Reports on the diseases of cattle in the United States made to the Commissioner of Agriculture, with accompanying documents. / Department of Agriculture.

  • United States. Department of Agriculture.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports on the diseases of cattle in the United States made to the Commissioner of Agriculture, with accompanying documents. / Department of Agriculture. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    therefore, began late, the season was wet, and the Texas fever gave no concern. This year, however, Large herds were collected early in the sjii ing iu Texas, and the lirst car load of catiJe left Abihnie on the lOtli of June. The people of the new town and its neighborhood had accuniulated more live stock than they had last year, and, without taking the ]>recau- tion which could readily have been adopted, ])erinitted their cattle to go over the ground ti'aversed 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 exiierieuce of 1807 before us, the system of driving late for the fall markets is calculated to preserve the most I)romising 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 must be fenced in, in others the Texan steers will hilve to submit to some crowding, and conditions which are not the most favorable for so large a trade. APPENDIX. POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES. Observation I, July 30, 1868.—Eed cow; the property of Mr. A. J. Moore, of Tolono, killed by bleeding. Blood flowed freely, and was of a bright arterial hue. The skin was removed and the respiratory organs first examined, and found in a normal state. The pericardium was opened, and its reflected portion was sound. The heart of normal size and consistency, but studded with punctiform extravasations of blood around the apex, on the left auricular appendix. The right cavities were found empty and normal. The left were also empty, but there was extensive discoloration of the endocardium over the fleshy pillars and the septum. It was of an alternate purple and blood-red tint, and Ou cutting through the endocardium it was found infiltrated with blood. This infiltration extended in some parts to a sixteenth of an inch in depth beneath the serous membrane.