24 
P LEURO-FNE [JMOISIIA.. 
PLEURO-PNEUMONIA, 
REPORT OF THE CATTLE COMMISSIONERS OF MASSACHUSETTS 
RELATING TO PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN 1863. 
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
By an Act of your honorable bodies, approved February, 1862, the present 
Commission on contagious diseases of cattle was established. 
On the 2nth of the same month the following named persons were ap¬ 
pointed by the Governor and Council to constitute the Board of Commissioners, 
viz: E. F. Thayer, of Newton ; H. L. Sabine, Williamstown • and James Ritchie, 
of Roxbury. 
1 wo ot these persons were without experieuce in regard to the subject mat¬ 
ter committed to their charge, aud inclined to receive with great caution the 
evidence ot the existence in this country of a contagious lung disease among cat¬ 
tle. The State had already expended large sums of money, and great losses had 
been incurred by individuals, for the purpose of purgiug our cattle herds of the 
disease termed pleuro-pneumonia. In the community there was a divided sen¬ 
timent in regard to the policy pursued by the previous Board of Commissioners 
in relation to this matter. Many ridiculed the whole proceedings, and some oj 
the members of your honorable bodies were much inclined to doubt the expedi* 
eucy ot establishing a new Board of Commissioners, with such vast powers as 
were conferred by the Acts of April and June, 1860. In view of these facts it 
was decided by the Commissioners, at the outset, to take nothing for granted, 
but to commence de novo and proceed with care and discrimination in the exami¬ 
nation of all cases which might be presented for consideration. 
A representation had been made iu print by a committee of the State Board 
ot Agriculture, about the middle ot February, to the effect that the disease called 
pleuro-pneumonia had made its appearance iu the county of Norfolk, and on the 
1st ot March a communication was received from the selectmen of the town of 
Milton, calling upon the Commissioners to visit the herd of William A. Hough¬ 
ton, ot that town. On the first day of January, 1862, this herd cousisted of eight 
cow's and tw o Jersey heifers. The first sickness in a cow of this stock w T as no¬ 
ticed about the middle of the same mouth. This animal had been in Mr. Hough¬ 
ton’s possession four years. She was kept with the other stock until the 8th of 
February, and w T as then transferred to the barn of Mr. Isaac Houghton in Dor¬ 
chester, where no other cattle were kept. This cow continued sick, becoming 
very much emaciated, and on the 10th of March, was killed by order of the 
Commissioners. On examination both lungs were found badly diseased; the 
right lung contained a hard lump weighing about four pounds, firmly encased. 
On cutting open the covering a quantity of very offensive matter appeared, sur- 
