474 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



the toes, followed in a few days by small irregular ulcers in the mouth. 

 This disease appears sporadically, usually in the early fall after a dry 

 summer, does not run a regular course, and can not be inoculated. 

 Prevent'ioii. — Prophylaxis should be carried out along three lines: 



(1) Separation of the sick fi'om the healthy animals. 



(2) Close scnitiny and thorough disinfection once or twice daily 

 for five days of the mouths and nasal passages of those animals that 

 have been exposed. 



(3) Complete disinfection of all stalls and sheds. 



The disease appeai-s to break out in winter and hold over to spring. 

 It is conceivable that exposure to cold might so disturb the normal 

 circulation of the oral tissues as to make the mucous membrane an 

 excellent location for the causative factor of the disease. There is 

 another possibility, however, which bears on the third line of prophy- 

 laxis. The so-called diphtheric inflammations of the vagina and 

 Hterus in cows are caused by the same organism that induces necrotic 

 stomatitis. A recent European writer has pointed out the almost 

 constant relation of such attacks to previous occurrences of foul foot 

 or foot rot in the same or other cattle on the place. 



In all likelihood the stalls and sheds are the harborers, in such 

 cases, of this germ. It is possible that many of these outbreaks of 

 necrotic stomatitis have some relation to preceding cases of the above- 

 mentioned diseases and the greater use in winter of the stalls and 

 sheds, thus harboring the BaeUlus necrophorus. 



Treatment. — The treatment consists almost solely in careful and 

 extensive cleansing and disinfection of the mouth and other affected 

 surfaces. The mucous membrane of the mouth should be copiously 

 irrigated with a 2 per cent solution of creolin in warm water. This 

 should be performed at least twice daily. Since exposure to oxygen 

 kills the bacilli, one need have no fear about disturbing or tearing off 

 the caseous patches or necrotic tissue during irrigation. The irriga- 

 tion of the sores should then be followed by the application with a 

 brush or rag on a stick of a paste made with 1 part of salicylic acid 

 and 10 parts of water, or the affected areas may be painted with 

 Lugol's solution of iodin (iodin, 1; potassium iodid, 5; water, 200). 

 Frequent injections into the mouth of 1 per cent carbolic-acid solu- 

 tion make an excellent treatment. The internal administration of 2 

 grams of salicylic acid and 3 grams of chlorate of potash three times 

 a day has also proved very beneficial when accompanied by local 

 antiseptic treatment. 



MALIGNANT CATARRH. 



Malignant catarrh, or infectious catarrhal fever, is an acute in- 

 fectious disease of cattle preeminently involving the respiratory and 

 digestive tracts, although the sinuses of the head, the eyes, and the 

 urinary and sexual organs are very frequently affected. It is rela- 



