12 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



In 184:3 Heeringen, a and later, in 1853, Heusinger, 6 compared this 

 disorder to anthrax, and in 1858 Wood on purely literary evi- 

 dence argued the presence of " a germ." c Byford d and De Bruler e 

 called attention to the fact " that it undergoes multiplication in the 

 system " and that it lost none of its virulence by passing through four 

 successive animals. Gardner f and Hessler 9 claim to have found para- 

 sites in the blood, while Philips h compares the organism seen by him 

 to that met with in relapsing fever. The examinations of the blood 

 made by Schmidt were negative.' Molds and mushrooms also have 

 been claimed to be the etiological factors.'" No one has yet reproduced 

 the disease by injection of pure cultures of organisms. 



The question thus remained in doubt, with the weight of evidence 

 in favor of a parasitic origin, when a paper by Moseley k appeared. 

 As his paper attributes the origin of this disorder to the eating of 

 Eupatorium ageratoides, or white snakeroot, it was deemed advisable 

 to analyze his evidence, as follows : 



Experiment No. 1. — This consisted in feeding a cat weighing 

 4J pounds (2,011 grams) with a solution made by extracting the leaves 

 of three or four (?) plants in one pint (173 c. c.) of milk. After 

 taking about one-half gill (59 c. c.) of this extract the animal showed 

 tremors and dullness and was found dead in about twenty-six hours. 

 The post-mortem examination proved to be negative. It is possible 

 in this case that bacteria may have developed in the milk and pro- 

 duced poisonous compounds before feeding. This experiment was 

 performed by Moseley's assistant and the animal was not seen by him 

 until after death. 



Experiment No. 2. — A tramp kitten of unknown history weighing 



30 ounces (850.5 grams) was fed with a decoction made from one^half 



, & 



Heeringeu, E. Discovery of the True Cause of the Disease Called by the 

 People Trembles, or Milksickuess. Louisville, 1843. 



6 Heusinger, C. F. Reckerches de Path. Cornp., vol. 1, p. 126, 1853. 



c Wood, G. B., I.e., p. 465. 



d Byford, W. H., 1. c, p. 467. 



e De Bruler, J. P., 1. c, p. 209. 



f Gardner, J. Milk-Sickness. St. Louis Med. and Surg. Jour., vol. 38, p. 290, 

 1880. 



9 Hessler. R. Preliminary Notes on an Almost Extinct Native Disease, Trem- 

 bles or Milk-Sickness. Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. for 1905, p. 122. 



?< Philips, W. PL, 1. c, p. 139. 



* Schmidt, C. H., 1. c. p. 412. 



J Wilkinson, G. TV., 1. c, p. 159. — Howard, E. J. Mukosma. Indiana Jour. 

 Med., vol. 2, p. 370, 1S71.— Borland, S. Essay on the Milk Sickness, p. 27. Little 

 Rock, 1S45. — Drake, D., 1. c, p. 218.— Johnson, J. M. Milk-Sickness. Atlanta 

 Med. and Surg. Jour., vol. 7, B. p. 293. 1866. Compare also Mitchell, J. K., Five 

 Essays. 



k Moseley, E. L. Tbe Cause of Trembles in Cattle, Sheep, and Horses and of 

 Milksickuess in People. Obio Naturalist, vol. 6, pp. 463 and 477, 1906. 

 121—1 



