108 



BlacTi tongue. — In Sampson. County, North Carolina, a dozen deaths 

 have occurred from "black tongue;", and 5 per cent, of the cows and 

 3-earlings of Utah County, Utah, have died from the same disease. 



In AYashington County, Illiuois, " there is a kind of itch, in some re- 

 spects similar to scab in sheep ; the animals afflicted seem as healthy as 

 others. As soon as warm weather begins the cattle commence rubbing, 

 in some cases rubbing the hair entirely off the head and neck. It may 

 be nothing but lice." 



A report from Schuyler County, Illinois, notes the loss of nearly seven 

 hundred cows from a kind of sore mouth, the tongue swelling so that 

 the animal is unable to masticate or swallow food. 



In Pulaski a few cattle have died of a strange disease. " In some 

 instances dark venous blood has been voided in the later stages, and 

 after death the alimentary canal is filled with the same dark blood to 

 the exclusion of all fecal matter. In some cases the animal continued 

 to feed without giving indication of disease until within twenty-four 

 hours of death. Xo evidence of contagion." 



Milk fiicl-7iess is reported from Lorain, Ohio, and " milk fever" from 

 Erie. In Amite County, Mississippi, cattle have been much troubled 

 with lice, which infest them in immense numbers, seriously affecting their 

 health. 



The buffalo gnat, which sometimes causes the destruction of cattle in 

 the Southwest, has been very injurious in portions of Arkansas, causing 

 the death of 5 per cent, of .tlie cattle in Arkansas County already, 

 " with six weeks yet for the pest to run if the weather is wet, and three 

 weeks if dry." It has not appeared at that locality before for years, 

 and has been a worse infliction than ever before. 



Among all the diseases named, perhaps starvation, with its various 

 aliases, as " general debility," " hollow horn," " horn ail," or " hollow 

 belly," is productive of greater loss than any other. Xeglect, exj)osure, 

 insufficient or irregular feeding, and no feeding whatever, are prolific 

 causes of weakness, disease, prostration, and death. In Piscataquis 

 County, ]\Iaine, a few cases of " horn ail" are reported; also in Holmes, 

 Ohio, in Stafford, Virginia, and in Clark, Mississippi. 



Our correspondent in Nueces, Texas, estimates that not less than 

 twenty thousand head of cattle have perished by drought. 



It is gratifying, however, to state that the losses from exposure and 

 neglect are far less than in former years. That there is practiced a 

 more sensible economy, if not a higher humanity than formerly, is evi- 

 dent from the repeated mention of im})rovement in the treatment of 

 farm auimals. The correspondent in Windsor County, Vermont, testi- 

 fies upon tbis point that " since farmers have generally furnished good 

 protection for their stock the various diseases that formerly prevailed 

 are scarcely heard of." 



DISEASES OF HOESES. 



Diseases among horses have not been unusually prevalent or fatal. 

 Comparatively few cases are reported from northern latitudes. The 

 most frequent mention is made of "blind staggers," which has prevailed 

 in Berks County, in Pennsylvania; Calvert and Queen Anne's, in 

 Maryland ; Sampson, Tyrell, Duplin, Hertford, and Orange, North Caro- 

 lina; Bartow, llichmond, and Walker, Georgia; Calhoun and Etowah, 

 Alabama; Uvalde, Itiisk, and lied Kiver, Texas; Benton, Arkansas; 

 Sevier, Meigs, Alabama; Coffee, Monroe, Jefferson, Kobertson, and 

 Knox, Tennessee; Butler, Cedar, Ne-wton, and Taney, Missouri. 



