REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF AKIMAL INDUSTRY. 



439 



was but eight days. This time is the shortest stage of incuba- 

 tion of any in the lot; in fact, it is so short that unless further expe- 

 rience demonstrates that such a short stage of incubation may be 

 passed through at times, we may suspect that another disease may 

 have killed the cow. 



The steer that infected the cow on Mr. James Etzlur's place was 

 taken there on the 18th of August. There were other cows on the 

 place, but this one that died was observed to have actual contact in 

 lighting with the strange steer. The cow died on the 3d of Septem- 

 ber, after an incubative stage of fourteen days at the outside, allow- 

 ing two days for the fever. 



The following table is compiled to present these facts more clearly 

 and concisely: 



TABLE IV. 



A comparison of the data of Table III with those of Table IV af- 

 fords much confirmative evidence. In. the outbreak amongst the 

 introduced cattle the stage of infection was said to be during a week. 

 The native cows stricken seem to show, from the variety of methods 

 of exposure, that the time of infection is not necessarily long. It 

 may be but an hour and include a longer time. In the case of the 

 Long & Boston cows, if actual contact was necessary, this stage lasted 

 but a few minutes; if pasturing along the road was the means of in- 

 fecting the cattle then there need not necessarily have been even a 

 few hours. The other cows were exposed through a longer period. 

 The two belonging to Baker and Etzlur had not only opportunity of 

 actual contact but of feeding in the same pasture with the diseased 

 animals. The other three cows had less opportunity of contact, and 

 none of feeding in same pasture, and were thought to have had little 

 opportunity of being infected by drinking. They were infected, 

 however, and it must be ascribed either to actual contact over the 

 fence or to their drinking the same water. Mr. Etzlur's steer, which 

 was not bought until the 18th of August, showed that the disease in 

 this case was communicable from it to the cow fully a week after 

 the other cows had been infected, or that the time during which tJie 

 herd iv-as capable of infecting other cattle was at least eight days. In 

 all the cases of infection the infecting cattle are shown by the history 

 to have been recently excited and heated before the exposure of the 

 native cows. The only one of Etzlur's cattle that was stricken was 

 the cow that fought with the steer immediately after its arrival and 

 had actual contact. 



There are in the infection of the natives these different methods of 

 infection placed before us, viz., through actual contact, through 

 pasturage, and through the drinking water. Actual contact may 

 have been denied to none. The Long & Boston bell team offers the 



