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JAMES LAW. 
ferers varied from two to ten years of age; at Prebinow’s the 
three-year-olds suffered most, while no yearlings lost a hoof ; while 
at O’ Toole’s there was one two-year-old, one six-year-old, and two 
old cows. In Illinois the same irregularity was noticed, and in 
New York the sufferers were mature cattle. 
LOW CONDITION AS A SUPPOSED CAUSE. 
Some newspaper reports emphasize the low condition of the 
cattle attacked, but there is abundant evidence that the herds first 
attacked were well fed and in good winter condition. Those that 
lost their feet, it is true, became rapidly and even extremely 
emaciated; hut to put this as an etiological condition is to put 
effect for cause and to blunder fundamentally. Lowered vitality, 
from poor feeding, exposure, or disease, is doubtless an accessory 
cause, but not the essential and potential one. 
FREEZING AS A SUPPOSED CAUSE. 
Frozen feet lias been a favorite explanation of this outbreak, 
and is very significant of the loose manner in which such out¬ 
breaks are accounted for. The three first herds attacked in the 
Neosho Valley had ample shelter in timber-lots, whereas the ad¬ 
jacent herds, denied such shelter, and far more thoroughly expos¬ 
ed to the inclemency of the weather, almost entirely escaped. 
The animals most severely attacked were on bottom-lands, while 
those on the more exposed uplands escaped. The stillness of the 
air near woods favored the growth of ergot, but opposed freezing. 
The prevalence of the disease in southern latitudes, rather than 
northern, opposes the idea of freezing. The feet have especially 
suffered, while the more exposed ears, teats, and tail, so subject to 
freezing in northern latitudes, escaped. The frequent existence 
of lesions in the mouth, even in the early stages of the disease, 
cannot be ascribed to freezing. The presence of diarrhea in the 
early stages of a majority of cases is not to be accounted for by 
freezing. The immunity of sheep, swine, and (in Illinois) goats 
suggests some other cause than freezing. Finally, the occurrence 
of new cases in April, after the temperature had permanently 
risen above 32° Fahr., puts the theory of freezing entirely out of 
court. 
