16 
A. A. HOLCOMBE. 
the time of my first visit was thirty-five. But two of these are 
worthy of special mention. One is a red yearling steer, with 
one foot affected, showing ulcers on both lips, the gums, tongue 
and on the roof of the mouth back to and including the soft 
palate. The other is a two-year-old heifer that will lose all four 
feet. 
The third herd infected is situated about 2^ miles south of 
Mr. Keith’s place, in Woodson County, and belongs to John W. 
Beard. On my first visit there but three cases were seen, one 
having died. The herd comprises 75 animals and has been in¬ 
fected about two weeks. 
Regarding the nature of the disease there can be no question 
but that it is a contagious one. This is shown by new outbreaks 
in the herd first infected, the spread of the disease to the herd 
across the highway, and finally to Mr. Beard’s cattle by the pur¬ 
chase of a cow from Mr. Keith’s farm. That it is Foot and 
Mouth Disease, or Epizootic Aphtha, cannot be doubted when the 
symptoms are considered. For, to recapitulate, the various di¬ 
seases show—vesicles and ulcers of the mouth, vesicles and ulcers 
in the cleft of the foot, suppuration and sloughing of the feet, 
ulcers of the rectum, vesicles and ulcers of the udder, diarrhoea, 
a temperature varying from 101° to 105 2-5° F. and marked 
emaciation, even when the appetite is good. 
How the disease originated I am, as yet, at a loss to know. 
Foot and mouth disease, in the past, has never appeared in this 
country except when brought here from Great Britain or Europe. 
That it can originate spontaneously I do not believe, for a long 
series of observations have shown that specific diseases cannot be 
produced except the specific virus is present in the system, and 
that this virus is always the product of a like pre-existing virus. 
That the disease was brought to Mr. Keith’s herd I am fully 
convinced, but when, how and where from my investigations to 
the present time do not permit me to say. 
On the 7th inst. three new herds were reported infected. I 
visited them and found the reports groundless. Since the 6th 
inst. twelve new cases have appeared in Mr. Keith’s herd, and 
four or five in Mr. Goodrich’s. 
