292 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



his pocket knife for the work, placing it when done, wet 

 with blood, in his pocket. The following day in a fight 

 he was shot through the leg and the bullet struck the 

 knife, burying it deep in the flesh. The leg was ampu- 

 tated soon after but in spite of all that could be done 

 the man died in a few days of blood poisoning which 

 many afterward thought to be blackleg. Unfortunately 

 no one thought at the time to watch the symptoms 

 carefully nor were any tests made of his blood to ascer- 

 tain whether or not the bacilli of blackleg were pres- 

 ent. That this man died of blackleg was and still is 

 the conviction of nearly every one in that region ac- 

 quainted with the facts. 



Remedial Measures. When there is an outbreak of 

 blackleg it is too late to save stock already affected. 

 Veterinary science can protect the well but cannot save 

 the sick. The immediate removal of the stock from the 

 infected pasture or vicinity is the first thing to be done. 

 A common method of fighting it is for the men to mount 

 their horses and run the whole herd around the pasture 

 or range for some time. In this case the theory is that 

 it starts the blood to circulating and stops the coagulat- 

 ing process which is the effect of the disease. 



I have known men to spend a whole day driving a 

 herd of cattle about on the range and not lose one from 

 blackleg. Of course there is nothing settled by this 

 statement, because it is impossible definitely to state 

 that any of the animals so handled were suffering from 

 the disease when the chasing process began. In addi- 

 tion to this setons formed of strips of cotton cloth 

 soaked in assafoetida, turpentine and the like are placed 

 in the skins of the suspected animals. Some men run 

 them through the dew-lap and others through the tail, 



