6 THE LUNG PLAGUE OF CATTLE. 



warm season and the open-air life in the fields. That it had no connec- 

 tion with the contemporaneous sickness in man is shown by Valentini 

 himself, who shows the latter to have been of a malarious origin. 



In estimating the true nature and cause of the cattle disease, it must 

 not be forgotten that Europe was about that time engaged in general 

 warfare, an occurrence which has never failed to induce a universal 

 extension of the animal plagues. Thus the Poles were waging a war 

 with the Turks, the Swedes with the Russians, French, and Savoyards, 

 and the French with the Dutch; and Hesse, where the plague was 

 especially noted by the historian, was directly in the midst of the con- 

 tending nationalities. 



That Valentini attributed the outbreak to the weather is not surpris- 

 ing, since physicians can still be found so antiquated as to attribute 

 this and other animal plagues to the peculiarities of the seasons. But 

 Yalentini inadvertently furnishes further evidence of the justice of our 

 position in reporting in the same year the prevalence of the aphthous 

 fever (foot and mouth disease) in animals and men. "In the autumnal 

 equinox from the last of August inflammation of the gums, tongue, and 

 mouth in men; in animals, inflammation of the feet was also observed" 

 (Sydenham, Opp., I, p. 283). Both plagues were introduced by con- 

 tagion by means of cattle driven with the armies. Equally careful 

 historians would doubtless have noted these in most of the other coun- 

 tries of Europe as well. 



Wirth records the prevalence of lung plague in Switzerland and adja- 

 cent countries in 1726 and 1727, and that it continued its ravages in 

 different localities until 1739. This was also a period in which the rav- 

 ages of rinderpest were most extensive, both plagues having been man- 

 ifestly propagated by the wars of Charles XII and of the Spanish suc- 

 cession. 



From this time the records are more definite. In 1743 the disease is 

 reported as ravaging Suabia (Wirth), but immediately afterward its ex- 

 tensive prevalence is noted coin ciden tally with the war of the Austrian 

 succession. Thus in 1764 Trumpy reports its presence in Pomerania; in 

 1769-'70 Bourgelat records its continuous existence in Franche-Compte ; 

 in 1769 Wirth notices its ravages in Fulda, Germany; from 1772 to 1830 

 its existence was virtually uninterrupted in Nassau (Franque) ; inl774- : '76 

 it ravaged Istria and Dalmatia (Fanti), and was still prevailing in the 

 former in 1790 (Orus, Bottani) ; from 1778-'90 it devastated Wiirtemberg 

 and Silesia (Kausch, Wirth) ; from 1786- 7 91 Bavaria (Plank, Laubender), 

 and in 1892 Franconia (Hensinger) ; these latter extensions were favored 

 by the military movements in connection with the partition of Poland 

 in 1772, and by the collection of troops in connection with the disputed 

 succession in Bavaria in 1777 and 1785. 



LUNG PLAGUE PERMANENT IN THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL EUROPE. 



Bourgelat's statement that this plague prevailed continuously in 

 Franche-Compte about 1770 is only a solitary illustration of its perennial 

 presence in the uiifenced mountainous regions of Central and Eastern 

 Europe. In these, herd was continually mingling with herd, so that 

 fresh subjects were always presented for infection, and the contagion 

 had every opportunity for its perpetuation. In the well-cultivated 

 plains, where the separate holdings were inclosed, a natural limit was 

 set to the life of the plague germ, since, after a time, in the smaller 

 herds, all the susceptible animals had fallen victims to the pestilence, 

 and if several months elapsed before the birth or introduction of 



