138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



effects upon the human system. A farmer in Djvcr, Mr. Pres- 

 ton, and his family, suffered from sore mouths from drinking this 

 milk from his cows, before he knew what was the matter. A 

 dog of Mr. Preston's sufTered in the same way from drinking 

 the milk. It had an eruption upon the feet, was lame, and 

 smacked its lips, which is a maikcd symptom in these cases. 

 Dogs and other animals which drink the milk are frequently 

 purged by it, and children have been known to die from inflam- 

 mation of the stomach and bowels consequent upon drinking the 

 milk in a warm state, as it came from the cow. The milk 

 itself does not seem to be diseased ; the danger is that the 

 liquid in the blisters will be mixed with it, either inside the teat 

 or outside, and then it becomes injurious. Irritation of the ab- 

 dominal organs is common in young animals that feed exclu- 

 sively upon the milk. There is danger of permanent injury to 

 the foot and the udder, not so much to the mouth. 



As I have said, the disease is much more easily controlled 

 than pleuro-pneumonia, and it is so for several reasons. In the 

 first place the period of incubation is shorter. It rarely exceeds 

 half a week, and usually in twenty-four hours after exposure 

 the animals show some indications, either a hot mouth, or ten- 

 derness of the mouth. We do not need, therefore, to separate 

 them for so long a period of time as in the case of pleuro-pneu- 

 monia, — a month or two months, — in order to make sure that 

 they are free from the disease. In the second place, as far as 

 we know, it is either not propagated by the air to any extent or 

 only a very slight extent. It is transmitted by solid matter, — 

 the dung and other filth among which the animals tread, and 

 with which the virus is mixed up. I saw yesterday morning a 

 number of cattle on one side of the road, in a field, every one 

 of them suffering from the disease. On the opposite side of the 

 road, separated merely by the breadth of the turnpike, was a lot 

 of dairy cattle belonging to the same person, not one of which 

 showed the slightest symptom. They had been there for a fort- 

 night, merely separated by the road. 



Such separation may be, at times, all we can do ; but it is by 

 no means satisfactory, inasmuch as any person, or any beast, 

 passing from one herd to the other may carry the virus on his 

 feet. Oftentimes it is carried in this way : \ person goes 

 among diseased stock, and takes away some of the virus ou his 



