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Investigations in 1890 for the Royal Agricultural Society. 153 
compelling the lambs to subsist almost exclusively on dry food and 
the tops of turnips, which they had not the power to digest. 
The circumstances relating to an outbreak of anthrax on a farm 
in Sussex were inquired into in May last. The disease occurred 
in a herd of beasts of which seven or eight succumbed or were 
destroyed. The herd was divided into several lots, and with one ex- 
ception the disease was confined to animals receiving furze as a part 
of their food. Large quantities of foreign grain were being used 
for feeding purposes, but whether this or the Indian bones with 
which the pastures liad been freely dressed was the source of infec- 
tion could not be satisfactorily determined. It was l)elieved, how- 
ever, that the sharp spines of the furze, by wounding the mouth, had 
opened a channel for the entrance of tlie virus into the system. 
Acting upon this view of the causation of the disease, measui'es of 
prevention were prescribed, and mortality ceased. 
On June 17 a visit was made into Wiltshire, whei'e a large mor- 
tality was reported in a flock of lambs. The disease had existed for 
some weeks, and had proved very destructive. Profuse diarrhoea, 
rapid wasting, ending in exhaustion and death, were the chief symp- 
toms of the affection. Post-mortem examination was made in several 
instances, and considerable numbers of thread -worms {Trichocephalus 
affirns) were found in the large bowels of all the cases inspected. 
A course of treatment, general and medical, was prescribed, with 
the result that the mortality ceased, and the health and condition of 
the flock rapidly impro\ ed. 
An inquiry into an outbreak of influenza fever in Lincolnshire 
was made in July last. The disease appeared in a stud of horses 
belonging to a farmer, and although it had caused serious losses, it 
had so far abated at the lime of the inquiry as to require no special 
treatment. 
On August 20 advice was sought I'especting a sudden outbreak 
of disease in a herd of cattle belonging to a farmer in Berkshire. 
At the time of the occurrence the animals were pastured in fields 
adjoining the house and farmstead, and immediately preceding it a 
large pond in the garden had been run off into the pasture. The 
water carried with it a considerable amount of putrefying organic 
matter, and it was believed the cattle had partaken freely of this, 
and in consequence had become the subjects of septicaemia or blood- 
poisoning, which both the symptoms and post-mortem appearances 
denoted. Eleven animals were suddenly attacked, of which number 
one died and the remaining ten had to be destroyed. Dulness, 
stupor, muscular ti'emors, great prostration, and an unsteadiness in 
the gait were the leading symptoms. Post-mortem examination 
showed intense general congestion of the principal organs of the body, 
and blood extravasations into the tissues of the stomach, kidneys, 
lungs, and heart. Search was made for other possible causes of the 
outbreak, but none were found. 
In October last inquiry was made into an outbreak of parasitic 
bronchitis in a herd of Jersey heifers belonging to a farmer in 
Worcetershire. The disease was almost exclusively confined to 
