THE LUNG PLAGUE. 13 



pleuropneumonia.&quot; Mr. Chenery then did all in his power to prevent the spread of dis 

 ease from his farm. The last case at the Highland farm, Belmont, occurred on the 8th of 

 January, 1860. 



In June, 1859, Curtis Stoddard, of North Brookfield, bought three young cattle, one bull 

 and two heifers, from Mr. Chenery. One calf showed signs of sickness on the way home. 

 Leonard Stoddard, father of Curtis, thinking he could better treat the sick calf, took it to his 

 own barn, where he had forty-eight head, exclusive of calves, and with which the calf mingled. 

 One animal after another was attacked, till the 12th of April, when thirteen head had died, 

 and most of the remainder were sick. The disease continued to spread from farm to farm 

 as rapidly as circumstances favored the admixture of stock. The period of incubation in 

 well-defined cases varied from nineteen to thirty-six days, and averaged twenty-six and 

 two-thirds days. 



The people of Massachusetts, a little slow at first, overcame the delays incident to 

 legislation, established a commission for the purpose of exterminating the disease, and an 

 appropriation of $10,000 was placed under the control of the commissioners on the 4th of 

 April, 1860. The disease was gaining ground rapidly, and a bill to extirpate the disease 

 passed its several stages and was approved on the same day. Commissioners were ap 

 pointed ; herds were examined by surgeons, and, if infected, slaughtered ; the animals pro 

 nounced healthy at the time of inspection were paid for ; all the money appropriated was 

 spent, and such was the feeling then in Massachusetts that private gentlemen made themselves 

 responsible for a second amount of nearly $20,000. An extra session of the legislature was 

 called for the 13th of May. Fresh powers were sought and obtained, additional commission 

 ers were appointed, and the disease was apparently exterminated. It reappeared in 1861, a 

 new board of commissioners was appointed, and further successful efforts were made to 

 prevent the disease. On the 24th of December, 1863, Mr. Charles L. Flint, in a letter to Gov 

 ernor Andrew, asserted that pleuropneumonia still existed in twelve or fifteen towns of 

 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. E. T. Thayer, to whom the people of Massa 

 chusetts owe much for his skill and industry as the veterinary commissioner, and Mr. 

 Charles P. Preston, wrote their final report to the senate and house of representatives of 

 Massachusetts on the 30th of December, 1867. In that report, in tendering their resig 

 nations to the governor, they congratulate the people on the success which had been in 

 sured by efficient co-operation &quot; in eradicating one of the worst forms of contagious disease 

 which has been found among cattle.&quot; 



From numerous inquiries there is not the slightest doubt in rny mind that the lung 

 disease has continued, ever since its first introduction, to attack some of the numerous 

 dairies on Long Island. One of the best informed dairymen in Brooklyn informed me 

 that, three months after starting in business, sixteen years ago, he lost eleven out of twelve 

 cows he had purchased in Newark, New Jersey. He bought more and began to inoculate 

 with excellent results. Other people were losing, and he established himself on Jamaica 

 Pond to be clear of every one. When he stopped inoculating the disease reappeared. Mr. 

 Benjamin Babbit, of Lafayette avenue, was the first to inoculate after the introduction of this 

 practice in Europe, and many dairymen adopted it. The board of health opposed the 

 practice, as many of the cow.s lost portions of the tail, and reports were made of blood and 

 matter finding their way into the milk-pail. The disease has never ceased, and I have 

 visited many dairies, in all of which, at one time or another, and in most of which during 



