158 STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



We visited the home of Mr. Sparling, the author of the wide-spread 

 blistering-. His own cattle had not escaped the application of this 

 irritant, the nature of which could not be revealed. Some of these 

 cattle showed small, cutaneous swellings, just above the dew-claws. 

 Mr. Sparling assured us that this was the most dire plague that 

 ever visited man or beast, attacking as it did all cattle, regardless 

 of age, and involving any portion of the skin or internal organs. Cat- 

 tle that died showed violent purging. (Dr. MacGregor was aware 

 of the fact that Mr. Sparling bought inordinate quantities of croton 

 oil.) He had seen the udder frequently affected and classified the 

 case examined by us as an example of this plague which he termed 

 muscular tuberculosis, being different from ituljerculosis as we are 

 familiar with it. He recognized three distinct diseases of cattle as 

 very prevalent in the neighborhood, viz., tuberculosis, actinomycosis 

 and muscular tuberculosis. 



Muscular tuberculosis manifested itself as a swelling in the inter- 

 maxillary space the size of a hickory-nut usually, but attaining the 

 size of a hen's es^g. This swelling was in the region of the submaxillary 

 lymph glands. Mr. Sparling treated cattle at such times as he could 

 spare from his farm work, usually after supper. His rate was three 

 dollars up to twelve head, and twenty-five cents for each additional 

 animal. Judging from the herds seen by us, close to 100 per cent 

 of the cattle in herds treated were affected. It was difficult for us 

 to make any valual)le and reliable observations, on account of the 

 treatment to which the animals examined by us had been subjected. 

 Other duties prevented our making an investigation of diseased cattle 

 that had not been treated. Dr. MacGregor was satisfied that there 

 was some disease in the cattle of the region that required the careful 

 work of a diagnostician to determine. 

 Examination of material at laboratory: 



Pus from cheek of Penuski's cow : Odorless, light color, viscid. 

 Microscopical: No bacteria, very' few cells (polynuclear leucoc^'- 



tes), much fibrin. 

 Inoculation into bouillon and agar gave no growth. 

 Guinea pig inoculated 8-3-10 subcutaneously. 

 Pus from abscess on carpus of Mr. Bulsowski's cow: Bad odor, 



not viscid, yellowish. 

 Microscopical : Many bacteria, micrococci mostly in pairs and 

 tetrads about .5 mikron in diameter; many pus cells. 

 Gross appearance of the diseased udder suggested a sarcoma. 

 Microscopic examination proved the turner to be a soft fibroma (fibro- 

 sarcoma) ." — [Ward Giltner.] 



'^ Malignant Catarrh of Cattle. — We were requested to investigate a 

 supposed outbreak of malignant catarrh of cattle on the fai*m of 

 Mr. W. N. Park, Sunfield, Mich., on May 15, 1911. On April 13th a 

 grade Short-horn cow had lost her calf presumably as a result of in- 

 jury inflicted by another cow. This cow retained her afterbirth and 

 developed a serious discharge from eyes and nose with a fatal termina- 

 tion in about 24 hours. 



The second case, which I attended, was a red poll grade cow. The 

 owner associated a purulent discharge from eyes and nose with the 



