CIRCULATORY AND LYMPHATIC SYSTEMS 295 



and pigs — young pigs especially at times suffer severely and die 

 suddenly when the morbid material gains admittance to the body. 

 The period of incubation varies from one to four days, with an eleva- 

 tion of temperature from 2 to 5 . The most prominent symptoms 

 are saliva foaming from the mouth, with a distinctive peculiar smacking 

 of the lips and tongue ; the feet occasionally are so sore that the animal 

 dees not dare to move them, unless by twitching them up in a very 

 abrupt manner ; the vesicles may be noticed as before mentioned. 

 This disease is scheduled under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) 

 Act, and when the malady makes its appearance those animals 

 affected, and others which have been in contact, are now generally 

 slaughtered to prevent the disease spreading. I have seen a great 

 number of outbreaks, and although the disease did not prove very 

 fatal, yet it caused a great loss to stock-owners; especially was this 

 so in dairy and breeding herds, the greatest loss being from calving 

 cows casting their calves and retaining the after-birth, this being 

 complicated with sore udders, etc. 



464. When allowed to treat the cases, my great object was to try 

 and assist Nature in preventing the animals from aborting, and for 

 this purpose I found that ^-ounce doses of chlorate of potash, given 

 once a day, had a marvellous effect, as the following instance will 

 show : On one occasion, in 1875, when foot and mouth disease broke 

 out, the stock belonging to the late Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Bart., at 

 Brayton, were considerably affected. In order that the disease 

 might run its course speedily, all the cattle, affected and unaffected, 

 were brought together and put into the large park. These were 

 dosed daily with chlorate of potash, given in bran mashes. The 

 result of this treatment was that, out of about 200 head of cattle, 

 only 98 took the disease, and all of them recovered ; 35 of the 

 affected cows were in calf, and they all went up to their full time — 

 not one aborted ; there were no sore udders, the calves were a fine 

 crop, and both mothers and offspring did well. I subsequently, on 

 several occasions, tried the chlorate treatment with a like success. 

 When the feet are much affected heavy animals suffer greatly. I 

 have seen bulls and heavy shorthorn cows lie for weeks. A thick 



