348 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OE THE OX. 



At Christmastide case after case of scarlatina occurred near 

 the farm among the labouring class and the poor. The first 

 case had begun on December 20th. Now, on December 16th 

 sixty-three barn-gallons of milk, mainly derived from cows in the 

 large shed, had been returned to the farmer with an intimation 

 by the Marleybone Health Officer that he believed some of the 

 milk had been causing scarlatina in his district. This milk was 

 consigned to the pigs, and orders were given that all the milk 

 of the large shed should, with the exception of some to be used 

 for pig-feeding, be thrown into a pit in one of the farmer's fields. 

 However, as was perhaps not unnatural, poor neighbours begged 

 to be supplied with it. It was refused ; but certain of the cow- 

 men gave some of it away gratuitously, thinking that otherwise 

 it would be wasted. About a week afterwards the terrible 

 Nemesis appeared in the shape of scarlatina. It invaded about 

 six families, a large proportion of those to whom the milk had 

 been supplied, and it attacked no family to which the milk bad 

 not been supplied. 



It was found that there were sores on the teats and udders of 

 the cows in the large shed. Two of the three cows which had 

 been received into the dairy on November 15th were found to 

 have scars on their teats and udders, whereby they were seen to 

 have had the malady, and other cows were noticed to be suffer- 

 ing, or to have the marks of having suffered. Dr. Klein 

 regarded the disease as a constitutional one, and capable of being 

 communicated from cow to cow. Finally, the whole milk of the 

 farm was given to the pigs or buried. 



The malady is, according to Dr. Cameron, a specific contagious 

 and infectious disease occurring usually amongst " newly-calved " 

 cows, and capable of being communicated to healthy cows by 

 means of virus conveyed by the hands of a milker who has been 

 milking a diseased cow, and by the discharges from a diseased cow's 

 mouth, nose, and eyes. It has, perhaps, been communicated to 

 man by inoculation, and also by the medium of the milk. In the 

 cow there is general constitutional disturbance, a short fever, a 

 hacking cough, quick breathing, sore throat in severe cases, 

 discharges from the nostrils and eyes, an eruption on the skin 

 around the eyes, and also on the hind-quarters, vesicles on the 

 teats and udders, alteration in the milk, and internal lesions. 

 The disease is continued for a period of about five weeks, or may 



