120 Bureau of Farmees' Institutes. 



presence sometimes occasion. In the stomach of the cow can 

 almost always be found nails, pieces of barb wire and various ex- 

 traneous objects. I should say that at least seventy-five per 

 cent, of the cows used upon the farm or in the dairy are so af- 

 fected. Some experience no ill effects from their presence, while 

 others are sickened and emaciated by the inflammatory action 

 which the irritating substance causes as it becomes lodged in the 

 coats of the stomach or works its way through that organ into 

 other tissues. 



One time I selected a thin, worn-out cow, presenting all the 

 external manifestations of tuberculosis as a case illustrative of 

 the ravages of this disease. Upon a post-mortem examination, 

 the lungs were sound and perfect, but a large table fork protrud- 

 ing through the coats of the stomach and surrounded by a large 

 field of inflammatory exudates, readily accounted for the animal's 

 wasted appearance. 



Catarrhal pneumonia in cattle often leaves lesions in the lungs 

 which have been mistaken for and accepted as evidence of the 

 existence of tuberculosis, although the two conditions are entirely 

 different. Where the disease has been of a severe type, we may 

 find a portion of the lung destroyed and in its place, an abscess 

 of varying size, encapsulated and presenting a varied degree of 

 consistency, according to its age. Beyond its mere presence, it 

 exerts no ill effect upon the animal and remains at all times dif- 

 ferent from the deposits of the disease with which it is con- 

 founded. The deposits of actinomycosis in the lungs of cows can 

 not be distinguished from the deposits of tuberculosis by the 

 unaided eye. 



Throughout the West, a large number of emaciated steers are 

 bought and shipped to distilleries in Pennsylvania and other 

 States to be fed, or_, more properly speaking, stuffed with the 

 refuse from these concerns. Within a month thev undergo a 

 wonderful transformation. They rapidly take on flesh and are 

 then shipped to abattoirs throughout the country. While they 

 may appear to good advantage, they in no way equal the corn or 

 grain fed animal, as an article of food. In the short space of one 



