VOL. XVIll. NO. *3. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



359 



v of them yet prefer an abode where civiliza- ;-ft is supposed that thcoc two iiidividiinl.s were ino I the most viirorous means to repress it were adopted 

 1 .•.■/ioti7(/ re^p, to the deep-tangled shades pf ulaled, >is one of th.-m in flayin<r, made a slight | by government. .\ll the animals were ordered to 



wound oM his hand wiih the knife, and the other 1 he destroyed that were attacked with it, and buried 

 of the skin. The disease was so deep in the earth, and a compensation allowed to 

 rapid that little or nothing wis attem|ited to be those who thus lost their property. Tlie violence 

 done by way of remedy. The first appearance of 

 disorder was, when the cov came from the pasture 



tho forest. They still look up to pian as their pro 

 leciDr, and would read in his visage and conduct had a fracti 

 tluiso lineaments of friendship which he was de- 

 sijrned to exhibit. -And to the praise of our race 

 be it said, there are now many among us who con- 



siderit a sacrilege to rob a bird's nest, and an act ' at night she would give evidence of not filling her 

 of violence and guilt to take the life of its occupant; [self as well as usual, ;ind would give a less quanti- 

 but on the contrary, tiiey ini-iVf them to the groves ty of milk ; would refuse the ordinary kinds of 

 and trees m^ar their dwellings, feed them with their | food, and eat but little of the more delicate and in- 

 crumbs, and listen to the sweet music of their al- 'viting, and in three or four days refuse all kinds 

 ways accordant notes. Such kindnesses [can a bird [ and soon lie down and die, and some purging of 

 be grateful?] they duly appreciate, by building j blood would appear, iis the lust effort of nature" — 

 their nests around our dwellings, that they may aid ] Pain and distress were more particularly manifest- 

 us by their services, in the destruction of annoying i ed in horses at the close of life, by frequent lying 

 'nsects. But were their labors of no ^jecMiJwny ! down and getting up, and by grunting and struggles. 

 benefit, the sweet music of their anthems, swelling i The disease was most prevalent in Topsfield and 

 "orth in strains which know of no discord, in whose ! vicinity in July and Auoust. 



lotes "the outgoings of the morning and the even- j T)io disease is probably a murrain, such as we 

 ing rejoice," would be ample remuneration for the j read of in the bible and ancient writings. Ephoo- 

 few kernels of grain or little fruit they gather, and i /i/ is a term bestowed upon malignant distempers 

 which we should alvays allow them to enjoy with 'among animals. It signifies, a plague or murrain 



the same feelings of pleasure that we spread an en 

 tertainnient for a friend that loves us. Surely 

 they would then teach us a lesson that man, aspir- 

 man, is slow to learn of his fellow — a lesson of 

 gratitude, of kindness, as they now do of loUg-suf- 

 iTering and forbearance. 



But ornitiiology is not a wiM romantic science, 

 confining its subjects to trees and groves aud mouu' 

 tains and clefts of the rock. It brings within its 

 embrace the goose, ot famed classic celebrity ; the 

 turkey, which in roguery and self-will, approaches 

 «o near to the perfectiot) of man; with sir chaati- 

 cleer, the facetious hcau monde of the fanii.yard, 

 and head of its cackling seraglio; with all the va- 

 rieties of plumed inhabitants which the poultry 

 yard, roost and mud pond boast. These are ani- 

 mals of profit and taste worthy of his cultivation, 

 as he wr.uld have his bacon seasoned with eggs, or 

 his table enriched with choice luxuries. VV. B. 



Mount Osceola, March 2, 1840. 



[From ' Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Scciety.'] 



ON DISEASES OF ANIMALS. 

 For the last year oi^ two a fatal distemper has 

 prevailed among the cattle and animals of the coun- 

 ty of Esse.\, and carried off many cows. Some in- 

 dividuals have lost half their entire stock, and some 

 more. It has not been confined to neat cattle, but 

 horses, hogs, and sheep have been aftecled. The 

 disease has been very fatal, — one half of those af- 

 fected, at least, have died, as is supposed; for it is 

 ditficult always to know all those lliat have been 

 diseased. The disease lasts but four or five days, 

 and sometimes the first knowledge of an aniunal's 

 being diseased, it would be found dead in the yard. 

 It is supposed to be contagious, by contact, as when 

 it has appeared in a stock of cattle, many of the 

 stock have fallen victims, and in two cases in 



among animajs. In the common acceptation of 

 the term, murrain is limited to distempers among 

 useful and domesticatod animals, whereas epizooi)/ 

 comprehends those pestilential ravages to which 

 the whole living creation is liable. In one of the 

 plagues of Egypt, spoken of by Moses, is recognis- 

 ed*a mo.'it destructive epizooty, extending to all 

 domesticated animals. Other accounts are given 

 in ancient history of malignant and contagious dis- 

 eases among animals. 



In rnodern history, more particular accounts are 

 giwjn of pestilential and eruptive diseases, resem- 

 bling small pox aud plague in men. By some, in- 

 oculation was tried and supposed to modify llie 

 disease and lessen its fatality. This, however, was 

 thought might spread the disease where it did not 

 before exist, and' was therefore prohibited by gov- 

 ernment. 



