REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON DISEASES. 
307 
and consists in changing the range of the animal, driving him ten 
miles a day, allowing eight hours of pasture, and driving them 
into a dry corral sixteen hours a day. 
“ The mortality among cattle and sheep from this disease is 
immense, but,” says Dr. H., “ I have no means to ascertain the 
number.” 
Those statements, gentlemen, are important, and I hope will 
be remembered by you at a later period of this meeting. 
Texas Fever. —Under the same heading we would almost put 
Texas fever, which we consider as one of the forms of anthrax 
disease, and which, according to reports, we find has been pre¬ 
vailing more or less in New York, in Wyoming Territory, 
Illinois and Pennsylvania and New Jersey. You must remem¬ 
ber, Mr. President, that in making this report, I am speaking 
only of the States from which I have heard. We all know that 
Texas fever lias been prevailing in other States than those 1 have 
just named. 
Hog Cholera and Chicken Cholera. —ft is found that these 
diseases have been prevailing not only in their home-breeding 
States, such as Ohio and Illinois, but also in Wisconsin, Massa¬ 
chusetts, Pennsylvania and New York. 
Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. —This disease enters for a great 
share in the various reports which I have received—Connecticut, 
Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts complaining of its pres¬ 
ence to quite a large extent. 
This is a very important affection, which is so commonly fatal, 
and upon which so many opinions prevailed, that I must mention 
to you a new theory which was sent me by Dr. Michener, of Col¬ 
mar, Pennsylvania. The gentleman sends me a long article up¬ 
on that affection, which in his vicinity is called choking distem¬ 
per, and which he says is sometimes miscalled cerebro-spinal men¬ 
ingitis—attributing the disease to the presence of a fungus float¬ 
ing in the air or adhering to the feed, and which is principally 
found in brewers’ grains in a sour condition. Leaving aside the 
name of fungosus toxicant paralyticus , which the Doctor pro¬ 
posed, we think the subject worth investigating. I would recom¬ 
mend it to some of our pathologists. The important fact of the 
