EEPOET OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL ESTDUSTKY. 435 



stomach or manifolds were slightly impacted. The duodenum was black in the 

 mucous coat. The small intestine had numerous small black spots along its length. 

 The villous coat was reddened and in some places, more especially the ileum, 

 blackened by inflammation. There had been some peritonitis, indicated by the pres- 

 ence of considerable serum in the abdominal cavity. The lungs were normal; the 

 extreme tip of the right was affected wish worms, Strongylus and micrurus. The 

 thoracic walls were slightly inflamed in the posterior portion adjoining the dia- 

 phragm; at one or two points near the diaphragm they were adherent. The fauces 

 were normal. 



The foregoing presents as nearly as may be the facts in connection 

 with this outbreak. They present also to us what is known of the 

 the primary infection, the incubation, the duration, and the final ces- 

 sation of the disease. 



Of the different stages of the disease that which we have the least 

 information of, viz., the stage of infection, is the most important, 

 and unfortunately is the one which is the least capable of elucida^- 

 tioii. The history of the herd after leaving Chicago is comparatively 

 clear, but before that time but little is absolutely certain to us. As 

 the herd, as stated, was made up of at least nine different lots when 

 purchased in Chicago, it is evident that those cattle may have come 

 from as many different localities as there were lots. There are a few 

 facts hitherto unmentioned, which will give us a better idea of where 

 these animals may have originated. In the first place they were a lot 

 of stockers or cattle to be resold for fattening purposes; only 26 head 

 were sufficiently well fed to be sold to the Baltimore abattoirs. Fur- 

 ther, they were a lot of mixed cattle, 1 bull, 64 steers, and 8 heifers. 

 Of those that came under my observation, the steers were in medium 

 condition, and with the exception of one set that bore traces of Here- 

 ford blood, were ordinary cattle. The heifers were young, but were 

 not grade stock, The horns of the three and four year old steers were 

 as a rule long and thin, but not Texan, as, instead of branching later- 

 ally, they were more erect and narrow. One steer only was branded 

 on the thigh. I did not see the brand. Several of the steers were 

 branded on the hoi^ns. The brand was D. F., burnt on earch horn. I 

 saw neither ear nor dewlap marks. The cattle were covered with 

 young, well-grown cattle-ticks. Of these signs that of the marking 

 by branding the horns seems to be the most characteristic, for this 

 mode of marking is not a custom of the range country, but of some 

 restricted locality in the more eastern States. The presence of the 

 cattle-ticks indicate that these animals came from the latitude of 

 Washington and St. Louis, or further south, for they are not said to 

 be abundant north of this latitude. 



With but two exceptions, a heifer bought by Mr. John Gaither and 

 a steer bought by Mr. C. M. Thomas, all the animals were sick. This 

 might indicate that none had hitherto had the disease, as one attack 

 is supposed to render an animal immune from further attacks. Mr. 

 Gaither's animal was a young heifer, and it may have been that she 

 had a slight attack which passed unnoticed. Though there is uncer- 

 tainty as to any of the animals coming from the country permanently 

 infected, the evidence obtained from a study of the outbreak tends 

 to show that they did not. 



The history of the herd while at Chicago, prior to the 6th of August, 

 when it was made up, is as indefinite as the previous history. The 

 only facts that could be learned were that these animals had been 

 shifted around the yards through some days. But this indefiniteness 

 is of itself sufficient to afford a strong suspicion, when we consider the 

 after history, that these cattle may have been iufected aoout that 



