ON FRAGILITY OF THE BONES IN CATTLE. 181 
If we consider the peculiar manner in which cows are kept and 
nursed in our province — the total want of exercise, and of that 
which is so necessary to animal life, fresh air — the quantity of un- 
wholesome food which is given to them — and the absence of ne- 
cessary cleanliness — we can only be surprised that fatal epidemics 
do not break out much oftener among them. Instead of filling the 
rack with good clover or meadow hay, which is the natural food of 
the animal, almost all owners of cattle use only those kinds of fodder 
which are bad or spoiled, and difficult of digestion, and which irritate 
and weaken the intestinal canal. It is by feeding cows on turnips, 
mangel- worzel, red potatoes, &c., and giving them warm mashes 
and drinks, that the normal functions of the stomach are disturbed 
and digestion impeded. The quantity given is as objectionable as 
the quality. This ill-judged method of feeding is doubtless the 
cause of the cessation of the secretion of milk. It is erroneous to 
consider this disease as peculiarly appertaining to the osseous 
system, although, as it proceeds through the different organs, it 
weakens the bony apparatus, and thus proves itself to be that 
epidemic known as “ brittleness of the bones.” The injurious influ- 
ence of the food used is increased by want of exercise and pure 
air ; for the poor animal is confined in a narrow space from its birth 
to its death, and forced to breathe an air impregnated with various 
poisonous gases. 
The disease is rarely found in those places where the cattle are 
turned out in the fields, or regularly exercised and allowed a good 
supply of pure air, as in the provinces of Starkenburg and Upper 
Hessia. Cows kept for agricultural labour are very rarely attacked 
by this malady. I have no doubt that the usual treatment of oxen, 
their solid natural food, and the exercise they are made to take, 
are the reasons of their being never attacked by it. In many 
places where cattle breeding is carried to a great extent, but 
where the animals are worked and allowed to pasture at large, or 
fed on good hay and have plenty of water, fragility of the bones is 
never heard of. 
If we deny the contagious nature of these diseases, and consider 
them as commencing in the digestive system, and producing corrup- 
tion of the humours or fluids of the body, how shall we account for 
their gradual increase and present prevalence 1 
The first and most essential point is, to ascertain whether or not 
this disease is hereditary. There is no doubt that the peculiari- 
ties of the parents will descend to their offspring, and thus far this 
disease is hereditary. Hereditary predisposition may be much 
farther traced than is generally believed. I have seen cases where 
good or bad teeth have been transmitted from the parents to their 
offspring, also fine white or hard horny skins, predisposition to 
pulmonary complaints, defective vision, & c. 
