368 [Assembly 



Also, invitation from the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of 

 Mechanic Arts, to their first exhibition of American Manufactures, 

 at Washington Hall, Baltimore, on the 31st of October next. And 

 to their Cattle Show, and of products of the farm, dairy, and garden, 

 on the 9th of November; and their Plowing Matches on the 10th. 



Mr. Wakeman. — The subject of the day is one of interest to old 

 and young — but vitally so to the latter. We desire to obtain accu- 

 rate information in relation to it. We understand from reports that 

 the disease prevailing among cows, acts somewhat like consumption, 

 of a rapid course; that on one farm seventy-five per cent of the 

 cows have died. That these cows are milked as long as possible; 

 then certain agents appear, who buy them and sell them for beef. 

 So that our children drain the last drops from the diseased animal, 

 and we finish by eating its meat. This disease is reported to be in- 

 fectious, so that those taken sick are immediately removed. When 

 such reports are circulated against them, justice requires that the truth 

 should be known, by means of a thorough investigation. 



Dr. T. K. Gardner, from the New-York Academy of Medicine, 

 observed, that he was one of a committee of fifteen to examine and 

 report upon the state, &c., of cows fed on distillery swill, &c. He 

 had made several ante and post mortem examinations of such cows; 

 examined the milk with powerful microscopes; appplied chemical 

 tests to it. The result of all the inquiry was, that the committee 

 considered the disease similar to Pneumonia in human beings. The 

 lungs were affected That it passed into Pleura-Pneumonia. No 

 tuberculous disease was found, and no evidence that it was con- 

 tagious; and the committee believe that the same disease was found 

 on farms. 



The food of the distillery cows was found often so hot that we 

 could hardly bear a finger in it. To remedy this evil, the keepers 

 often open the windows, so that a current of air passes in; also in- 

 troduce the Croton water into the stalls, so that the cows are chilled 

 by the water about their feet and strong current of air, w-hilc they 

 are swallowing their hot swill. 



I found on dissection, that although to all appearances a cow was 

 in good condition as to flesh and fat, yet in fact this was not so. The 

 Omentum, which in a healthy cow weighs about twenty pounds, i« 

 here five or six pounds. There is no fat in the creature. We un- 

 derstand that the cows died suddenly, sometimes even while being 



