



TEXAS FEVER. 



[Its History, Cause and Treatment. 



A Paper Kead Before a Meeting of -the California 

 Veterinary Medical Association, Dec. 13th, 1898, by I>r. -i^.'A.. 



Archibald, Oakland, Cal., Veterinarian to the State Board of 

 lip'* 

 Health; Member and Secretary of the State Veterinary Medical 



*^ 



Board; Member and President of the California State Veterinary 

 Medical Association; Member of the American Veterinary 



nCAjliAAl 



Health, 



Association; 

 Etc. 



Bacterologist to the Oakland Board of 



A great variety of names have been 

 given to this disease, such as Southern 



[cattle fever, splenetic fever, Spanish cat- 





 tie fever, Texas cattle fever, Carolina 



cattle distemper, bloody murrain, Mexi- 



TJI ~*.ii., ,]! A . . j:~i.~ _ 



and have continued to die in numbers 

 proportional to the movement and num- 

 ber of cattle involved. 



This occurred about the beginning of 

 the eighteenth century. Carolina cat- 

 tle were infected from Florida or Cuban 

 cattle, Virginia cattle were infected by 

 Carolina cattle and by cattle introduced 

 by coastwise traders who traded be- 

 tween Cuba and other West Indian 

 Islands and the Main. 



As the Spanish cattle spread over 

 Texas, and when the great markets of 

 the north began to require meat, the 

 Texas cattle were driven over trails 

 northward and spread the disease along 

 their route. The disease from these cen- 

 ters gradually spread unhindered by 

 law or man, until it was checked by the 

 laws of nature, which restricted the 

 distribution of the disease. 



The Spanish invader on the continent 

 lico and California, and the North Euro- l was responsible for many things, but 



can or Indian cattle disease, distemper, 

 |red water, haematuria, splenic fever, 

 haemaglobinura, tick fever, acclimatiza- 

 tion fever, etc. I am, however, present- 

 ping this disease under the name of Texas 

 fever, not because Texas has anything 

 more to do witn the malady than some 

 of the other Southern States, but be- 

 cause it is tiie name the disease is pop- 

 [ulany Known by. 



HISTORY. In the 16th, 17th and 18th 

 [century this country was colonized by 

 two classes of people who brought their 

 cattle with them. Those of you who 

 are familiar with history will remember 

 [that the Spanish colonized the West In- 

 lies, Florida, Mexico, Texas, New Mex- 



pean nations the thirteen colonies. 

 The Spanish endeavored to push north- 

 ward along the Atlantic Coist, or at 

 least to hold the southern advance of 

 the northern pioneers. Until the cattle 

 of the Spanish began to mingle with 

 those of the English, those of the latter 

 prospered and multiplied, but after that 

 [northern cattle died from Texas feyer 



could he have planned, as diligently as 

 lie did inquisition methods, to have left 

 behind him a cattle plague, which would 

 harass his foemen, he could scarcely 

 have found a better means than by dis- 

 tributing this disease which time has 

 proved to have been the greatest known 

 curse to the stock industry of our south- 

 era. States. 



