156 
L. MC LEAN. 
The introduction and history of this disease in Brooklyn may 
he briefly stated as follows: 
Peter Dunn, who, in 1843, kept a cow stable in the vicinity 
of what is now Hamilton Ferry, purchased a cow off a vessel 
arriving from some port in Holland. This animal shortly after¬ 
ward developed contagious pleuro-pneumonia and died, infecting 
the other cows in the stable. He, becoming alarmed at the mor¬ 
tality among his stock, disposed of the balance as best he could. 
We next hear of it as almost decimating some of the distillery 
stables in this city, and from this focus it has spread over almost 
every section of this island. Indeed, from this, comparatively 
speaking, germ can be traced the origin of contagions pleuro¬ 
pneumonia in the United States. 
In this neighborhood the disease continued to spread, no offi¬ 
cial action having been taken to check its progress, until Governor 
.Robinson’s attention was drawn to its prevalence in this city in 
general, and the Blissville districts in particular, in a communi¬ 
cation from you, as Sanitary Superintendent of the Brooklyn 
Board of Health, in January, 1879, the result being the appoint¬ 
ment of a commission, of which General Patrick was the head, 
with Prof. Law, of Cornell University, as its veterinary adviser. 
Upon investigation by this commission, the identity of the 
prevailing disease with contagious pleuro-pneumonia was satis¬ 
factorily established, and many proofs of its widespread existence 
obtaiued. The policy adopted by them was that of slaughtering 
the affected animals, quarantining and disinfecting the stables in 
which affected cases were found, and strictly prohibiting the sys¬ 
tem of inoculation. 
In carrying out these measures, thousands of dollars were ex¬ 
pended and many animals destroyed during the three years exist¬ 
ence of the commission, with only directly negative results, in 
so far as the permanent control of contagious pleuro-pneumonia 
in Brooklyn was obtained. 
Considering the lengthened and tenacious hold this disease 
has secured in this district, and the exceptional local conditions, 
along with the indefinite latent period of contagious pleuro¬ 
pneumonia, no other result could have been anticipated from such 
a course. 
