312 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



usually in the early fall after a dry summer, does not run a regular 

 course, and can not be inoculated. 



Prevention. Prophylaxis should be carried out along three 

 lines: 



(1) Separation of the sick from the healthy animals. 



(2) Close scrutiny and thorough disinfection once or twice 

 daily for five days of the mouths and nasal passages of those animals 

 that have been exposed. 



(3) Complete disinfection of all stalls and sheds. The disease 

 appears to break out in winter and hold over to spring. It is con- 

 ceivable that exposure to cold might so disturb the normal circula- 

 tion of the oral tissues as to make the mucous membrane an excel- 

 lent location for the causative factor of the disease. There is an- 

 other possibility, however, which bears on the third line of prophy- 

 laxis. The so-called diphtheric inflammations of the vagina and 

 uterus in cows are caused by the same organism that induces necro- 

 tic stomatitis. A recent European writer has pointed out the almost 

 constant relation of such attacks to previous occurrences of foul foot 

 or foot rot in the same or other cattle on the place. 



In all likelihood the stalls and sheds are the harborers, in such 

 cases, of this germ. It is possible that many of these outbreaks of 

 necrotic stomatitis have some relation to preceding cases of the 

 above-mentioned diseases and the greater use in winter of the stalls 

 and sheds, thus harboring the Bacillus necrophorus. 



Treatment. The treatment consists almost solely in careful 

 and extensive cleansing and disinfection of the mouth and other af- 

 fected surfaces. The mucous membrane "of the mouth should be 

 copiously irrigated with a 2 per cent solution of creolin in warm 

 water. This should be performed at least twice daily. Since ex- 

 posure to oxygen kills the bacilli, one need have no fear about dis- 

 turbing or tearing off the caseous patches or necrotic tissue during 

 irrigation. The irrigation of the sores should then be followed by 

 the application with a brush or rag on a stick of a paste made with 1 

 part of salicylic acid and 10 parts of water, or the affected areas may 

 be painted with Lugol's solution of iodin (iodin, 1 ; potassium iodid, 

 5; water, 200). Frequent injections into the mouth of 1 per cent 

 carbolic-acid solution make an excellent treatment. The internal 

 administration of 2 grams of salicylic acid and 3 grams of chlorate 

 of potash three times a day has also proved very beneficial when ac- 

 companied by local antiseptic treatment. 



MALIGNANT CATARRH. 



Malignant catarrh, or infectious catarrhal fever, is an acute in- 

 fectious disease of cattle pre-eminently involving the respiratory and 

 digestive tracts, although the sinuses of the head, the eyes, and the 

 urinary and sexual organs are very frequently affected. It is rela- 

 tively rare in this country, being more common on the continent of 

 Europe. Outbreaks have occurred, however, in Minnesota, New 

 York, and New Jersey. The causal agent of the disease has as yet 

 never been isolated, and inoculation experiments with the view of arti- 

 ficially reproducing the disease have proven negative in every case. In 



