REPORT OF THE VETERINARY SURGEON. 313 



again ; and to prevent its spreading he was obliged to slaugh- 

 ter his entire herd, which cost him nearly $10,000. W. 

 W. Chenery, of Belmont, Mass., had four cows shipped from 

 Rotterdam in 1859, hut before they had reached our shore 

 two of them sickened and subsequently died, as dfd the third 

 one also a few weeks afterward. From this fourth cow the 

 the disease spread rapidly in that state, and th.us cost the 

 Commonwealth in public and private munificence more than 

 $30,000 to retrench its ravages in 1860. It broke out again 

 the following year with increased severity, and continued to 

 spread uadl it involved some fifteen towns. The disease was 

 finally exterminated in 1867, but with heavy expenditure to 

 the State ; and hence, from its extensive prevalence in that 

 state, it is often referred to as the " Massachusetts Cattle Dis- 

 ease." It has also, in the meantime, occurred in several other 

 states. Now it has invaded ouf borders, and threatens to 

 extend beyond its present limits unless quarantine regulations 

 are strictly enforced, and the cordon be tightly drawn upon 

 our western boundary line, and perhaps the pole-axe vigorous- 

 ly swung at the public expense before the season is over. 



My attention was first called to the present outbreak of this 

 disease, in Ridgefield, by a dispatch from Secretary Gold, re- 

 questing me to meet him there to investigate the matter. On 

 our arrival, •March 11th, we found that Henry A. Stuart had 

 lost three valuable cows, and had another very sick with this 

 same disease. He had separated the sick cow from the rest 

 of his lierd, as there was no hope of her recovery, and as he 

 feared that the disease might be contagious. There were six 

 other cows and a pair of oxen in his herd, all of which showed 

 suspicious symptoms of this complaint, the same as those which 

 had died when first taken, tliough none of them were very 

 sick, yet we quarantined the animals. 



I tested the temperature of the body, in the rectum, with 

 Casella's self-registering thermometer, and found that the six 

 cows and oxen manifested those incipient but characteristic 

 symptoms of pleuropneumonia, which nothing but this instru- 

 ment can detect at such an early stage of this disease. The 

 temperature of the whole herd stood as follows : 



