148 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[October, 



THE CATTLE DISEASE— No. 2. 



A good deal of unnecessary ado is just now 

 being made about a certain large species of 

 tick that is found both on the living and dead 

 cattle ; just as if they were entirely a new 

 thing, when in point of fact, these little pests 

 have been in the country ever since cattle 

 have been here— if they were not here before 

 —for there are species that infest not only 

 cattle, but also sheep, dogs, deer, foxes, swine, 

 porcupines, and perhaps also bears, and other 

 wild animals ; and everybody that has done 

 anything at "blackberrying " knows full well 

 that there is a minute species that seriously 

 annoys him for several days after he returns 

 to his home ; but these are only cutaneous or 

 external infestations, and after a time the ticks 

 leave him, without aflecting his general 

 health. 



We have three specimens of these cattle- 

 ticks before us, one of which we received 

 from Mr. Robert Dysart, and two from Messrs. 

 Marshall & Rengier. The first was taken 

 from an animal that had died of the cattle 

 epidemic, and the last from living animals 

 owned by Mr. Lorentz Knapp. They are 

 species of Ixodus, nearly allied to the 

 English species mnacetjs, and which in that 

 comiti-y are found on cattle, dogs, foxes and 

 hedgehogs. They are of light olive color, 

 have eight legs, and are over half an inch 

 long and a full quarter of an inch broad. On 

 the back some of them are clouded with a 

 yellowish color, and they have the power of in- 

 flation and contraction, causing thoracic and 

 abdominal longitudinal dorsal depressions. 

 They belong to the ACARI, their octopedal 

 character allying them to the spiders. But 

 they have no connection with, and are not the 

 cause of, the present cattle disease, which is 

 properly an infection, and not an infestation. 

 How far this disease is due to sporific or ani- 

 malculous inhalation, is more than we are able 

 to say, for this would require a very careful 

 and expert analysis to determine ; but we are 

 confldent that no animal the size of these 

 ticks, or of the "flies" alluded to in an arti- 

 cle in the Intelligencer a few days ago— could 

 produce such effects, and therefore people had 

 better at once begin to deal with the sub- 

 stance, and not exercise themselves so much 

 with the shadow. In addition to the article 

 above alluded to, a very excellent paper, on 

 the same subject, from a writer at Ephrata, 

 previously appeared in the Era, and also one 

 from Mr. Staufier subsequently, from which it 

 appears that the disease is inflammatory, af- 

 fecting the heart, the lungs, the liver and the 

 spleen— some one or more of tliese organs, 

 and sometimes all of them. There seems to 

 be some difference of opinion in regard to the 

 remedy for its prevention or cure, but the pre- 

 ponderance of opinion favors the killing im- 

 mediately of all infected animals, and subject- 

 ing others to a rigid seclusion or quarantine, 

 until the colder autumn or winter weather 

 sets in. 



This disease (pleuro-pneiononia) has a very 

 diverse eflect on cattle, accordingly as they 

 inhabit uplands or lowlands, coast or moun- 

 tain ranges, swampy grounds or those that 

 are dry. It has been known to infect the cat- 

 tle in one field, whilst those in another field 

 would be entirely free from it, although there 

 may have been only a common ridge, a road, 

 or even a fence between them. It appears 

 also that droves of cattle passing through a 

 district where the disease had not previously 

 existed, have infected those districts very fa- 

 tally, whilst those in transit have been ai> 

 parently free from it; also cattle removed 

 from one district to another have become in- 

 fected, whilst those previously there and ac- 

 climated, as it were, have manifested no in- 

 dications of the presence of the disease. All 

 these circumstances add to the complication 

 of the case; but at the same time they evmce 

 that tlie disease is not caused by insects as 

 large as these ticks, or by others as large as 

 horse-flies. Not that these insects could not 

 produce death if they were present in sufB- 

 ciently large numbers (for animals have been 

 stung to death by bees), but cattle 



have died of pleuro-pneumonia, or spleen dis- 

 ease, where no ticks or flies were present, and 

 those infested with both ticks and flies liave 

 not been infected at all. 



