FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE IN AMERICA. 91 
tagion, there is no knowing when the end will be. As re- 
gards the means of communicating the disease, the opinion 
seems to be now generally accepted that the malady is strictly 
contagious only, not infectious — that is to say, that only 
actual contact with a diseased animal, or with the matter 
discharged from the sores, will convey the disease. For ex- 
ample, animals in a field adjoining that occupied by sick 
animals would certainly take it, but would be safe in a field 
on the opposite side of a road. Still great care is necessary, 
because the contagion may be carried upon the clothes or 
shoes of persons caring for sick animals, or by dogs or fowls 
or other animals running at large ; and in England it has 
been found to be most frequently conveyed by sick cattle 
passing over and leaving the contagion upon the highway, to 
be communicated to animals that pass over it afterwards. 
So the dung and dirt shaking out of the cattle carts in 
motion is a source of danger; and nothing but thorough 
disinfection of stables, yards, and sheds in which sick cattle 
have lain, suffices to render them safe for other animals. 
“ Professor Law has furnished the following summary of 
the symptoms of the disease : 
“ f 1 . For one or two days, dulness, loss of appetite (and 
of milk in cows) ; hot dry mouth, with a tendency to grind 
the teeth and to slaver; heat and tenderness of the udder 
and teats and of the feet, and frequent shaking of the feet as 
if to get rid of some irritating matter. 
“ 1 2. On second day, abundant frothing at the mouth, 
loud smacking of the lips and tongue, lameness and the for- 
mation of blisters of various sizes (up to an inch across) on 
the mouth, udder, teats, and between the hoofs. 
“ ‘ 3 . In one or two days more these blisters burst, leaving 
raw sores and shreds of loose skin inside the upper lip, on 
the roof of the mouth and the tongue, on the teats and be- 
tween the hoofs. These discharge an irritating fluid for some 
time, then scab over and heal up — in favorable cases in from 
ten to fifteen days/ 
“As regards treatment, mild aperient and cooling medi- 
cines, but not purgatives, are indicated ; bleeding is not to 
be resorted to in any case. The chief thing necessary is 
good nursing, and to support the animal with soft mashes 
and strong gruels, which it is usually necessary to pour down 
the throat, because during four or five days or more, the 
mouth is so sore that the animal will not eat. For an appli- 
cation to the sores, use a solution of two ounces of sulphate 
of zinc in a quart of water, or a mild carbolic acid prepara- 
tion. The animals should be kept on dry ground, because 
