64 Rinderpest Precautions and Remedies. 



a string behind the poll. Five to seven minutes was generally 

 sufficient to produce insensibility, and the cattle wei'e kept under 

 the influence for periods of from half-an-hour to two hours. 

 Seven or eight doses upon the average were generally found 

 sufficient to effect a cure. Rosa Lee had seventy-four inhalations 

 between April 19th and June 18th, and five others had from 

 forty-eight to sixty. General Hopewell, which was hired from 

 Mr. Thomas Booth at 200 gs. for the season, was a very anxious 

 and curious case, as his general external symptoms were healthy 

 but his mouth very bad. He was only ill three days, and had 

 six inhalations, but his cure became hopeless, and he was killed 

 on the fourth. Master Jolly fought hard for a month, but fifty- 

 two inhalations only kept the disease under, and failed to cure 

 him. 



The leading effect of the chloroform was to convert the breath 

 of the cattle from a very foul into a perfectly pure state. Before the 

 administration the stench from their fevered mouths was fearful, 

 and in a few minutes the breath became " as sweet as a nut." 

 The inflammation of the mouth also seemed very much subdued, 

 and the blood-shot fiery eye, under its influence, gradually grew 

 quite natural again. It appears to neutralise the poison in the 

 system, while the suspended vitality gives the constitution rest 

 and enables it to " spar for time." The fever usually returned 

 in not less than twelve hours, and if it kept away for more than 

 forty-eight they were generally safe, and ready for linseed tea, 

 oatmeal gruel, and other stimulants. Still the disease was most 

 treacherous. They would rise up, eat hay, and drink water after 

 chloroform as if nothing had happened, and then, when every- 

 thing seemed going on well, they would relapse and become as 

 ill as ever. However, after all this care and anxiety, Mr, Aylmer 

 found himself, before July, with a clean bill of health, and 

 with upwards of 50 per cent, of those which had been treated, 

 alive and well in their stalls. All of those which were in calf 

 went their full time, and the calves showed no traces of the crisis 

 through which the dams had passed. The treatment was originally 

 suggested by Dr. Dickson, author of 'The Fallacies of the 

 Faculty.' Such are the principal facts as to precautions and 

 remedies which I gathered in the course of my tour, and I leave 

 them without comment in your hands. 



Yours, &c., 



Henry H. Dixon. 



P, Frerk, Esq. 



