170 
VEkANUS A. MOORE. 
designation of “ foot rot,” and, on account of its apparent con¬ 
tagiousness, it was viewed with much apprehension by the cat¬ 
tle owners of that vicinity. It was found, however, that it had 
not spread over a very large territory, but that several dairy 
herds had suffered quite severely. Unfortunately, it was not 
reported to us until the height of the trouble had passed, so that 
this article is based upon the examination of a few animals suf¬ 
fering from the naturally-contracted disease and upon the cases 
experimentally produced. 
The manifestations of the disease were, within certain limits, 
uniform in all of the affected animals. Usually but one foot or 
leg was attacked, although there were numerous exceptions. 
The first symptom noticed was a swelling, which usually ap¬ 
peared in the lower part of the leg, most often in the pastern. 
In some animals it was said that the swelling was restricted to 
a small area, but often it extended up the leg to and even above 
the knee or the hock joint. There was evidence of pain and 
the animal became very lame. As the inflammatory process 
continued, the subcutaneous tissue became indurated, the skin 
thick and dry and eventually it would crack, usually, but not 
always, below the dew claws, and a thick creamy pus would be 
discharged. After discharging, the swelling subsided and the 
normal condition was rapidly restored. The extent of the 
swelling and the time necessary for the suppurative process and 
recovery varied in different animals, but as a rule from ten to 
fifteen days were required. The exceptions were largely in 
those cases where the inflammatory process extended down to 
the coronary cushion. In these there was more or less slough¬ 
ing of the hoof, and it was in these cases that the disease ap¬ 
peared in its most serious form. So far as I learned all of the 
animals eventually recovered. A personal examination was 
made of five cases, which were in two herds on adioiningf farms. 
Case No. i. A cow, 7 to 8 years old. The trouble was in the right 
hind foot. She had recovered from a severe attack in the right fore foot. 
There was still some swelling in the hind leg and the skin and subcu¬ 
taneous tissue above the heel were much thickened. There were two 
cracks below the dew claws, from which, the owner of the animal said, 
