360 



NEV/ ENGLAND FARMER 



APRIL 89, !'40 



cause, many animals perished of it. Different epi- ' 

 lootios appeared about tl)e sniiio lime, anifipg ttio 

 cattle, liorses, and reindeer of France, Austria, Fin- j 

 lard and Lapland. Swine, dosrs. and even poultry, , 

 arc said to have been attacked by it. R\issia did I 

 not escape, and if wc can credit the relations giv- 

 en, the malady was propagated by th'- skin of a | 

 bear, even to the destruction of mankind. These 

 epizootics were either perpetuated or renewed dur- 

 ing the years"inimediately subseciunit, and, if pn.ssi- 

 blo, raged more extensively umoi>CT the various 

 genera of animals. The horses of Switzerland, 

 the cattle of other countries, f hrep, and particularly 

 lambs, were swept away in thousands. 



In I7G4, dogs were attacked throui;liout Fnince, 

 poultry in Spain, and the rest of the feathered tribes 

 throughout Europe, 



The milk of infi»cted cows spioad tlie contag-ion; 

 for those animals supplied were covi red with pus- 

 tules; and people who suffered with it, in the same 



and burning heat in the throit. 



For some years after this period, an epizcoty 

 raged among the black cattle of Holland, and car- 

 ried off the whole cattle belonging to one district. 

 Its attack was commejiced all at c.i^c, by the ani- 

 mal becoming dull and rejecting drink. Fever and 

 shivering, attended by a general prostration of 

 slieugth, foiiorteu ; tiio cars and iiorr.s gi. .•. culi!, 

 a cough became uniemitting, a purulent matter 

 was discharged from the nose, and an icho.-ous 

 fluid from the eyes. The hide was puffed up, and 

 a crackling like that of parchment, was heard on 

 .pressure. Some were attacked by diarrhosa — oth- 

 ers by constipation, from the fourth to the sixth day 

 of the disease, and they died from the second- to 

 the eleventh day after the commencement. The 

 blood of the animal then proved thin ; the intestines 

 inflamed and putrid, the lungs gangrenous, the gall 

 bladder always greatly enlarged, and many worms 

 were foiind in the liver. The symptoms were gen- 

 erally the same ; and Camper, who strictly watch- 

 ed the appearance, progress, and issue of the mala- 

 dy, pnuiounced it a contagious putrid fever. Ani- 

 mals once attacked were never liable to its recur- 

 rence, or at least very rarely ; hence Camper, from 

 that and other circumstances, concluded that to re- 

 press it, four principal objects are to be kept in view. 

 1. To endeavor to prevent the malady and abate 

 its virulence. 9. To preserve the fiuixJs from cor- 

 ruption. 3. To preserve the strength of the ani- 

 mal. 4. To cleanse the intestines immediately on 

 the appearance of the disease. There was no way 

 of guarding against contagion, but by excluding 

 diseased animals, and all substances by which in- 

 fection might be communicated. He also concei- 

 ved that inoculation was the most proper method 

 of averting the maliguily of the distemper : fortysix 

 out of ninetytwo infected animhis were saved, and 

 of cows that were mrt far advanced in gestation, 

 three fourths were saved. Inoculation was suc- 

 cessfully practiced in UenTnurk ; in the first ihne 

 years of the experiment, lesslhau a sixth of the in- 

 fected aniinals died. Strong piejinlices in Eng- 

 land were opposed to it, lest it might introduce the 

 disease where it did not before exist. Camper es- 

 tablished several iuipovtant ]Miinis ; such as, that 

 the epizooty imparted by inoculation, was exactly 

 similar to that cominunicatfd by natural infection ; 

 that it was of a much milder nature ; as also that 

 animals infected in this v^ay, re.>-'isted both natural 

 contagion and the consequences of inoculation. 

 The malady proved extremely destructive in Hol- 



land ; of 286,047 affected, 208,3.54 died. In 1771 

 the disease broke out in Picardy, by the introduc- 

 tion of a diseased cow, and after being subdued, 

 appeared iigain in 1773 with redoubled violence. 

 Numerous remedies were tried, but their inefficien- 

 cy being iiroved, the extirpation of the malady was 

 sought in the destriiclion of the animals by stran- 

 gulatioij, without the effusion of blond, and their 

 carcases buried with their hides entire. Similar 

 ordinances were promulgated in France, with their 

 hides cut to pieces, to prevent traffic in them, and 

 that all the fodder, litter, and whatever else which 

 might conuuunicate the Contagion should be buried 

 with them. By these and ether prudent regula- 

 tions, this, which was one of the epizootics best 

 charact(.ri'.;ed in history, was repressed. 



During the period that contagious distempers 

 swept away the cattle of Europe, a malady, even 

 more rapid in its progress, appeared in the West 

 Indies. lis effects seem to liave been more mi- 

 nutely triced in f;n,,rti!A,,,,„ ,vV,„_p ;t fi— t aH..nl-. 

 ed black cattle, then horses, and afterwards spread 

 to men. Animals apparently well, in good condi- 

 tion, and feeding as usual, were suddenly seized 

 with shivering fits, attended by convulsions in the 

 spine and abdomen, which sometimes carried them 

 off in an hour. Almost all the negroes who opened 

 the dead bodies had boils on their arms, attended 

 by much fever ; and those feeding on then- llesli 

 had like symptomB. Examples were given of rqv- 

 eral who actually died from infection. Something 

 similar was witnessed in France, where person.s 

 skinning the animals died of the contagion, the ef- 

 fects of which were iumiediate. 



