FURTHER STUDIES ON BRISKET DISEASE 



By George H. Glover and L. E. Newsom 

 Veterinary Section, Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station 

 INTRODUCTION 



A previous publication^ of this Station presented a preliminary report 

 of a peculiar dropsical condition found among cattle in the mountains of 

 Colorado which the stockmen call "brisket disease." Some of the more 

 technical studies made previous to the publication of that report were 

 purposely omitted from it, but are given here, with the addition of such 

 observations as we have been able to make since that time. 



Altogether we have studied 45 cases, more or less completely, which 

 form the basis of this paper. Reports from New Mexico and Wyoming 

 indicate the existence of disease in that part of this country, but we 

 have never been able to definitely locate it in the high altitudes of any 

 other country. Dr. E. Hess, cattle pathologist, of Berne, Switzerland, 

 informs us that he knows nothing of the disease in that country. 



CONDITION OF HEART 



The heart, being suspected early as the organ at fault, came in for a 

 considerable share of attention. As stated in a former publication, it is 

 usually very large, flabby, and rather misshapen. Plate 28, B, shows a 

 normal and a diseased heart from two 4-months old calves of approxi- 

 mately the same weight. The normal heart weighed i}4 pounds, while 

 the one from the calf dead of brisket disease weighed 3X pounds. 



Being anxious to determine whether the hearts of animals raised at 

 high altitudes actually weighed more than those at sea level, a series of 

 hearts were weighed at three packing centers: Denver, Colorado; San 

 Francisco, California; and Fort Worth, Texas. The weighings at 

 Denver were made by Dr. E. W. Alkire, those at San Francisco by Dr. 

 E. A. Meyer, and those at Fort Worth by Dr. O. W. Seher, the two last- 

 named being veterinary inspectors of the Bureau of Animal Industrv. 

 Special instructions were given the men so that the trimming might be 

 done in the same manner, and it is believed the results are properly 

 comparable. The hearts were split in such a way that the four cavities 

 were laid open and the vessels were trimmed close to the organ. In 

 most instances a portion of the top of the left auricle was removed. 

 The results of these weighings are given in Table I. It is not considered 

 necessary to give in detail the other characters of the disease, except to 

 say that the animals show generalized edema and enlarged and sclerozed 

 livers such as would be expected in cardiac weakness (Pi. 28, A; 29; 30). 



' Glover, G. H., and Newsom I. E- brisket disease (dropsy of high altitudes). Colo. Agr. Exp. 

 Sta. Bui. 204, 24 p., illus. 1915. 



Journal of Agricultural Researcli, Vol. XV, No. 7 



Washington, D. C. Nov. 18, 1918 



qi KeyN0.ColQ.-2 



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