THE PLAGUE IN KANSAS. 
113 
Prof. Salmon submits elaborate details of all tile facts con¬ 
nected with the various phases of the disease in various parts of 
Kansas, and in the vicinity of Kirksville, Adair County, Mo. 
He then says: 
CONDITION OF THE CATTLE. 
“ All the diseased animals on the farms visited by me were 
stock cattle in medium to thin condition. On each of the farms 
there were animals of all ages. The calves and yearlings seemed 
to escape in a greater degree than the older cattle. The winter 
has undoubtedly been a severe one upon the stock of the western 
States, and the cattle were consequently somewhat below the 
average condition at this season of the year. The appearance of 
the disease cannot be explained by this fact, however, since thou¬ 
sands of healthy herds were in worse condition than those on the 
farms in question. Some of these herds were in better than an 
average condition. They had evidently been well fed and cared 
for. There was nothing in the surroundings of the affected 
animals which would explain the development of the disease. The 
feeding lots in most cases were unusually dry, and the disease 
had appeared at a time when all mud was frozen solid. The soil 
did not contain enough alkali even at Neosho Falls to make it at 
all probable that this could have been the exciting cause of the 
disease. As is usual in the management of cattle in the West, the 
herds are without shelter. As the animals first became lame it 
was supposed that mud had collected between the toes, and be¬ 
coming hard was producing irritation. The animals were caught 
and their feet cleaned, but this had no effect upon the develop¬ 
ment of the disease. 
“ The foot and mouth disease of Europe is a specific fever, 
which only arises by contagion from other diseased animals. In 
the whole history of America there have been no spontaneous 
outbreaks of this disease, and in Europe the conviction is grow¬ 
ing stronger every year that it lias no other cause than contagion. 
We may accept it as a fact that the foot and mouth disease can¬ 
not occur in the United States except from the introduction of 
virus from abroad. When a disease having some resemblance in 