Between the years 1780 and 17.40, a pestilential 

 disease prevailed among the cattle in the northern 

 counties of Scotland, vulgarly denominated hnsly, 

 from the rapidity of its progress. 



The Eastern parts of Asia were visited by a de- 

 structive epizooty among the horses, especially in 

 1804 ; and after the severity abated, in 180.5 and 

 1800, it was renewed with uncommon virulence in 

 1807. In so far as we can learn, this disorder con 

 sisted of a sudden swelling, attended by shivering 

 fits, an abscess formed most commonly in the head, 

 and the animal died in twelve hours at farthest. 

 But in many iiistances, its commencement and ter- 

 mination were infinitely more rapid, and death was 

 known to ensue in half an hour. The malady w-as 

 observed early at Ochotsk. Cattle, reindeer, and 

 horses all suffered ; and at last, a caravan, consist- 

 ing of eiglity, preserved only ten. The Russian 

 Government of those distant regions, in order to 

 repress the disease, ordered all the animals perish- 

 ing of it, to be burnt : but before its nature was 

 well understood, the Jakutchiuns, to whom horse 

 flesh is grateful, unwilling to lose such a source of 

 subsistence, fed on it. Most of those who had 

 done so, died within a day or two ; anJ a few lin- 

 gered a liutnight. 'i hose who escaped were at- 

 tacked by severe swellings, in the upper lip and 

 cheeks, wliich brOke out and left great scars. 



Besides thise epizootics of which a general his- 

 torical view has been given, others, extremely rap- 

 id in their progress and destructive in their effects, 

 lould be dclailed, and their sources might admit 

 of various conjectures. Most of those which at- 

 tack the larger and more important animals, bear a 

 strong resemblance to the plague among mankind. 

 They have been traced, la some instances at 

 least, to miasmata, which if not the origin of such 

 a terrible malady, unquestionably foster its germs, 

 andthev are more dettructive in all regions durintr 



the same period that the plague is most fatal. 

 Probably some animals are exclusively the victims 

 of some epizootics, while others of different genera 

 may escape unhurt ; but it is to be doubted wheth- 

 er any races are totally exempt from them. Thus 

 we are told that the fish of Lake Constance perished 

 from a general mortality in 17S2. We have seen 

 many of the feathered tribes occasionally suffer, in 

 different countries ; infectious disorders frequently 

 prevail among dogs; and a contagious distemper 

 attacked the cats of Westphalia in 1082 ; while the 

 same species were almost extirpated fiom the Fe- 

 roe islands by an epizooty, in 1708. ft is not an 

 improbable theory tliat entire genera of animals, 

 onte inhabiting the surface of the earth, or the 

 waters, are now extinct from contagious maladies. 



In the first or second volume of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, mention is made of a contagious dis- 

 ease breaking out in a drove of cattle, brought in 

 from the country. 'I hoy were ordered back again 

 by Iheauthovities, .ih,' tbn- p t'lst diofl to '-•• huri'-d; 

 but one individual wisliing to save the hide, look it 

 off, caught the distemper, and died. Two others 

 tried out the tnllow of anothei-, and both it is relat- 

 ed died. 



In these remarks we have drawn largely from 

 the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, where our readers are 

 referred, under the article of Epizooty. 



W'c iuive thought picj-ii lo v.i:i this supplement 

 to our report, that the farmers in Essex may be on 

 their guard another season. Although the distem- 

 per has appeared in several towns in different parts 

 of the county, yet, it is feared, it has not yet ex- 

 hausted itself, and may again return another sea- 

 soa. «Jirn heat, drought, or m'usture may favor it. 



Tl* EHiall pox is now more prevalent than it has 

 been for many years, in New England. The con- 

 nexion between epizootics, plague and small pox, 

 which has been hinted before, is another reason for 

 watchfulncs,s. R. A. MERRIAM. 



Topsfehl, January, 1840. 



i Moil! 



Vi.Ml(. 



FENCES &c. 

 Hon. Isaac Hill — Dear Sir — !n my journeying 

 through the New England iitates I have frequently 

 been struck with the want of beauty and too often 

 the want of durability and sufficiency of the walls" 

 and fences, enclosing and upon otherwise beautiful 

 farms. In some pirrts the scarcity of stone, and in 

 others the difficulty of procuring the common fenc- 

 ing n.aterials, such as cedar rails, &c. is the com- 

 mon apology for the absence of a good, secure, and 

 durable fence. 'I here are many objections urged 

 against hedges, with how much reason I leave oth- 

 ers to decide. The doubtful nature of the experi- 

 ment, however, and constant care supposed to be 

 necessary to bring one to perfection, added to tha 

 risk of its ultimately providing a safe closure, de- 

 ters many from setting it. Its beauty is certainly 

 a strong inducement to give it a thorough trial. 

 Hon. Barnabas Palmer, of this town, has a beauti- 

 ful hedge under way, with every prospect of com- 

 plete success. In yi^iir June number (G) of the 

 Visitor, he gave some information derived from 

 sources entitled to great respect, in regard to the 

 quality and proper cultivation of liedges. His 

 hedge, which was set in May last, is of the Buck- 

 thorn variety, and was procured from the farm of 

 E. H. Derby, Esq. of Salem, Mass. It is now 

 something better than two feet high on an average. 



