THE DISEASES OF CATTLE 293 



close against the body; and still others, through the 

 shoulder where one places a seton in a sweenied horse. 

 That these remedies do any good is doubtful. No trials 

 have ever been made with animals positively known to 

 be affected with the disease, so that it can neither be de- 

 nied nor affirmed. 



The only known remedy or rather preventive that 

 has been tested and approved by careful experiments 

 both in the United States and Europe is inoculation. 

 This is done by various means. The most successful 

 is the method employed by the Government which is 

 by means of hypodermic injections of a solution pre- 

 pared by mixing a certain quantity of the finely pul- 

 verized dried muscle of an animal that has died of black- 

 leg with distilled water. This is forced by the syringe 

 into the cavity between the outer skin and the flesh, 

 preferably on the shoulder. Animals thus treated are 

 immune from attacks of blackleg if it is done after 

 the calf is eight months of age. If done earlier the ani- 

 mal seems to outgrow the immunity and if exposed 

 will contract the disease. 



Animals so treated seldom die of the disease, the 

 percentage being extremely small, and then it is not 

 always certain that vaccination was properly per- 

 formed. It is estimated that on many western ranges 

 on an average fully 10 per cent of all the calves die of 

 blackleg. I have known forty calves out of sixty to 

 die in ten days in one pasture in spite of all the reme- 

 dies used. On the other hand where vaccination is 

 regularly followed the loss is almost wholly wiped out, 

 the few that die probably being cases where the dose 

 was wasted through carelessness on the part of the 

 operator in not getting the needle in the right place. In 



