THE 
VOL. XIII, No. 149.] MAY 1840. [New Series, No. 89. 
THE EPIDEMIC AMONG CATTLE. 
“ ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 
“ The President and Council having referred the consideration 
of the subject of the present Epidemic among Cattle, &c., to the 
Veterinary Committee to report a concise and practical statement 
of its symptoms and treatment, for the information of the members, 
the committee, in concert with Professor Sewell, have drawn up 
the following recommendations of the simplest remedies at present 
in use for arresting the progress of the disorder; but as the object 
of the council is to collect as well as to disseminate information, and 
inasmuch as the disease varies in its character, according to locality 
and the circumstances under which the animals are placed, the 
council request, that, should any cases occur dissimilar from those 
described, or any other remedies be found efficacious, they may be 
fully communicated to the secretary. 
‘‘ James Hudson, Secretary. 
“ 5, Cavendish Square, April 8, 1840.” 
“This disease, like the epidemic or influenza among horses during 
the spring of1836, being in many instances of a slight nature, the con¬ 
stitution does not always suffer from fever, either of the typhus kind 
or of an inflammatory character, and recovery takes place without 
the administration or application of medicinal agents. The attack 
does not always commence in the same form, but ultimately termi¬ 
nates in a general disease of the same type and character : in some 
animals it commences in the feet, between the claws, and in others 
it appears to have begun in the mouth; in others a stiffness in the 
legs of the animals is first perceived, as if treading upon thorns and 
briars: then follows a discharge of saliva from the mouth, and a 
champing of the lips, accompanied with blisters on the tongue, pa¬ 
late and lips: the blisters peel off, and loss of appetite and general 
debility ensue. 
“ As the disease appears occasionally to partake both of inflani- 
inatory action, and also to assume the appearance (if neglected) of 
a low fever, Professor Sewell, of the Royal Veterinary College, 
VOL. XIIX. T t 
