294 



SCIENCE. 



[N.S. Vol. XXII. No. 558. 



of farms must also be useful in the same 

 direction. As the ticks do not travel to 

 any extent when they fall among the grass, 

 it is evident that the cattle on a clean farm 

 which is properly fenced will not become 

 infected by this disease, although all the 

 country round about should be infected. 

 This fencing of farms and subdividing the 

 farm itself into several portions is a most 

 important factor in the prevention of con- 

 tagious diseases amongst stock. It is, of 

 course, impossible that this can be done at 

 once, as the expense would be prohibitive. 



Moving Cattle from Infected Pasture to 

 Clean Pasture.— From a study of this dis- 

 ease and a study of the life-history of the 

 tick it is evident that by a combination of 

 dipping or spraying the cattle so as to de- 

 stroy almost all the ticks, slaughtering the 

 sick, and moving the apparently healthy on 

 to clean veld— and repeating this, if neces- 

 sary, a second or third time— it is obvious 

 that by these means, if circumstances are 

 favorable, an outbreak of this disease may 

 be nipped in the bud without much loss to 

 the stock. 



Stamping out the Disease.— In May, 

 1904, an inter-colonial conference held at 

 Cape Town resolved that the only effective 

 method of eradicating east coast fever is to 

 kill off all the cattle in the infected areas, 

 and to leave such areas free of cattle for 

 some eighteen months. By this means all 

 the centers of infection would be destroyed, 

 and at the end of eighteen months, as all 

 the infected ticks would be dead, it is evi- 

 dent that the disease would be completely 

 stamped out. There is no doubt that this 

 drastic method would be the quickest and 

 most complete one of getting rid of this 

 extremely harassing disease. If compen- 

 sation were given, it could be done at a cost 

 of, say, a quarter of a million. The gov- 

 ernment decided, however, that on account 

 of the difficulty of carrying out such a 



drastic scheme another policy had to be 

 considered. This policy provides for the 

 fencing-in of infected farms, places, lands 

 or roads, on generous terms; the compul- 

 sory slaughter of stock with compensation 

 in the case of isolated outbreaks; the re- 

 moval of all oxen from infected or sus- 

 pected farms ; and, lastly, the stabling of 

 milch cows in infected areas. It is quite 

 evident that under this less drastic policy 

 the final stamping-out of the disease will 

 be a much slower process than if the more 

 drastic scheme of compulsory slaughter of 

 all cattle on infected areas had been carried 

 out. The benefits, however, from the modi- 

 fied scheme are undoubted; and if carried 

 out thoroughly and intelligently for a 

 period of several years will probably result 

 in the stamping-out of the disease. 



Allow me to sum up in regard to the 

 advance in our knowledge of this important 

 stock disease during the last ten years. Ten 

 years ago nothing was known. Now the 

 causation of the disease has been made out 

 very fully; the parasite that causes it is 

 i^nown; the ticks which carry the infection 

 are known. Although no method of con- 

 ferring immunity on healthy cattle has 

 been found out, or any medicinal treatment 

 discovered which jvill cure the sick animal, 

 yet our knowledge of the life-history of the 

 parasite and the tick enables regulations 

 to be framed which, if patiently carried 

 out, must be crowned with success. 



2. Bedwater or Texas Fever. 



I may dismiss this disease in a few words. 

 It is a most interesting disease and of great 

 importance to stock farmers. It only af- 

 fects cattle. 



Geographical Distribution. — It is a dis- 

 ease found in almost every part of the 

 world. It was first studied in North Amer- 

 ica ; hence the name Texas fever. To Kil- 

 borne and Smith is due the honor of elu- 



