84 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



& Co., Chicago, at once induced the Pork Packers Association to appoint a commission, 

 consisting of Mr. W. E. Richardson, Dr. Blaney, and myself, to visit the localities where 

 the disease had appeared, and report on the matter. 



We accordingly started on the evening of the 29th of July, and prosecuted inquiries 

 at Tolono, Farina, and Cairo, returning to Chicago on the 4th of August. On the 5th I 

 was requested to continue my investigations for the Department of Agriculture, and, with 

 the Commissioner s consent, had the advantage of continued, earnest cooperation on the 

 part of Mr. W. E. Richardson, and Mr. H. D. Emery, editor of the Prairie Farmer. 

 Both these gentlemen brought to tear a knowledge of the country and the cattle trade 

 which materially aided me in my inquiries, and they have favored me with their advice 

 and assistance up to the completion of the present report. 



In accordance with the instructions received, I aimed at determining the following 

 points: 



1. The extent and nature of the Texan cattle traffic, and the state of health of the 

 Texan cattle. 



2. The circumstances under which these animals communicate disease to the stock of 

 the West and other parts north of the Gulf States. 



3. The history of the Texan fever, as it spreads over the States. 



4. The symptoms, post-mortem appearances, and nature of the so-called Spanish or 

 Texan fever. 



5. The means to be adopted for the prevention of the disease, and the cure of the 

 sick animals. 



My investigations have extended over the States of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, 

 Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, and these enable me to speak very positively as to the 

 nature of the disease and the means which must be adopted to prevent it. 



In the present report it is my intention to restrict myself to the annexed heads : 



1. Definition of the disease. 



2. Symptoms. 



3. Post-mortem appearances. 



4. Causes and nature of the disease. 



5. Curative treatment. 



6. Prevention. 



DEFINITION. 



The splenic or periodic fever, commonly known as Texas fever, Spanish fever, or 

 cattle fever, and which has been observed wherever and whenever cattle from the States 

 on the Gulf of Mexico have been driven north during the summer months, is a disease 

 peculiar to the ox tribe, which has never been described as attacking the southern cattle, 

 and which occurs, in a more or less latent form, among them. Its distinguishing features 

 have been most marked in the cattle of Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, 

 Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana, wherever these have grazed on pastures previously or simulta 

 neously occupied by herds from Texas and Florida. It is, so far as we have yet ascertained, 

 incapable of communication by the simple contact of sick with healthy animals; and, in 

 the strict sense of the terms, is neither contagious nor infectious. It is an enzootic disorder, 

 probably due to the food on which southern cattle subsist, whereby the systems of these 



