MILK SICKNESS. "THE TREMBLES." 



Geographical distribution : timbered lands in the United States ; different 

 altitudes, and geological formations ; on hills and wooded bottoms ; known 

 to Indians and pioneers ; now unknown where formerly prevailed. Con- 

 tagion : through milk ; no specific microbe found in every case. Alleged 

 causes : rhus ; nickel ; spirillum ; bacillus. Prevails in dry seasons ; con- 

 tracted under night exjosure ; confined to given enclosures ; tolatesummer 

 and autumn. Not conveyed by contagion, indefinitely, as aie plagues. Men 

 showvery varying susceptibility ; young children may be relatively immune. 

 Fatigue, debility, ill health, predispose. Exertion to fatigue rouses symp- 

 toms in animal affected. Cow in full milk eliminates toxins and does not 

 show symptoms ; the milk infects. Steers, bulls and heifers, show marked 

 symptoms Calves suffer through milk ; swine through veal ; dogs through 

 pork ; buzzard through dead dog. Incubation 8 to 12 days. Symptoms : 

 tardy, lazy gait, drooping, anorexia, ardent thirst, inactive bowels and kid- 

 neys, milch cows when driven or excited, tremble and may suddenly die. 

 Muscular debility, constant decubitus, complete apathy, neither evades nor 

 resents injury. Bloodshot, fixed, glazed, unwinking eyes, pulse and breath- 

 ing slow, temperature low, hebetude, torpor, ccma ; death 8th to loth day. 

 Sheep very prostrate. Calves tremble when sucking, vomit and perhaps die 

 suddenly. Pigs and dogs vomit, and show costiveness, remarkable debility 

 and weariness. Man is weary, languorous, weak, apathetic, loathes food, is 

 nauseated, retches. No fever ; but ardent thirst, tremulous tongue, mawk- 

 ish breath, soft Happy btlly, careless of own or family interests, forgetful 

 of decency. Nausea, vomiting of blueish liquid, hebetude, inactive bowels, 

 coma. Lesions: gastrointestinal congestions; ingesta like hard balls of 

 saw-dust. Treatment : charcoal, mild laxatives, elm bark, egg-nog, potas- 

 sium permanganate. Prevention : clear timber land, let in sunshine, culti- 

 vate. Insects. Sterilize the milk. 



This is an infectious disease which has been found enzootic in 

 certain unimproved, timbered lands of North Carolina, Georgia, 

 Tennessee, Kentucky, W. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, In- 

 diana and Illinois. Beach says it has never been reported on any 

 of the Western prairies, at any point west of the Mississippi" 

 River, in New England, in the Canadas, in any islands, or in 

 any part of the Old World. Altitude appears to have no effect 

 in its production, nor geological formation ; it has been found in 

 the wooded mountains of the Blue Ridge of N. Carolina and 

 Georgia (Kerr, Salmon, Phillips) ; in the hills of Pennsylvania 

 and Kentucky ; (Beach, Phillips) ; on timbered uplands (Phil- 

 lips) ; and on the wooded bottoiris of the Scioto and Miami 

 in Ohio (Phillips, Schmidt) ; in the timbered bottomlands of the 

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