342 
JOHN M. PARKER. 
us veterinarians, but which is of such consequence in its bear¬ 
ings upon the subject in a national aspect. The letter reads 
thus: 
Philadelphia, August 12th, 1893. 
Prof. A. Liautard , M.D ., etc.: 
My Dear Doctor. —1 am desirous of securing information as to whether 
“ contagious pleuro-pneumonia in cattle still exists in any part of the United 
States,” and would be greatly obliged if you would advise me if there have been 
any cases of the disease in your vicinity, or which have come under your notice 
during the past year. If there have been any, I should like to have the exact 
location, number of animals affected, and any facts in relation to the outbreak 
which you deem of interest. 
I have been requested to prepare a paper on this subject to be read at the 
First International Veterinary Congress of America, to be held in Chicago, 
October 16th to 20th, and desire to be correct as to facts; and any information 
you send me will be considered strictly confidential. 
Yours respectfully, 
J. W. Gadsden, V.S. 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 
SCOURING IN CALVES. 
By John M. Parker, D.V.M., Boston, Mass. 
(Read before the Massachusetts Veterinary Association, April, 1893). 
Diarrhoeal diseases in calves may be roughly divided into 
simple dyspeptic diarrhoea and “acute mycotic diarrhoea, or 
diarrhoea of bacterial origin. The difference between the 
two is rather one of degree than one of kind. In the former 
the symptoms are not so severe; it is rarely fatal, and the 
treatment is practically the same as in the more acute form, 
which is the form 1 shall more particularly consider. 
Within the last ten years numerous investigators have 
been at work on the astiology of diarrhoeal diseases, but so 
far no very positive conclusions have been reached. It ap¬ 
pears to be generally accepted, however, that diarrheal dis¬ 
eases are generally due to bacteria or their products. 
It is now known that bacteria are present in the normal 
intestine in enormous quantity, and, further, that different 
kinds of food favor the growth of different kinds of bacteria. 
In infants or animals fed on milk diet, for example, there are 
two kinds of bacteria that are always present; one of these, 
