THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



469 



disease seems extending far into the interioi*. Tlie 

 Kaffirs are perfectly at a loss how to manage the 

 disease, and not only so, but a pestilence spreads 

 among them from eating the diseased meat. Itis, there- 

 fore, highly desirable to obtain as clear an idea as 

 possible of the nature of the disease, and of the treat- 

 ment, that practice and experience have declared to 

 be the most beneficial. 



The general opinion appears to be, that locality has 

 not, as in some diseases, any appreciable effect. Be the 

 farm elevated or low in position, dry or swampy, near 

 the coast or far in the interior, in the east or west, 

 it appears that the cattle are everywhere liable to the 

 attack of lung-sickness; and there is no evidence de- 

 ducible from the answers before us to show that 

 locality has any power to modify the progress of the 

 disease when it has once seized on its victims. 



There is a great diversity of symptoms of the disease; 

 but the following are stated to be the most general : — 

 The animal will carry its head in a peculiar low man- 

 ner, its neck well straightened, there will be considera- 

 ble inflammation of the eyes and nostrils, sometimes 

 accompanied by cough, the ears hang — the whole ap- 

 pearance of the animal, perhajis, can best be described 

 as I'estless and fidgety. In a day or two it refuses 

 to eat. About the eighth or tenth day it begins to 

 swell, and to eat and drink voraciously for a few hours, 

 and then if it dies with the disease at its height, 

 strangulation takes place. 



To detect the first approach of the disease seems, 

 however, to be a difficult matter, as the early symp- 

 toms are not of so marked a character as to call to the 

 sufferer any special attention. It is much to be re- 

 gretted, therefore, that the obscurity of the earlier 

 symptoms on the one hand, and the circumstance of 

 the stock-breeder in the colony on the other, should 

 render it so difficult to discover them. For it is evi- 

 dent that the success of curative measures greatly de- 

 pends on the detection of the disease in its earliest 

 stages. After it has made such progress as to exhibit 

 the more prominent of the symptoms above detailed, 

 one lung is irretrievably lost ; and, if recovery takes 

 place, the animal can no longer be regarded as sound. 



The next point claiming attention in the inquiry is 

 the question of contagion ; for, as upon the considera- 

 tion that it is a contagious disease, important enact- 

 ments have been made, it is highly necessary that 

 some definite conclusion should be arrived at. 



Although there are a few dissentients, the great ma- 

 jority of the cattle-breeders are of opinion that the 

 disease is highly contagious. In the majority of cases 

 the disease has been traced to contact with sick beasts. 

 The chief prevention relied upon is inoculation ; but 

 even on this point opinions differ. Two methods of 

 inoculation have been resorted to ; one in which the 

 operation is performed on the tail, and the other in the 

 dewlap ; the former is, however, very difficult to 

 manage. The most general practice now is to inoculate 

 in the extremity of the tail, and then to prevent the 



serious inflammation that arises from extending up- 

 wards into the body by amputation and scarification of 

 the remaining stump. The virus should be taken 

 from an animal that is slightly attacked, for, if taken 

 from beasts that are far advanced or have died from 

 the disease, it will be certain death to the animal 

 inoculated. 



The advocates of inoculation insist on the observance 

 of certain conditions as necessary to success ; and 

 these are — first, that the cattle operated on must be 

 in good health at the time of the operation, that is, 

 free from the disease altogether. If inoculation be 

 practised on cattle that are labouring under the disease 

 in its first stage, when but obscure external appear- 

 ances present themselves, it is the united testimony of 

 many observers that the passage of this disease through 

 its several stages is accelerated — the beasts in that case 

 quickly exhibiting the prominent signs of the true 

 disease. As an instance, a Mr. Watkin, who had a 

 herd of 277 cattle, after he had lost 177 by the disease, 

 inoculated the remainder; but these seemed to die 

 quicker than before ; being probably already affected 

 by the disease in its first stage. 



From twenty to twenty-five days seems to be the 

 period for the maturation of the disease, and hence 

 this in a large herd will have the effect of conti- 

 nually keeping up the supply of contagious influence. 

 To shorten the first period of the disease, and compel 

 all the affected beasts to show the violent symptoms 

 more at the same time, is felt to be in itself a great 

 benefit, enabling the proprietor more effectually to put 

 a stop to its progress. 



The second condition insisted on is, the use of virus 

 that has been taken from beasts in the early stage of 

 the disease. At first many fatal mistakes were made 

 by not attending to this. 



We have given a sufficient sample of the nature of 

 the colonial evidence furnished in the course of the in- 

 vestigation set on foot in the Cape colony. 



We would recommend to the notice of the African 

 stock-masters the simple preventive recommended in 

 our columns last year by Mr. Mayston, of Stanshed 

 Park, Hants, which consisted in a dose of half-a-pound 

 to a pound (according to size and age) of Stockholm 

 tar, with a handful or two of salt mixed, a portion 

 rubbed well into the nostrils. Tliis we found most 

 effectual, and it certainly recommends itself by its 

 simplicity. 



We are glad to find that a former suggestion we 

 threw out as to the re-publication of the numerous 

 articles which have from time to time appeared in our 

 columns on pleuro-pneumonia has been attended to. 

 The extended study of the opinions of European 

 physiologists and veterinary practitioners oannot fail to 

 be instructive and useful in a quarter where a person 

 has to rely entirely upon his own judgment and promp- 

 titude of action, if he wishes to save any of his herd 

 when the disease shows itself. 



