in those corres-
ponding to 3 and 4 one day later. They appeared in those correspond-
ing to beaker No. 8 on the sixth day, but none had appeared in the
beaker on the tenth day.

A number of other experiments were made on this subject, the results
of the majority of Avhich were in accordance with those above given.
Several times the conclusions were vitiated fro;n the fact that yeast
developed in the sugar solution when nothing was added.

It seems probable, in view of the results of the above experiments,
that some of the bacteria and micrococcus germs are really fungoid in
character and capable of development into higher forms.

It is unlikely that all the minute organisms above referred to are of
the same character, but any attempt at classitication of them is of very
doubtful utility. If it is ever successfully done it will pr()1)ably be by
the application of chemical tests. We may nuMition that a solution of
suli)hate of (piinine st()i)s the motion of bacteria very rapidly, while
strychnine has no particular efiect ; and, again, in a solution of pure

190 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

carbolic acid, two grains to the ounce, we have seen them quite lively
twenty-four hours after they h^d been ])laeed in it.

We do not suppose the above will hohl good for all bacteria; indeed,
we have seen some that were rendered motionless almost instantane-
ously by solution of carbolic acid.

If the above expressed view of the nature of these bodies be accepted
as i^robable, the results of the culture experiments with the fluids of
diseased and healthy animals can be readily understood. In many ani-
mals, whether healthy or diseased, there are no fungus germs in the
blood. We have kept vacuum tubes of blood for foiu- months, and at
the end of that time the contents w^ere perfectly normal. In other ani-
mals there are probably germs in the blood during life, as shown by the
fact that, in vacuum tubes filled from them, the blood putrefied and the
usual mycoderms developed. But that these germs can develop and
multiply, without dead organic material as a pabulum, is very doubtful.

The fungi, w^hich are developed from blood containing these germs,
are, as might be expected, the common molds, the spores of which are
almost ubiquitous. Most frequently penicillum, next mucor, next
asi^ergillus.

Other forms may apx^ear, and those above mentioned may vary greatly
in size, color, and rapidity of development.

As was stated in the beginning, our object was to determine the pres-
ence, and, as far as possible, the nature of these germs. The query as
to the connection between them and disease, whether they should be
considered as specific causes of the disease, or as carriers of contagium,
or as the signs of destruction of vitality of a part of the fluids or tissues
in which they are found, said destruction being due to some other
cause, is one of great interest; but for the answeiing of wh c'l the
" lancet and injection tube " will probably be far more efficacious than
the microscope and " culture apparatus."

J. S. BILLIXGS,
Bvt. Lt. Col. and Asst. Surg. U. S. Army.
EDWAED CUKTIS,
Bvt. Maj. and Asst. Surg. U. S. Army.

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