I 



CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 65 



poiut it appeared as if a strinj:: of twine were tieil very tight ronud the leg. Above 

 this part the tlesh was to all appearance in perfect health ; the lower part was hard, 

 Mack, and offensive. When the lower part became quite dry, and little else thaa 

 lione, it separated and fell off, after which the aninaals lived and ate heartily, hob- 

 bling along on the remaining stumps. They even began to grow fat. Their health 

 seemed perfect. They would, no doubt, have live<l long in this state, and were killed 

 only from motives of compassion. 



"One cow belonging to my father, which had lost only one of her hind feet, and that 

 at the first joint above the foot, bore a very strong, vigorous calf, which lived and 

 did well. The cow also afforded as much milk after as before her misfortune, and was 

 paHtured on the same grass to which her disease was attributed when in a state of 

 hay. 



"I think ihe disease was never known but one season. The first symptom of it was 

 observable in February, and it reached its crLsis about the middle of May. Should 

 Ihis conmiunication lead to any further observations on the nature and cause of the 

 disease I shall be much pleased, and they may be of great service to the agriculturist. 

 Should the disease ever again make its appearance I shall be more particular in my 

 observations. 



"I remain, very respectfully, 



"WM. T. WOODMAN. 



" P. S. — It should be observed, that though we have every year more or less of the 

 ergot, the quantity of it is never considerable. I think there is seldom more than one 

 jiint to a hundred bushels of rye. 



" Different remedies were tried, but none of them afforded any relief." 



'• Being desirious to acertain whether the disease of the grass to which Mr. W. re- 

 ferred had grown in meadows that had been deprived of their usual supply of water, 

 I addressed a letter to him in reference to this jjoint, and received the following an- 

 swer, under date of June 10, 1815 : 



"Your favor of the 30th ultimo came to hand the 4th instant. Since the receipt of it I 

 have made numerous inquiries, for the purpose of obtaining additional information 

 re8])ecting the disease (of which I communicated an account), and on the season 

 preceding its prevalence, «fec ; but I regret to inform you that farmers in general are 

 so deficient in observation, and so entirely out of practice of recording facts, that I 

 have nf't been able satisfactorily to ascertain whether the season in which the " in- 

 jurious hay was made" was a dry one or not. 



"However, my father informs me that, as nearly as he can recollect, about that period 

 the ditch which conveyed water to his meadow became so filled Avith mud and ac- 

 cumulations of mud and other matter as to render the supply very imperfect. As a 

 deficiency of water appears to be the cause of the unwholesome qualities of the hay, 

 it is highly probable that the injurious hay was made during the season that water 

 was wanting. But shortly after this time the death of my grandfather in a great 

 I measure excluded my father from the benefit of the water. The original plantation 

 I being divided into two farms, and that of my father lying farther down the stream, 

 j the water of the artificial course is exhausted before it reaches his laud. It should, 

 however, be remarked that since that period he mows his grass while it is very young, 

 1 and before the seeds are touched by the "smutty affection." Indeed, the farmers 

 generally in this neighborhood, since their cattle were affected with the disease, are 

 careful to mow much earlier than they did formerly. 



"I am strongly induced to believe that Mr. Cooper ascribes the disease to the proper 

 cause, for I have been correctly informed that a loail of the injurious hay was sold to 



Rogers, who at that time kept the Buck Tavern, in second street, whose cow, in 



cousequence of feeding on ir, was affected with a disease of a similar nature. 

 Your friend, &c., 



W. T. WOODMAN " 

 57.")! D A o 