SPLENITIC FEVER. 



I 



How it was Introduced— Its Symptoms and 

 Cause — The "Tick" Theory not Tenable. 



Post Mortem Results. 

 Several weeks ago a drove of Southern cat- 

 tle passed through this section of the county, 

 stopping for several days on the farm of Mr. 

 Frederick, proprietor of the Ephrata Springs. 

 During last week four of Mr. Frederick's cows 

 sickened and died from a cause apparently un- 

 known to the owner. The symptoms were 

 clearly those of Periodic or Spleuitic fever. 

 The drove of cattle after leaving here went in 

 the direction of Reamstown Station, Schoen- 

 eck and the northern end of the county, the 

 owners disposing of cattle to farmers, and it 

 is from those parts that we hear of large num- 

 bers of cattle dying from the same disease as 

 those of Mr. Frederick. 



The Symptoms Described. 

 On the first appearance of the disease in 

 those animals which we observed, the ears 

 drooped, the gait was lazy or sluggish. In 

 cows that yielded milk, there was a sudden 

 stop in the flow; the animal continued to eat 

 and also ruminated, though only at long in- 

 tervals; the paunch appeared full, rather as if 

 bloated; there was a general disposition to lie 

 down, the hind legs drawn under the belly, 

 the fetlocks knuckling over behind, the fteces 

 occasionally showing slight hemorrhage. As 

 the disease progresses, in some cases the urine 

 became bloody; in two of tlie animals we no- 

 ticed the muscles of the ttauks and thighs to 

 tremble constantly. There is, in the large 

 majority of cases, a weakness or feebleness of 

 the hind limbs, and when compelled to walk 

 they have a staggering gait, and when lying 

 down and desiring to rise, there is great difti- 

 culty in raising the hind quarters from the 



ground. 



A Post-Mortem 



of one of Mr. Frederick's cows several hours 

 after death, was made with the following re- 

 sults : A marked cadaveric rigidity; the respi- 

 ratory passages perfectly liealthy; the lungs 

 seemed pale; the left lung was somewhat 

 ecchymosed. The heart was of normal size 

 and consistence; there was a slight ecchyrao- 

 sis over the outer surface; considerable blood 

 in right ventricle; left ventricle contained 

 dark blood; the alimentary canal, from tlie 

 mouth to the third stomach, seemed in a nor- 

 mal state; the contents of the third stomach 

 were quite soft and small in quantity; the 

 cardiac end of the fourth stomach was of a 

 very dark red color; on the folds yellowish 

 elevations appearing like vescicles, though 

 solid; the pyloric had a normal appearance; 

 the liver and gall appeared generally healthy, 

 with the exception of slight congestion of the 

 gland; the spleen was much enlarged, much 

 thicker in the centre than the outer parts, of 

 a dark purple tint. Not having a pair of 

 scales nearat hand to weigh, we should have 

 judged it over three times its natural size, its 

 'pulp soft and rotten to the touch; on making 

 an incision into it, its softened pulp exuded 

 without any pressure being made. The kid- 

 neys turbid with blood, and the urinary blad- 

 der filled wth bloody urine and much distend- 

 ed; its mucous membrane at the fundus was 

 much congested; the cranial contents appear- 

 ed unusually vascular, though otlierwise 

 healthy. The spinal cord in the dorsal and 

 lumbar region was slightly reddened. 



Some of the cattle, we are informed, are 

 covered with a species of tick, and to this in- 

 sect is attributed the cause of the disease and 

 death of those cattle, the tick by eating into 

 tlie flesh of the animal depositing therein a 

 certain poison. 



The Tick Theory Disposed Of. 