" In IGGl, after a hot dry summer, a kind of 

 phrensy spread' among animals, especially horses, 

 cattle and sheep ; but was not known to be conta- 

 gious. It was principally confiiied to northern- cli- 

 mates ; — one or more worms were found in the 

 substance of the brain. Numbers of intestinal 

 worms were found in an epizooty that" prevailed in 

 1663, and were thought to be the cause of the dis- 

 temper. Analogous symptoms, though not equally 

 fatal, attacked almost the whole cattle in the Danish 

 territory, in 1674. 



" France was visited by an epizooty among the 

 black cattle in 1682. The animal functions were 

 uninterrupted until the attack, when sudden death 

 ensued. TJiis was accompanied by a gangrene of 

 the tongue, which came away in pieces. Those 

 who attended the cattle are said to have been in- 

 fected by the distase and to have died. Its pro- 

 gross was regular, and marclicd with astonishing 

 rapidity at the rate of twelve miles a day. Thus 

 it spread from the frontiers of Italy to Poland. Ke- 



een the years 1705 and 1711, a diste.-nber called 



Topsfield, wheie persons were engaged in takin 



off the hides of the animals that had died with the I the flying chancre or hubo, which the latest au- 



disorder, their arms swelled up and broke out in thors denominate a real plague or murrain, was 



large boils, which ulcerated and formed a large 

 tough black scab, some of them the bigness of a 

 twenty-cent piece, and some smaller. Some (not 

 very severe) constitutional symptoms manifested 

 themselves. The sores were sometimes in healing, 

 four to six weeks. After these cases of apparent 

 infection appeared, the animals were buried with- 

 out flaying, and with as little connexion as possible. 



found to be making terrible ravages in Europe. It 

 had been imported by a single ox, brought into the 

 Venitia.i states from Hungary and Dalmatia; and 

 it was thence disseminated throughout the Roman 

 territory and the kingdom of Maples, sweeping 

 away almost the whole cattle in its progress. It 

 did not roach France till I7I4; and in the same 

 year, having been sometime prevalent in Britain, 



of the disease did not last above three months, dur- 

 ing which time the counties of Essex, Middlesex 

 and Surrey lost 5857 cattle. .At this time it was 

 observed that cows being brought to water to 

 drink, many became giddy, fell down in convul- 

 sions, bled copiously at the mouth and nose and 

 died. Other nations suffered mcu'e severely : Pied- 

 mont lost 70,000 cattle ; Holland 200,000 ; and the 

 full extent of the epiz^ioty throughout Europe was 

 estimated to have destroyed 1,.500,000 animals. All 

 these perished of the infection disseminated by the 

 single diseased ox from Hungary. But the disease 

 was marked by considerable distinctions in differ- 

 ent countries, and some of its symptoms bore little 

 resemblance in one place to what were seen in 

 another." 



In 17.30, a contagious disease appeared among 

 black cattle in Germany, and afterwards in France, 

 which affected the tongues, was called a blaiii of 

 the tongue, which degenerated into a cancerous ul- 

 cer, whereby the organ was almost totally destroy- 

 ed. The commencement and termination of the 

 disease was sometimes witnessed within 24 hours. 

 A most destructive epizooty ravaged Europe for 

 ten years from 1740. This disease was exhibited 

 by shivorings, palpitations of the heart, difficult res- 

 piration, cough, coldness of the hoofs and horns, 

 cessation of the natural evacuations : sometimes 

 the animal fell down as if struck by apoplexy. — 

 Eruptions covered those which survived the violence 

 of the attack. It was evidently contagious, and 

 the strongest precautions were adopted to repress 

 the infection. Former experience had proved, in 

 the history of an epizooty by Laneisi, that they 

 could not be too strictly adopted ; for certain dri- 

 vers having brought their cattle to a fair in Italy, 

 in the year 1713, a prohibition was issued against 

 holding it, in order to prevent the dispersion of the 

 cattle. However, the drivers rather than be dis- 

 a[ipointed of a market, conducted them privately to 

 Rome, and sold at alow price. Immediately after- 

 wards, a contagious distemper spread through the 

 whole Roman territory, and destroyed 300,000 ani- 

 mals. Notwithstanding precautious were used, 

 such as burying the diseased cattle, interdicting 

 the sale <if their flesh, untoward accidents happen- 

 ed, and contagion was disseminated by the skin. 

 But at different places in France, guards were 

 placed, to prevent any. cattle from approaching 

 them, whereby the stock was preserved in health, 

 though the malady was making rapid advances in 

 the surrounding country. 



The iMarquis de Courtioron instituted numerous 

 experiments regarding this distemper, from which 

 lie concluded that it exhibited itself on the fourth 

 day from infection, that the ninth was the crisis, 

 and that the contagion could spread only from di- 

 rect communication between two animals. In the 

 course of tiie year 1746, a new remedy, inocula- 

 tion, had been attempted at Brunswick, and in an 

 epizooty which appeared in Holland, the same reme- 

 dy was repeated in 175.5, though with little success, 

 and recoinniended by Dr Lagard in J 757. The 

 distemper in the latter country was considered ab- 

 solutely similar to small pox ; and the infection 

 was said to have been brought from Holland by 

 two white calves of a favorite breed, or by two 

 skins of diseased animals. Whatever was the 



