28 
pleuropneumonia. 
by the destruction of ninety-three head of cattle, at an expense of $3,000 to the 
otate and a Joss of as much more to individuals. 
In June, 1861, Mr. J. F. Eaton, the same whose cattle trade involved the 
history just recited, purchased another pair of oxen and took them to his farm, 
where he kept them as far as possible from the rest of his herd, and from con¬ 
tact with his sick cows. After using them to get in his hay, he sold them in Au¬ 
gust to James Houghton, of Dorchester. In October one of Mr. Houghton's cows 
was taken sick, and one day on driving her out to take the air she fell dead. Sev¬ 
eral others were taken sick from time to time. One cow was driven from his 
place early in December to his brother’s, William A. Houghton, of Milton. There 
she remained three weeks. In about two mouths Mr. William A. Houghton’s 
lerc ecame sick; several died and the rest were killed January 9. Mr. James 
Houghton sold a cow to E. Welch, of South Boston. In about a month she was 
taken sick and in the following April Mr. Welch’s whole herd perished, and 
mne out of the fourteen were found diseased with the peculiar lung disease 
ca led pleuro-pneumonia. In January Mr. Houghton sent the oxen and some 
cow^s to Brighton, but not getting the price he desired he transferred them to 
bis farm in Grafton. On the 19th of March, two of the cows at Grafton were 
tound sick in the acute stages of the disease, and one other in which the disease 
had evidently existed for months. 
The mne cattle at this place were slaughtered on the same day, and among 
e rest the yoke of oxen sold by J. F. Eaton to James Houghton. One of these 
oxen was found to have no sign of disease in the lungs, and the other had only a 
srna c>s not larger than a hen’s egg, and was never previously suspected of 
being other than perfectly healthy. 
It will be seen from the foregoing, that two animals, the Holbrook cow sold 
to Barnes, and the Eaton ox sold to James Houghton, neither of which were even 
suspected of being diseased, have brought thousands of dollars’ expense upon 
the community and much loss and suffering to individuals, who in some instan¬ 
ces have lost valuable milk routes, and in others the very means of procuring 
present subsistence. In view of these facts, the Commissioners suggest whether 
there is any safety in allowing any cattle to live that have ever been exposed to 
is disease. For the encouragement of those interested in neat stock, the Com¬ 
missioners take pleasure in placing upon record the example of a large owner of 
cattle immediately adjoining the estate of Mr. J. F. Eaton. After Mr. Eaton’s ox¬ 
en died, this neighbor said to him, “If your bull standing next to the oxen is 
taken sick, I shall believe it is the pleuro;” and after the bull died, and even be- 
tore he took great precaution in regard to his cattle-employing a boy con¬ 
stantly while the cattle were in pasture to keep them from contact with Mr. 
Eatno s. He would not allow any of his neighbors’ cattle to come into his yard 
and as the result of his vigilance, he secured the entire exemption of his herd 
Horn the disease which had utterly swept off Mr. Eaton’s herd of at least twenty- 
In view of the foregoing statements, it does not appear to the Commission¬ 
ers worth their while, or of any advantage to the community, to enter upon an 
elaborate argument against the medical theory that lung diseases are not conta¬ 
gious, or against the physical theory that this disease is generated from local 
causes. 1 hey rely wholly upon the facts of its actual propagation. 
