No. 10. The Murrain among Cattle. — Preservation of Food. 



303 



The Murrain among Cattle. 



At the monthly meeting of the Highland 

 and Agricultural Society of Scotland, held 

 at Ediuburg, on 12th of January last, the 

 Secretary read a communication from the 

 Board of Trade, to the effect that the epi- 

 zootic, which was thought to be disappear- 

 ing, had broken out with greater violence 

 than ever among the horned cattle of Wal- 

 lachia, and that three-fourths of those which 

 had been spared from last year's visitation 

 were falling victims to it. The Secretary 

 said, that though the communication just 

 read had reference to the state of the epi- 

 demic in a distant country, the directors 

 conceived it to be their duty to submit to the 

 public all information conveyed to them on 

 so important a subject, in regard to which 

 Professor Dick, who was present, had pro- 

 mised to give to the meeting the results of 

 his experience. Professor Dick then rose 

 and made the following statement, which 

 we give as of great interest to the public at 

 present: 



Professor Dick stated that pleuro-pneumo- 

 nia was still prevailing with great violence, 

 and varied with the weather. It existed at 

 present to a great extent in East Lothian, as 

 well as in Aberdeenshire, and throughout 

 the North. He was informed yesterday, by 

 one of his pupils, who is in practice at May- 

 bole, in Ayrshire, that there has only been 

 occasionally a solitary case for fifteen miles 

 round during the last twelve months. He 

 considered its origin and propagation to be 

 atmospherical, and attributable to influences 

 to which man and the lower animals were 

 equally exposed; in illustration of which the 

 Professor referred to the existing epidemic 

 in the form of influenza, under which he 

 himself was evidently labouring, and in con- 

 sequence of which the public schools have 

 been partially closed. The disease consist- 

 ed of active inflammation of the lungs, and 

 in the pleura which covers them and lines 

 the chest. It was attended with great dan- 

 ger, particularly when the pleura was prin- 

 cipally affected; and such cases generally 

 were fatal, unless the proper remedy was 

 immediately applied ; because, when that 

 membrane is attacked by inflammation, being 

 what is called a serious membrane, it very 

 rapidly proceeds to pour out serum and lymph 

 between the lungs and ribs; the chest fills 

 with water, and the animal sinks and dies 

 rapidly. Man, and all the domesticated ani- 

 mals, are liable to disease, although they 

 may not be equally affected at the same 

 time. Horses, as well as dogs, during the 

 present epizootic, have been less affected 

 than cattle. 



The disease is not, generally speaking, so 

 fatal in horses as in cattle, because horses, 

 being under continual notice, were better 

 attended to; the symptoms were at once no- 

 ticed, and they were seldom lost. The same 

 would be the case with cattle, if properly 

 looked after; but too little attention is paid 

 by the breeders and rearers of cattle to the 

 health and comfort of their stocks and the 

 symptoms of their diseases; they, at the 

 same time, are not so much under the im- 

 mediate observation of their owners. In- 

 deed, the early symptoms very readily es- 

 cape notice, because they are obscure. 



To illustrate the treatment required, the 

 Professor referred to a case in Lanarkshire, 

 where he had been called on for advice; hia 

 instructions to the smith or farrier on the 

 property were, that he should bleed when- 

 ever he observed any cough or alteration in 

 the milk or feeding; clean out the bowels 

 by laxative medicine, say one pound of ep- 

 som salts, nitre, tartarate of antimony in 

 large and repeated doses; repetition of bleed- 

 ing: blistering the sides, and even firing, if 

 necessary. After the inflammatory action 

 has been subdued, tonics should be adminis- 

 tered. By following this course, the smith 

 has acquired a local celebrity. It was sufli- 

 ciently simple, if adopted at an early stage 

 of ihe disease; but if the disease has made 

 a certain progress, no reasonable hope of 

 success can be entertained. — London Farm- 

 ers' Magazine. 



Preservation of Food. 



The preservation of food has at most pe- 

 riods been an object; but the usual processes 

 of man have been, for the most part, little 

 in advance of the squirrels and other ani- 

 mals; less than those of the bees, which 

 have an instinctive perception of the true 

 principle, viz., the exclusion of air, which 

 they accomplish by hermetically sealing up 

 their honey cells. In some cases this prin- 

 ciple is aimed at, but in a clumsy way. Pre- 

 served provisions, as meat, fish, soup, and 

 milk, are enclosed in hermetically sealed tin 

 cases, and rendered durable for years. The 

 air in these cases is excluded by the agency 

 of heat and a partial cooking. The expense 

 of these methods prevents their being more 

 than a luxury. Potted meats are prepared 

 with antiseptics, and the air is excluded by 

 a covering of melted fat. Green fruits and 

 vegetables are enclosed in sealed bottles, 

 from which the air has been driven out par- 

 tially by heat. Meats, antiseptically treat- 

 ed, are also preserved from the air by en- 

 closing in a bladder or gut, in the form of 

 sausages. Salted meat in brine is preserved 



