146 Dr. Baird on Entozoa, or Intestinal Worms, 



tried with variable success in England and other countries, was 

 used by him extensively. Still the disease progressed, inocu- 

 lation itself killing nearly half the cattle in which it was prac- 

 tised, till at last, through the practical sagacity of a Dutch 

 farmer of the name of Rinders, he discovered that calves born of 

 a mother which had passed successfully through the disease 

 might be inoculated with perfect safety. After conquering to 

 a great degree the prejudices of his countrymen upon this sub- 

 ject, and seeing his experiments succeed to a pleasing extent, all 

 at once an unfortunate and unforeseen accident occurred to 

 throw the greatest discouragement upon his labours. Amongst 

 the young cattle which had been successfully inoculated and 

 which were recovering from the disease, a new malady sprung 

 up, which carried off thousands. The symptoms of this fatal 

 distemper were, a severe cough and violent sneezing. The ani- 

 mals ceased to chew the cud, and they wasted away till death 

 terminated their sufferings. Scarcely one attacked survived. 

 The farmers attributed the disease to the effects of the inocu- 

 lation ; and this process was obliged to be temporarily suspended. 

 Camper at last succeeded in discovering the cause of this fearful 

 malady. He opened a calf which had died of the complaint. 

 No disease could be discovered in the organs of the chest or ab- 

 domen ; all appeared healthy. At last he removed the tongue 

 and windpipe ; and scarcely had he opened the glottis, when he 

 perceived several thousands of worms, which filled the trachea 

 down to its termination in the substance of the lungs. Opening 

 a second, he discovered a cluster of several thousands, which ob- 

 structed the trachea, and had produced suffocation. This disease 

 is well known in England by the name of " hoose" or " husk,'^ 

 and at times is very fatal. The first notice I have seen of it is 

 in the 'Philosophical Transactions' for 1755, by Dr. Frank 

 Nicholls. It attacks bullocks, he says, when young, very rarely 

 appearing in those of more than a year old. The symptoms he 

 describes are very nearly the same as those mentioned above ; 

 and the windpipe and its branches, in those cattle that were 

 opened after death, were found loaded with small taper worms 

 of about 2 inches long. He was assured by the farmers, that no 

 method of cure for the distemper was known. More recently, 

 Mr. Youatt, in the 'Veterinarian' for 1833, vol. vi. p. 177, bears 

 like testimony to the fatality of the disease, which, by his account 

 also, is confined to young cattle. The cough, he says, is unusually 

 distressing; the intermissions are short, and the paroxysms are 

 violent in degree. The beast gets off his food; he becomes 

 hide-bound ; his belly appears tucked up, his coat staring, and 

 his flanks heaving. "It is heart-breaking," he adds, "to hear 

 him cough." "The farmer knows too well the uniform fatality 



