324 
SPLENIC DISEASE. 
clay. Mangolds, kolil rabi, and cole-seed are the principal 
root crops, wheat being the chief cereal cultivated. 
The stock consists of ninety head of cattle, of various breeds 
and ages, from six to thirty-six months, mostly all bought in 
last November. They are kept in four open crewe-yards on 
different parts of the farms, supplied with wheat straw 
ad libitum , and from three to six pounds of cake daily, accord- 
ing to age, more as manure-machines than for fattening pur- 
poses. The water supplied to two yards is from the open 
ditches surrounding the fields on the farm, which empty 
themselves into the main drain already mentioned ; the other 
two are supplied from pumps in the yards. It is of spurious 
quality, largely impregnated with iron, in the form of the 
red hydrated sesquioxide ; that from the ditches containing 
a quantity of organic impurities the result of decaying vege- 
table matter, which grows largely in it in summer. The first 
case occurred in January last, a two-year-old, one of a lot of 
ten, brought in in November previous, and who brought the 
foot-and-mouth complaint along with them, affecting all the 
cattle in the yard. He was observed early in the morning, 
much excited, breathing hard ; there was a bloody spume 
about the nostrils, and the faeces were tinged with blood. 
Nothing had been seen amiss on the previous evening ; they 
all seemed very much improved in condition. This fact, to- 
gether with the symptoms presented, aroused my suspicions, 
and I ordered the destruction of the affected beast. 
Little blood flowed from the veins and arteries in the neck 
which were cut ; the carcass was carted to the neighbouring 
village, dressed, and sold for food. Nothing particular was 
observed on examination. Under the skin in the scapu- 
lar, lumbar, and abdominal regions were a number of 
ecchymosed spots. Stomachs healthy, mucous membranes 
very easily peeled off in the fourth, and along the course of 
the small intestines were extravasations of blood ; in the 
colon and rectum it was less observable, and mixed with the 
faeces. Bladder empty, but healthy ; kidneys healthy ; liver 
large and soft, particularly in the centre ; gall-bladder dis- 
tended with thickened bile ; spleen weighed twelve pounds, 
was very soft, and was with difficulty removed entire from the 
abdomen ; lungs congested ; bronchi filled with blood-spume ; 
heart healthy. 
By way of prevention the rest were bled and had a saline 
purge, and rock-salt put in their mangers. They were re- 
moved to another yard, and about three weeks after another 
was attacked, and was just expiring when I reached the 
place. He was bled in the yard, taken to the butcher’s. 
