502 KEPOttT OF THE BTJBEATT OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



done in the case of the bacillus of anthrax), so that a supply can be at all times 

 available and the inoculation of all calves at the time of branding made compulsory 

 for a few years, pleuro-pneumonia would disappear from the Australian continent. 

 I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, 



P. R. GORDON, 

 Chief Inspector of Stock. 



MALIGNANT CATARRH AMONG CATTLE. 



i 



In July, 1887, Dr. James Law was called to Steele County, Minn., 

 to make an investigatien of a malady which had prevailed in a herd 

 of cattle belonging to Mr. Fred. Ahrens, of that county, for something 

 like^a year previous. Subsequently Dr. Law reported the results of 

 his investigations as follows: 



I have just returned from Havana, Steele County, Minn, , where I made an investi- 

 gation of 9 malady which has prevailed in the herd of Fred. Ahrens, of that place, 

 for the past year. I learned that Mr. Ahrens had lost 11 cows and 13 yearlings and 

 calves out or a herd which still numbers 50 head. The disease had taken but 2 or 

 3 animals at a time, and sometimes at long intervals, but once developed it advanced 

 with great rapiditv and earned off its victim in three or four days. It had been 

 confined to no particular season, though there had been no cases from November 18, 

 1886, to March 15, 1887. Among old cattle it had been confined to cows, though 

 among calves and yearlings it showed no predilection for a given sex. Five cows 

 had died from spring to November, 1886; in March, 1887, 5 more cows died, and in 

 July 2 more cows fell ill, of which 1 died the day before my arrival. 



The food had been so varied that nothing seemed justly chargeable on that, while 

 the water taken from an artesian well was exceptionally good. The cattle-yards 

 were on rising ground and well drained, and the barns in good condition. 



The nature of the soil seemed to be the one thing inimical to health. The pasture 

 was a 160-acre lot having a large swale in it, as is so frequent in different parts of 

 Minnesota. In another pasture adjoining the barns, and in which I found the last 

 surviving subject of the disease (a cow), the greater part of the surface was covered 

 with high, dense tufts or hummocks, indicating its habitually wet character. Finally 

 just below the yards and receiving their drainage was a large, stagnant, offensive 

 pond, which the owner is now engaged in filling up. 



Mr. Ahrens has owned the place for a number of years and lost no cattle until 

 1886. The 160-acre pasture he rented, and prior to his renting it others had done so 

 without losing cattle turned on to it. 



Symptoms. These are described to me, and as seen in the one surviving case, 

 agreed in all essential particulars, and may therefore be stated in general terms. 

 Tne attack comes on suddenly with a violent trembling or nervous shuddering, 

 which often occurs in paroxysms. The secretion of milk promptly dries up; appe- 

 tite is completely lost, and the coat stares, though to a variable extent at different 

 times. The breathing becomes hurried and anxious, and all the visible mucous 

 membranes are congested and their nutrition largely impaired. The eyes are of a 

 slightly yellowish-red color, and water abundantly, saturating the sides of the face; 

 the muzzle dries, cracks, and has its cuticle detached in shreds; the tongue parts 

 with its epithelium when it attempts to withdraw it; the vulva, of a dark-red, gran- 

 ular appearance, discharges a muco-purulent fluid; the rectum is in a similar con- 

 dition and stains the feces with blood and blood-clots, and also the thermometer used 

 to take the temperature. The victim shows nervous disorder, by dullness, acute 

 nervousness, or loss of muscular control, so that in the advanced stages it sways 

 and staggers, or when down is utterly unable to rise. Death usually occurs in con- 

 vulusions with much struggling. Temperature in the advanced stages, 101.5 F. ^ 



In the case which I saw one horn came off in the hand of a man who assisted in 

 drawing a cow out of the ditch. The matrix of the horn was of a deep red color, 

 and from it blood oozed, but the loose connection indicated the impaired nutrition of 

 the structure. 



Necropsy. Ecchymosis on the mucous membrane of the mouth, nose, larynx, 

 bladder, and rectum; also on the omentum and mesentery. The sublumbar, mesen- 

 terio, and omental glands were congested. No marked ecchymosis was observed on 

 the first three stomachs, though the ingesta adhered with great tenacity to about 2 

 inches of the folds of the third stomach near their attached border, The mucous 

 membrane of the fourth stomach was of a deep, dark red. but not much thickened 

 nor softened. The mucosa of the duodenum was also congested. The remainder 

 of the small intestines, and the large with the exception of the rectum, seemed nat- 



