332 



NEW ENGLAXD FAR:\IER. 



July 



with the action of the Legislature, by suggesting 

 very wise counsels now as to what ought to have 

 been done, and then condemning the Commission- 

 ers for doing just what they were instructed to 

 do. Some of them quote the promptness and en- 

 ergy of the British government when the disease 

 has invaded that country, but do not tell us from 

 what source they derived their wisdom. On the 

 other hand, the writer in the North British Ar/ri- 

 culturist commends the energetic and decided ac- 

 tion of our State in this matter. It says : 



"In reference to the introduction of the disease 

 into America, it is seldom that such direct and 

 conclusive evidence as to the contagious charac- 

 ter of pleuro-pneumonia has been presented, as is 

 furnislied in its introduction into the State of 

 Massachusetts. Had the British Government been 

 equally prompt on the first appearance of the dis- 

 ease in this country, it may be safely inferred that 

 its spread would have been greatly checked, or 

 perhaps wholly prevented." 



There is another class of persons, including 

 some of the cattle dealers, who purchase cattle'to 

 fatten and sell again, who are so mercenary and 

 entirely incapable of appreciating an unselfish mo- 

 tive or a generous act, that they have denounced 

 in billingsgate terms those Avho have watched 

 the progress of the disease, who have done every- 

 thing in their power to arrest it, and to prevent a 

 panic among the people. These men found the 

 price of cattle low in consequence of the disease, 

 and their inordinate cupidity prompted them to 

 make large purchases, at extremely low prices. 

 They made brawling boasts of this in connection 

 with their denunciations of others, until the dis- 

 ease began to turn towards their possessions, 

 when they suddenly became as dumb and crest- 

 fallen as they were boisterous before. This is the 

 usual course with persons whose desire for gain 

 oveiTides all the promptings of principles. 



On Saturday, June 2, we visited the remaining 

 portion of Mr. Chenery's herd at Belmont, 39 in 

 number, and with many others examined the 

 heifer and cow that were then slaughtered. The 

 following statement of the examination we copy 

 from the Journal, whose reporter was on the 

 spot. 



It was mainly with the view of developing the 

 disease in a new and different aspect from that pre- 

 sented in the incipient and acute cases at Brook- 

 field that the examination of subjects in this herd 

 was made. Upon the arrival of the Commission- 

 ers a yearling calf was selected froiu a iiianlAr of 

 others as a fit subject to illustrate the effects of 

 the disease in cases where the animal has been 

 sick, and to all external appearances has re- 

 covered. The calf was taken sick in October last, 

 and for four or five weeks was so ill as to take no 

 other nourishment than gruel poured down its 

 throat. During the last three months the crea- 

 ture has gradually regained its appetite and con- 

 sequently its strength, and was supposed to be 



recovering. Still it coughed, and upon percus- 

 sion exhibited dullness on the right side, and 

 strong tubercular respiralion. 



The necessary preparations having been made, 

 Mr. Commissioner Lothrop introduced Dr. Mar- 

 tin, who stated in brief his diagnosis of the case. 

 He expected to find tlie most disease in the right 

 lung, and no doubt adhesions. The calf was killed, 

 the right shoulder and ribs removed, and the 

 chest laid open by Drs. Dadd and Thayer. There 

 was a strong adhesion of the pleura of the lung 

 to the ribs, diaphragm and heart case. The lung 

 indicated that it had been compressed into a small 

 compass, by serum, which had in the subsequent 

 progress of the disease been absorbed. The wind- 

 pipe contained a secretion of mucus, which prob- 

 ably produced the rattling heard before death ; 

 the membrane of the lung was very much thick- 

 ened, and the lung tissue nearly destroyed. The 

 cyst or bag of the lung was found empty, whereas 

 in cases of the disease in an acute form it has 

 been found to contain a large body of lung tissue, 

 or the substance of the lung. The theory of those 

 most familiar with the prevailing disease is that 

 the tissue in this case had been softened, and re- 

 duced to a liquid state or pus, and then taken up 

 by absorption. Tlic left lung was found to be 

 perfectly free from the disease. The ease was not 

 a fair sample of the disease, but it nevertheless 

 demonstrated the theory of the commissioners 

 that cattle once sick will never fully recover. 



The next animal killed was a cow, which was 

 brought into Mr. Chenery's herd in December 

 last. She had never exhibited any signs of dis- 

 ease beyond a slight cough, and an external ex- 

 amination before death failed to discover any in- 

 dications. As the animal had been exposed to 

 the infected herd, it was a matter of cui'iosity to 

 ascertain whether she had taken the disease. Upon 

 a careful dissection of the lungs the disease was 

 found to exist in an incipient stage. The heart 

 was soft and flabby, as in all cases of this kind, 

 and there were other indications of the prevailing 

 contagion. This closed the investigation. 



Causes of Raix, Snow, ILill, Fog. — Rain is 

 caused by a cloud moving into a stratum of cold 

 air, by which its particles are condensed, and run 

 into drops too heavy to float in the atmosphere. 

 Snow is produced by the cloud becoming frozen 

 before its particles have condensed into water. 

 Hail is caused by the freezing of the drops after 

 they begin to fall as rain. Dew is the falling of 

 their vapors of the day, Avhen they part with the 

 moisture in the cool of the evening. A fog is a 

 cloud floating on the surface of the earth, and a 

 cloud is a fog floating in the atm«spherc. 



I 



American Guano. — A correspondent, in speak- , 

 ing of the American guano as a fertilizer, says : 



About ten days ago I scattered a portion of this 1 

 article on an old grass-field. I hastily marked ' 

 out some characters, and sprinkled on the guano 

 by the marks. To-day, where I sprinkled the gu- 

 ano, the words "American Guano," are distinctly 

 visible, in bright green letters, w"hich can be easi- 

 ly read an eighth of a mile off. Certainly this is 

 a very satisfactory result. 



