220 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



passed oiie-lialf mile nortli of Pratt's bouse with his cattle ou the 9th 

 of April ; a few days later brought 20 head of his cattle to Mr. Pratt's i 

 house and left them there overnight. Mr. Pratt had 9 bulls and several < 

 milch cows at home; these cattle grazed with the 20 head of the Boyd ' 

 cattle, and also grazed over the trail of the Boyd herd. On the 15th 

 of June Mr. Pratt took 8 of the bulls about 8 miles southwest to his 

 herd, and brought back with him one cow and her calf. This was the i 

 first cow to sicken and die. The 8 bulls remained well. On the 23d of j 

 June he took to the herd a dry cow and a bull; on or about the Gth of I 

 July both these died. No strange cattle, to his knowledge, passed along ' 

 the range where the cows and bulls grazed except the Boyd cattle* 

 After I obtained the above history from Mr. Pratt I learned that a team 

 of oxen coming from Fort Sill, near Eed River, Chickasaw Nation, were 

 driven through by Mr. Pratt's house and remained with him overnight; 

 this was in the mouth of June. From Pratt's they went west, passed 

 Otega post-office and crossed John Peteis's range in Barbour County. 

 It was now getting dark, so we returned to Harper. 



October 19, J met Mr. T. A. Barton, who lives in town. He stated 

 that he had his cattle on the range north of the railroad track, but did 

 not lose any. This morning we drove west G miles to the residence of 

 Mr. F. P. Melvin ; he lost 2 out of 4 head of cattle; one of these died on 

 the Sth of October, and the other on the 17th. I went out into the field 

 to ascertain the post mortem conditions of the latter, but found that 

 the dogs had anticipated me; had mutilated the body to such an extent 

 as to render it unfit for further examination. Mrs. Melvin stated : '' In 

 the month of August I saw a herd of cattle going west, but I don't 

 know where they came from nor where- they went." 



We then drove I mile further west to C. P. Bradfoi-d's. He stated 

 that he lost 5 out of 6 head — 2 bulls and 3 cows. Two died in October 

 and 3 in September; Irecoveied. He said: "In skinning them I found 

 the flesh blubbering behind the shoulders ; urine bloody before death.'' 

 This was all he could tell of the symptoms during lifeand the appearances 

 after death. All of these cattle had been picketed close to the house, 

 and small herds of cattle were frequently driven i)ast his house during 

 the summer. He stated, also, that Mr. Burr's cattle came over among 

 his cattle while they were picketed, and that his cattle had not been 

 within a mile of the Boyd trail at any time during the season. 



From Mr. Bradford's we went to Louis Hildebrant's. He stated 

 that Charles Martin had bought 60 or 70 head of cattle Irom Mr. Potter 

 and had driven them west and southwest of Harper, passing his (Hil- 

 debr;int's) i)lace on the (>th day of August. Two weeks thereafter Hil- 

 debrant lost 3 milch cows out of a herd of 12 ; they were all taken sick, 

 and 2 that recovered aborted their calves. The Martin cattle were taken 

 to the Botkin herd. 



Mr. VVelkci-, S miles west of Har])er, lives close to tlie Boyd trail; he 

 settled on this range on the 1st of April. He picketed G head ot oxen 



