20 The Lung Plague of Cattle. 



of 6 herds into which calves of the Billard drove had 

 been taken. Taking the first herd visited as an illustra- 

 tive case : John E. White, of Sagg, bought of Billard 

 one bull calf, which sickened soon after, but apparently 

 recovered, or, rather, as is too often the case, the disease 

 subsided into a chronic form. This strange calf infected 

 13 more of his herd, 5 of which had died before our ar- 

 rival, while 9, including the bull calf, were destroyed and 

 paid for by the State. In this case 6 of the condemned 

 animals were supposed by their owner and his neighbors 

 to be in good health, and it was only when they had been 

 destroyed, and the extensive diseased changes in the 

 lungs had been shown, that they became convinced that 

 a serious blunder had not been committed. This is an 

 every-day experience with us, and illustrates how the 

 disease is spread by cattle which an ordinary observer 

 would consider to be perfectly sound. 



Since that date more of Mr. "White's herd have con- 

 tracted the disease, and he is now left with but 13 out of 

 his original stock of 80 cattle. 



Outbreaks took place in no less than ten different herds 

 into which calves from the same drove were taken, and 

 but for the energetic measures adopted in stamping out 

 the disease, the losses in Suffolk County must have prov- 

 ed most extensive. 



Mrs. Erath, 73d street. New York, bought a cow from 

 Seaver, a dealer, who then kept his cows in the infected 

 sheep-house, 60th street. This cow sickened on Febru- 

 ary 15th, and notwithstanding active suppressive meas- 

 ures, fi^ e out of her remaining herd of nine were lost be- 

 fore the plague was stayed. 



Patrick McCabe, 72d streot, New York, had five cows 

 in 1871. He bought a fresh cow of a dealer named Mc- 

 Donald, which sickened six weeks later, and infected his 

 cows, all of which perished. He bought four new cows, 

 but he lost the whole in two months. Then he got a 



