318 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



mechanical irritation of the lungs, as it had been given 

 some E})soni salts in water, and may have gotten some 

 down the trachea. Specimens from the spleen, kidneys, 

 lungs, posterior pharyngeal, mediastinal and mesenteric 

 lymphatic glands, and also some of the gelatinous material 

 spoken of, Avere taken to Dr. Frothingham. He obtained 

 cultures of two different organisms, either one of wliich 

 would produce a fatal septicfemia in rabbits or guinea pigs, 

 killing them in from one to three days. One of the forms 

 of bacteria obtained resembled the bacillus hovi septicus. 



In August, out of 10 young cattle running in a pasture 

 in Uxbridge, 7 died. Dr. W. T. White investigated the 

 outbreak, and found that 6 had l)een dead several days, 

 and were so far decomposed that post-mortem examinations 

 on them would have been of no value. One that had re- 

 cently died was opened ; the intestines were found to be 

 inflamed, and the walls were studded with small, black, 

 shot-like bodies. These were taken to the Harvard Medi- 

 cal School and examined by Dr. Frothingham, who was 

 inclined to think that the animal had hemorrhagic se})ti- 

 csemia. Dr. White could not state whether all the animals 

 died from the same cause, but the probabilities are that all 

 were siniilarly affected. 



In March a farmer in South Duxbury reported that his 

 herd of 11 cows were sick. Dr. White investigated this 

 outbreak, and found all the cows to be suffering from some 

 intestinal trouble, 10 of them in a mild way from diarrhoea, 

 1 of them showing symptoms of inflammation of the bowels. 

 The cattle had been sick a week when seen by Dr. White. 

 The appearance of the indisposition occurred soon after 

 opening a new stack of hay. It is not unlikely that some- 

 thing in the hay or food disagreed with the animals. The 

 disease was apparently not one of a contagious character. 

 The owner reported a few days later that his cattle were 

 recovering, with change of food and proper care. 



March 4, Dr. P. J. Mahoney reported cases of sickness 

 in a herd of cattle on a farm in Northborough. The place 

 was visited by Dr. Madison Bunker and the Chief of the 

 Cattle Bureau. It was found that a cow and a bull had died 



