PRIZE ESSAY. 
403 
pated at first, become loose as the disease advances; their condi¬ 
tion is not to be interfered with, as frequently the morbid material 
is thus expelled. If the structures of the feet slough extensively, 
they must be treated by solutions of chloride of zinc or carbolic 
acid, say one of acid to eight of oil. 
Sheep lose flesh very rapidly while suffering from foot and 
mouth disease. They suffer more in the feet than cattle, and 
consequently require more careful vigilance. It is a good plan to 
cause the affected flock to walk through a shallow trough contain¬ 
ing the above named weak astringent and antiseptic solution once 
or twice a day. And, finally, it is my opinion that both cattle 
and sheep ought to be washed before they are allowed to be 
driven on a public road, or exposed in a market if they have re¬ 
cently recovered from this disease. It may be difficult to do this 
with large herds of young cattle, and its compulsion would be 
considered a hardship, but of two evils it is incomparably the 
lesser.* 
IV. —Vaccine Variola. 
In speaking of contagious diseases of cattle, I have adopted 
Williams’ classification of those diseases.! By this classification 
only variola vaccina , or cow-pox, remains to be considered. 
Definition .—A contagious, febrile and eruptive disease, re¬ 
sulting from the presence of a specific poison, which is reproduced 
and multiplied in the animal body during the course of the mal¬ 
ady.— * * * Williams. 
Cow-pox and the small-pox of man are undoubtedly identical, 
as has been proved by inoculating cows with the lymph of human 
small-pox, as well as by other experiments, such as enveloping 
cows in blankets in which small-pox patients lay. Variola vac¬ 
cina has been produced by these experiments. 
There are many forms of eruption in the udder of the cow 
which may be confounded with those of variola , but those of 
variola have certain special characteristics. The local symptoms 
of true variola are heat and tenderness of the teats for three or 
* Abridged from Principles and Practice of Veterinary Medicine, 
t Principles and Practice of Veterinary Medicine. 
