374 The Diseases of Animals 



almost all cases ; this may be considered as a marked 

 symptom of this disease. Young cattle -ticks will be 

 found on the belly, inside of the thighs, on the fore- 

 legs or brisket. They are very small, and a close 

 examination is often necessary to reveal them. 



Post - mortem examination reveals the following 

 changes : The gall-bladder is distended with a dark 

 tarry, or thick granular bile. The spleen is greatly 

 enlarged and of a tarry consistency, hence the name, 

 "splenic fever." The bladder contains a quantity of 

 dark red urine. 



There is no known satisfactory medicinal treatment. 

 As soon as the disease occurs, all well cattle should be 

 removed from tick -infested ground and away from 

 tick -infested cattle. The ticks can be scraped off by 

 using a dull knife, provided there are but a few cattle 

 and they can be handled. The ticks so removed should 

 be destroyed. Sick cattle should be made as comforta- 

 ble as possible, watered frequently, and kept out of the 

 hot sun. If they will eat, laxative green food may be 

 given, such as green corn -fodder. Drenching sick 

 cattle with sweet milk is also to be recommended. 



Texas fever can be prevented by a strict quarantine 

 against tick-infested cattle, as the cattle -tick is the 

 only way, so far as known, by which the disease is 

 transmitted. Southern cattle do not spread the disease 

 during cold weather. The ticks are destroyed by the 

 cold as soon as they drop from the bodies of cattle, 

 or the eggs are destroyed, so that no young ticks hatch. 

 If the ticks are all removed from southern cattle, the 

 latter do not communicate the disease. The introduc- 



