MILK SICKNESS. 



MILK SICKNESS, 



Again it will be found to occupy an isolated 

 spot, comprised in an area of 100 acres, whilst, 

 for a considerable distance around, it is not 

 produced. Thus, having the locality perfectly 

 circumscribed, much labour has been expended 

 in order to discover some production peculiar 

 to the locality. The search has been uniformly 

 unsuccessful in the attainment of its object. 

 The general appearance of these infected dis- 

 tricts is somewhat peculiar. I have always 

 observed that the situation of the ground is 

 elevated above that of the surrounding country ; 

 occupying what is denominated a ridge, and 

 that the quality of the soil is in general of an 

 inferior description. The growth of timber is 

 not observed to be so luxuriant as in situations 

 otherwise similar, but is scrubby, and stunted 

 in its perfect developement, in many instances 

 simulating what in the west is denominated 

 "Barrens." Throughout the entire district in 

 which these localities are interspersed, there is 

 observed an absence of \he occurrence of 

 stones scattered over the surface, whilst in the 

 infected tracts they are almost universally 

 present. They are of a small size and dark- 

 ened aspect externally, breaking with a regular 

 and shining fracture, and, upon analysis, im- 

 perfectly made, were found to contain a con- 

 siderable portion of iron, with slight traces of 

 copper. Another more decided and peculiar 

 appearance, which serves to distinguish them 

 from other spots, is the breaking forth of nu- 

 merous feeble springs, furnishing but a trifling 

 supply of water, but not varying in quantity 

 with the change of seasons. In its appear- 

 ance, it presents the general evidences of a 

 sulphurous and ferruginous contamination. 



Experiments made upon the water collected 

 from these springs, or more properly called 

 oozes from the soil, with the greatest care by 

 the employment of the most delicate chemical 

 re-agents, failed to indicate the presence of any 

 mineral except iron, sulphur, traces of mag- 

 nesia, and a quantity of copper barely capable 

 of being demonstrated. A belief being enter- 

 tained by many that the disease is occasioned 

 by arsenic, or some of its salts, I with much 

 care and patience subjected not only the water, 

 but likewise the earth, from these districts to a 

 most rigid examination, and by no test was I 

 furnished with the slightest evidence of its 

 presence. 



An intelligent medical friend expressed to 

 me his belief that it was produced by the inha- 

 lation of some noxious gases generated during 

 the night; in proof, he stated that he had ob- 

 served cattle, which were regularly housed 

 each evening, escaped its attacks, and that 

 when suffered to remain, at large, they were 

 frequently seized with the disease. It is dif- 

 ficult to form this belief of the nature of the 

 cause, as we can hardly conceive the particu- 

 lar action of any combination of circumstances, 

 capable of giving rise to such an emanation 

 only at night, ceasing to act during the day. 

 The most popular belief is in favour of a vege- 

 table origin. The advocates of this method of 

 production having failed to designate the plant 

 which they supposed occasions it, have en- 

 deavoured to sustain their views by supposing 

 that the poison exists in some shrub or tree, 

 820 



which is eaten by the cattle, but confess their 

 inability to designate any such peculiar growth 

 confined to these localities. If certain fields 

 which are known to affect cattle fed upon them, 

 be suffered to grow in grass, and the hay pro- 

 duced be given to them for their continual food, 

 no disease results, which is a strong circum- 

 stance, unless it be urged that the active poi- 

 sonous principle is destroyed by the desicca- 

 tion. Again, it has frequently appeared with 

 its greatest virulence when the ground has been 

 for weeks previously covered with snow. 



Butter and cheese, manufactured from the 

 milk drawn from an infected cow, are sup- 

 posed to be the most concentrated forms of this 

 poison. They possess no distinguishing ap- 

 pearance, odour, or taste, from the healthy 

 article. A very minute quantity of either will 

 suffice to develope the disease in man. The 

 cream, ordinarily sufficient to be added to the 

 coffee drunk at a single meal, is said to have 

 induced an attack. The butter or cheese eaten 

 at one repast, has frequently been known to 

 prove effective. The property is not contained 

 in any of the elements of the milk exclusively, 

 but distributed throughout the whole of them, 

 being possessed by the buttermilk as well as 

 by the whey. Beef, in the quantity of a very 

 few ounces, will produce the disease, and, it is 

 generally believed, in a more violent and fatal 

 form than when it is produced by milk, or any 

 of its preparations. 



In the course of my observations I had an 

 opportunity to experiment with a cow suffering 

 in but a slight degree from the cause. She was 

 affected with tremors when unusually exer- 

 cised, exhibited a red and suffused eye, with, 

 frequent twitches of portions of the muscular 

 system. She was kept confined without 'an 

 opportunity to exercise, and was fed upon ordi- 

 nary food. At the end of 8 days, the milk 

 drawn from her possessed as violent poisonous 

 properties as at the time of her incarceration. 

 Her confinement was continued for a week 

 longer, at the end of which period, the milk 

 taken from her was found in an entirely healthy 

 condition, and the eyes were restored to their 

 natural appearance. In this instance it will 

 be seen that the property of imparting the 

 poison to the milk was lost in the space of 

 between 8 and 15 days. We, of course, cannot 

 fix on the precise period, but we would infer 

 that the property is suddenly destroyed rather 

 than gradually dissipated. 



My trials with the poisoned flesh were, for 

 the most part, made upon dogs, which I con- 

 fined, and often watched the effect of the poison 

 when administered at regular intervals. In 

 the space of 48 hours from the commencement 

 of the administration of either the butter, 

 cheese, or flesh, from poisoned animals, I have 

 observed unequivocal appearances of their pe- 

 culiar action. In a few hours a thirst greater 

 than natural is created; the appetite remains 

 unimpaired until the expiration of the fourth or 

 fifth day, or just before the appearance of fatal 

 symptoms, when the animal will refuse drinks, 

 and the most inviting descriptions of food. 



Vomiting does not, as in man, always pre- 

 cede death, but the bowels are constipated 

 I throughout, except that, in a single instance, [ 



