240 COMTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



to Mr. V. Brown, who, iu turn, accompanied ine to tbe city mayor's office 

 and introduced nie to him — Dr. A. Bassett. 



Dr. Bassett assisted me very materially in my investigations and man- 

 ifested the greatest degree of interest iu my work while I remained at EI 

 Dorado. At his office I was introduced to the Kev. S. F. C. Garrison, who 

 resides 3 miles west of El Dorado. He made to me the following statement : 

 That he placed under the care of Mr. Matthew Robeson 18 head of cattle 

 on the 17th day of April — 17 of them being grown cattle, the re- 

 maining one a calf; that all of these cattle, excepting 2 head, were to 

 be kept in the dry herd ; that on the 1st of June 1 of these cattle was 

 taken away from the herd, and on the 1st of July a second one was re- 

 moved, leaving 16 head (including the calf) to remain. On the 24th of 

 September the 16 were also taken home; this took place owing to the 

 report that cattle were dying in this herd under suspicious circum- 

 stances. When Mr. Garrison took his cattle home he turned them into 

 a field with 12 head of other cattle. On the oOth day of September 1 

 cow died after a sickness of two or three days ; 11 of them died in 

 rapid succession, tlie last death occurring on the 10th of October. All 

 of the 11 that died had been removed from the Robeson herd; none of 

 the home cattle became attected. Mr. Garrison observed the symptoms 

 manifested during the course of the disease to be — 



A i^eculiai' odor arising from the skin of tbe affected animal ; then a dry, hard, 

 husky cough, especiall}'^ when urged to move around ; head carried extended ; ears 

 droop ; pnshing the head against straw-stack or fence ; loss of appetite ; no desire for 

 water ; rumination suspended ; segregation ; weak and staggering gait ; saliva flow- 

 ing from the mouth ; whites of the eye assume a yellow tinge ; perspire excessively 

 toward evening, which is of a very disagreeable odor ; shake the head from side to 

 side as if in pain ; trembling of the muscles sets iu upon the slightest exertion ; pulse 

 beats rapid and hard ; become unable to rivse ; partial coma and death euds the scene. 

 One of them lived eight days ; another five, and others from three to five days be- 

 fore dissolution took place; several died in strong paroxysms of pain, manifest by 

 getting up and lying down very frequently, accompanied by violent efforts to urinate 

 and defacate. The manure was usually covered with blood and mucus and the act of 

 urination was very painful. 



Mr. Garrison made three post-moyfem examinations, and describes the 

 following appearances : 



Lungs filled with air and infiltrated with mucus; the lining membrane of the air- 

 tubes seemed slightly congested and irritated ; the chest cavity contained some bloody- 

 colored water; the contents of the paunch were hard, and the medicine which had 

 been administered had not been absorbed; the contents of the manifolds in two of 

 the animals was baked and dry as tobacco, and the folds softened and rotten ; the 

 iutestines seemed swollen, and the lining membrane coated with mucus; the kid- 

 neys were of a greenish color, softened, and enlarged ; the urine bladder was distended 

 with dark-colored urine, one of them containing fully one gallon of clotted black 

 blood; the heart was pale and flaccid; the blood in all three cases was darker and 

 thicker than natural; it seemed to be more like paint than blood; the spleen was 

 greatly enlarged, and the inside of it broifeu up into a pulp ; the liver was thickened 

 and filled with blood, the outsider color being a glossy green, sonu^- parts more higlily 

 colored than oth(irs; the gall-bladder coutaiueil in one case one quart of thick, viscid, 

 yellowish granular bile ; the large blood-vessels along the spine seemed diseased, 



