CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 453 



geon, and must be again examined at the close of the quarantine. K 

 then found uncontaminated, a certificate is granted which will authorize 

 their removal to any point in the State. In enforcing this quarantine, 

 care is taken to consult the interests of the importers so far as it is con- 

 sistent \sith the interests of the State. These precautionary measures 

 are made necessary in order to protect the stock of the State, not only 

 from infection by pleuro-pneumonia or lung plague, but also from rinder- 

 pest and the hoof and mouth disease, all of which are now prevalent 

 in Europe. 



■ The report of Secretary Edge concludes with a brief pathological 

 history of the disease — its nature, symptoms, and lesions as shown in 

 postmortem examinations. It is accompanied by colored lithocaustic 

 plates prepared by Prof. J. W. Gadsden, M. E. 0. V. S., formerly of 

 England, but now a resident of Philadeli:)hia. These illustrations are 

 given elsewhere, and are marked respectively Plates Kos. II and III. 



Mr. Edge closes his report as follows : 



In our dealings with the disease under the immediate direction of the government, 

 we find many jjoints upon which scientists differ, and which it would be impolitic for 

 laymen like ourselves to endeavor to settle ; but of one point we feel certain, and in 

 which wo have the imlorsement of every practical man who has had the disease among 

 his stock, and this is the contagious and dangerous natui'e of the disease. Whether 

 the disease can only be conveyed from animal to animal by actual contact, or whether 

 it can or cannot be conveyed in the clothing, by the excretion, breath, or animals of 

 another tribe; whether the disease is of ancient or of comparatively recent origin; 

 whether it can be carried from herd to herd by a stream of water ; whether it can be 

 intensified in its ravages by bad ventilation or bad treatment ; whether a complete 

 separation of a certain specified number of feet of space will or will not prevent in- 

 fection ; whether in its first stages it is or is not contagious ; whether it will or will 

 not affect sheep, are all questions for scientists to determine, and which are all lost 

 sight of in the one great question in the solution of which we are engaged — can the 

 disease be eradicated by prompt and rigid action in the manner proposed f If so, all 

 these questions can be solved in the future ; if not, then the future of our stock 

 breeders is indeed precarious. In defense of the propriety of the action of the joint 

 committee of the legislature, and of the legislature itself, as given in the foregoing 

 pages, we have nothing to say, except that the end in view justifies the means. K by 

 the expenditure of a thousand dollars by the State we can save hundreds of thousanda 

 to her stock breeders and stock owners, and as many millions to the country at large, 

 then we think no one will complain. If the result in New York, New Jersey, and 

 Pennsylvania shall demonstrate that this cannot be done, we may still point with 

 pride to the fact that this action has saved more thousands than it has cost hundreds ; 

 has demoiLstrated to other States that when Pennsylvania is appealed to for co-opera- 

 tion in a good cause, she is not slow to respond ; and that when so important an in- 

 terest is in danger, the State is not slow in her attemxjt to extend a helping hand. 



Professor Gadsden, of Philadelphia, Pa., writing under date of Jan- 

 uary 21, 1880, says : 



The authorities in this State are still at work in stamping out the disease of pleuro- 

 pneumonia among cattle. There are now but three infected herds left, and they are 

 in three difiercnt counties of the State, viz., Delaware, Lancaster, and Lehigh, which 

 are giving the authorities any trouble. Each herd wiU be kept in quarantine three 

 uionths after the last trace of disea.se has disappeared. The owners of diseased 

 cattle complain of the small sum paid per head by the State, but Secretary Edge ia 

 afraid to pay more for fear the good work will have to stop for want of means. I 

 notice that the" authorities in the State of New York have ordered all work suspended 

 until the legislature shall have appropriated more money. 



I inclose you a letter received this morning from J. C. Michener, a veterinary sur- 

 geon employed by Secretary Edge. It contains a " bundle of facts" proving the con- 

 tagiousness of this disease, and shows the great folly of allowing this nefarious traffic 

 in diseased animals. Many such cases as the one alluded to could be traced out in 

 .this State. Secretary Edge, in a conversation with me yesterday, said that he was 

 satisfied the disease could be stamped out in this State if diseased animals were pro- 

 hibited from entering it. He has spent only about one-half of the $3,000 appro- 