 This "tick" theory is, however, not in ac- 

 cordance with the theories of the most emi- 

 nent scientists iu this country who have in- 



vestigated those diseases. Prof. Gamgee, who 

 was sent to Texas by the general government 

 to investigate, and, "if possible, find a remedy 

 for this fever, says : "Tlie 'tick theory' has ■ 

 acqmred quite a renown during the past sum- 

 mer (1868) ; but a little thought should have ' 

 satisfied any one of the absurdity of the idea ; 

 1. Ticks are not easily fenced in on a piece of 

 land by a wood fence, as cattle are ; a wood 

 fence sufficiently isolates cattle to prevent ■ 

 splenic fever. 2. We have seen Texan cattle, 

 both alive and dead, and also dead western, 

 quite free from these parasites. There has 

 been no relation whatever between the abun- i 

 dance of ticks and the severity of the disorder, r 

 The malady has been quite as malignant 

 where few or no ticks occurred. The tick is 

 not confined to gulf-coast cattle, which we 

 know communicate this disease, but it is met ■ 

 with in various parts of the States where cat- I 

 tie are reared that never cause splenitic fever, i 

 Why should the ticks not communicate the i 

 malady from western cattle to other cattle if i 

 they can induce it by crawling from the Texan j' 

 to the western stock ?" <, 



The Only Sure Preventive. ' 



The great desiderata in this disease seems i 

 to be "prevention," as after our native cattle 

 once have taken this fever there is apparently 

 no cure, no alternative but death. Then no ' 

 matter whether it is "tick" or "periodic,"die 

 they must, and the best plan that we know of 

 is that given in the Prairie Farmer in 1868, Hi it 

 which a correspondent says; 



"Talk to a Missourian about moderation 

 when a drove of sick cattle is comiug, and he ■ 

 will call you a fool, while he coolly loads his • 

 gun and joins his neighbors, and they intend 

 no scare either. They mean to kill, do kill, 

 and will kill uutill the drove takes the back 

 track, and the drovers must be careful not to 

 get between their cattle and the citizens i 

 either, unless they are bullet proof. No doubt 

 this looks a good deal like border-ruftianisra i 

 to you, but it is the way we keep clear of the ' 

 Texas fever. Texas stock should not be al- 

 lowed to cross the 35th parallel of north lati- 

 tude alive." 



This, doubtless, is a very effective measure, r 

 and any man driving Southern cattle through:! 

 should be given the cold shoulder, and he and i 

 his drove escorted beyond the county limits, i 



Other Theories Advanced. 

 From our RMamatown Correspoudent.} 



Farmers in this part of the country _, 

 considerably alarmed about an evidently ne#i 

 disease which only a few days ago made ItBt' 

 appearance among the cattle. Several farmers i 

 between this village and Lincoln have withini 

 the past few weeks suffered severely from the i 

 ravages of this much dreaded disease. Farm- 

 ers are of the opinion tliat it is the result of 

 poisoning from Paris green, which had been! 

 sprinkled on potato patches, which in many ' 

 instances are in oatsfields, and are now, as 

 potatoes are being taken up, being pastured. 

 Veterinarians, 



however, contend that the cattle is infested 

 with an insect of the species acarus, com- 

 monly called tick, which have undoubtedly 

 been imported with Texas cattle, and that the 

 bites or stings of these insects are venomous,i 

 and that tliis is probably the cause. 



We were to-day shown one of these pesti-f 

 ferous fellows, which, when fvdl grown, arei 

 about the size of a potato beetle, by our affa- 

 ble veterinarian, Mr. Geo. Fry, who had it 

 corked up in a bottle. He said they are veryi 

 tenacious of hfe, for nothing but carboho 

 acid would kill this one. 



Nothing but Splenitic Fever. 



Mr. J. G. Garman, one of the most success- 

 ful veterinarians in this county, dissents from 

 the above-named theories, and says the to 

 ease is nothing but splenitic fever, for whicb 

 no relialile cure has yet been discovered. Upon 

 examination he found the spleen, in all cases, 

 double the size than when in a normal condi; 

 tion. He thinks the disease is contracteC' 

 through malaria generated during the droutl 

 among the withered and decaying vegetaDlf 

 matter, and inhaled by tlie cattle while graZ' 

 iug.— The New Erv.. 



