570 ON THE EPIZOOTIC DISEASES OF CATTLE. 
cannot trace the disease to this cause. I have been a stre- 
nuous advocate for not meddling with any stock that is appa- 
rently free from disease, such as giving them medicine by way of 
a preventive; for, simply by the act of forcibly holding them 
by the nostrils, we are liable to wound the mucous membrane, 
and we may then set up a certain degree of inflammation or 
irritation which may produce or predispose to this disease. 
There often seems to be a predisposition in the animal, which is 
only waiting for some slight cause to shew itself. 
What is your opinion as to the infectious quality of this disease ? 
— I am perfectly satisfied that, where the disease has made its 
appearance, it becomes highly infectious ; but still I think there 
must be, in most cases, a predisposition in the animal to take 
the disease. In many farms, only one part of the stock has 
become affected, although all have been subjected to the same 
exciting cause and the same course of food. I think I cannot 
do better than quote your own words as to the origin of such 
epidemics : “ As to the cause of 1 the present epidemic,’ I see 
but little good that can result from puzzling ourselves much 
about it. Atmospheric influence is plainly connected with, and 
is the main agent in, the rise and progress of this disease.” I 
think the disease is not only infectious to the same species, but 
even an infected animal, such as the cow, has the property of 
giving the disease to the sheep or pig, and vice versa . 
What where the earliest symptoms ? Did they appear primarily 
in the feet or mouth ? — In some it commenced by lameness, but 
I should say, in the majority of cases, the mouth becomes first 
affected. Many, however, have been the cases where it would 
be difficult to say which was the primary symptom, so intimately 
have they been blended together. 
Describe the gradual progress? — In describing the gradual 
progress of this disease, I should say the cow-herd that is con- 
stantly among his beasts may detect the disease some hours 
before either the mouth or feet are perceptibly affected. They 
commence, if in the field, by singling themselves from the others ; 
not to lie under the hedge, but by remaining in the part of 
the field where the sensation appears to have first come over 
them. The eyes look dull, and sometimes weeping. There is 
disinclination to move, and when moved they appear stiff or 
lame — the lips are swollen — and there is a peculiar contraction of 
the under lip, so as to give it the appearance of a very small 
chin. As the disease progresses, the mouth is hot — the buccal 
membranes white and thickened, particularly on the top of the 
tongue and under the upper lip. In a few more hours the mem- 
brane becomes raised, and we may feel a fluid under it. The 
