346 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



G)ntagious matter is discharged with the saliva also from the vessicles which 

 form in the mouth, on the teats and feet. The period of incubation varies from 

 twenty -four hours to three or four days; it sets in with a shivering fit, and vessicle 

 -eruptions form in the mouth, around the top of the feet, and in the cleft of the foot, 

 and, in the females, on the teats. The eruption is first indicated by saliva from the 

 mouth, and loss of power in mastication ; the pain is intense and on opening the 

 mouth, vessicles are found about the size of a bean; they sometimes congregate in 

 patches, and are also found in the lips and cheeks ; in about eighteen hours these 

 vessicles burst, and red spots are exposed, from which in some cases unhealthy ul- 

 ■cers develop. The eruptions on the feet, producing such intense pain, they become 

 lame and scarcely able to stand ; and the whole foot may become so inflamed as to 

 «nd in suppuration of the hoof. In favorable cases all symptoms of fever subside 

 by the fourth day, the appetite is restored, and convalescence well established by 

 the .seventh or eighth. But in unfavorable cases, the fever runs high, the ulcera- 

 tion spreads, the animal becomes exhausted, the hoofs slough off, the blood becomes 

 poisoned, and death occurs about the ninth or tenth day ; in the treatment of this 

 disease, if the bowels are torpid, a mild purgative may be given, followed by alter- 

 atives, but cleanliness of the feet is indispensable; and the animals removed to a 

 dry clean place, the sores dressed with some astringent application, the vessicles in 

 the mouth which have been broken should be dressed, and the mouth sponged 

 with some astringent. But cleanliness should be strictly observed, and all stables 

 and sheds where infected animals have been kept, thoroughly disinfected. 



CONTAGIOU.S PLEURO-PNEUMONIA. 



The early history of this disease is involved in considerable obscurity, and it is 

 impoesiblejo say at what precise date the disease made its first appearance, but, 

 from meagre descriptions handed down to us, there is every reason to believe that 

 a malady similar to pleuropneumonia existed within the mountainous regions of 

 Europe in 1693. J. C. Wirth, one of the best authorities in his day on cattle 

 plagues, says it is certain pleuro-pneumonia manifested itself in the years 1713 

 and 1714 in several parts of Switzerland. The constant spread of the disease from 

 countries in which it rages to others which, prior to the importation of diseased 

 animals, had been free is proven by the fact that it was carried into England by 

 affected animals, from Holland, in 1842. Twelve months after the importation of 

 those animals the disease spread from England to Scotland. A cow shipped to 

 Australia was found to have the disease on landing, but the evil results were con- 

 fined to its owner's stock, and further spread of the contagion effectually checked. 

 It was introduced into this country by the importation of some cows from Holland, 

 I think in 1842, and we have noticed the many outbreaks up to the present time, 

 the last one occurring last summer, and there is no mistake of its existence at the 

 present time. No disease has given rise to more discussion as to its origin, nature 

 and treatment than this, for it has been a source of great loss to the stock raisers 

 of Europe and America. 



The name pleuro-pneumonia signifies an affection of the pleura, or covering 

 and pneumonia, the lungs, both being implicated. It may be divided into three 



