The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-08 00:00:00

The Cattle Plague.

The following despatch has been received by the
Earl of Clarendon from her Majesty's Consul-
General at Odessa :

" ODESSA, Nov. 24, 1865.

" My Lord,—lt having been brought under my
notice that the cattle plague which has recently
afflicted England exists almost permanently on the
steppes of Kherson, I have caused inquiries to be
made among the peasantry, and have now the
honour to report the result. It appears that though
the attack differs in its symptoms, inflammation
arising from cold is given as the true cause of it.
There are several modes of treatment more or less
efficacious, but the most common is, to throw the
diseased animal into a profuse sweat with as little
delay as possible, taking special care to protect it
from chills for two or three days afterwards, when
a change of pasturage, or, if in winter, stabling in
a warm building seems indispensably necessary to
avoid relapse. • The sweat is usually produced by
covering the animal up with heavy cloths, and
making it, at the same time, inhale the fumes of
hot bran, salt, and steamed hay. Another mode of
treatment is, to apply friction with cloths or brushes,
covering up the animal carefully afterwards. A
third is, to rub the animals well with vodki (a coarse
kind of brandy) and salt, especially along the spine
and over the stomach. One of the farmers on
Count Branitzky's estate near Kieff said he had
seen most successful results from the use of vapour
baths, which he considered the best treatment known,
provided there was good stabling and covering at
hand, otherwise the animals are liable to subsequent
chills, whereas no such danger threatens those on
which the same effect is produced by friction and
covering up, especially if the operation is performed
in the open air, and the cattle put under cover
without delay, Medicine is seldom prescribed,
but sometimes a little nitre dissolved in hot water
is given lukewarm during the sweat, or imme-
diately after the linseed gruel, with gentian to
excite appetite, are also now and then administered
when the violence of the attack subsides. One pea-
sant out of 50 who were questioned recommended
warm injections of tobacco water, while another
highly praised bleeding; both confessing, however,
that when the malady was of a bad type they had
not been very successful with either treatment. One
farmer residing at Ananieff said he had effected
many cures four years ago by giving drenches of
warm milk in which garlic had been boiled. Another
from the same place asserted that he had found re-
peated doses of vinegar and cold water of great ser-
vice,when every other remedy had failed. In the dis-
trict of Alexandria a decoction of two herbs named
hash-ha and hinbia, given warm, is said to be very
useful in stopping flux and allaying pain. The names
of these herbs, however, do not seem to be Russian,
and are not known by the druggists here; probably
hash-ha may be the Turkish khash-khash (poppy-
heads), and hinbia the Turkish hindiba (chicory).
They should be given and persevered in from the
commencement of the attack, but if given to milch
cows the milk should not be used as food for several
days after. The *following is the receipt for the de
coction above mentioned:—Hash-ha, klb. pounded;
hinbia, 21bs. Boil for half-an-hour in two gallons of
water, and administer in doses of about a large wine
glass full every half-hour until the pain ceases and
the flux diminishes. It is perhaps worthy of remark
that, according to a popular belief, the cattle plague
originated in the government of the Taurida from
the bite of the black spider, and gradually, as herd
after herd were driven to the northern markets, the
disease spread throughout Russia. It is asserted to
be renewed from the same causes in years of drought.
Without inviting implicit faith in this theory it should
be added that these venomous insects, whose webs
cover thousands of acres of land, produce excruciat-
ing sufferings by their bite, and occasion such serious
illness among the shepherds that it is necessary to
send the men who are bitten to hospital. It is stated
on good authority that the malady seldom attacks
the same animal twice, though sent afterwards to
graze amongst herds of diseased cattle. Cattle are
not slaughtered to prevent contagion, but several
measures are adapted to arrest the spread of the
disease :-1. Fumigation of stables and sheds with
the smoke of dried pumpkin leaves, or that of wild
aromatic herbs. 2. Isolation of the diseased cattle,
keeping them as much as possible to leeward of the
sound. 3. Pots or pans of tar placed here and there
in the cattle-sheds or stables. Some of my infor-
mants state that there are localities where the disease
has never penetrated, though surrounded and in free
communication with infected places. Men are known
to have caught the disease from cattle, but such in-
stances are rare. Whenever the cattle disease is very
virulent, lowever, sickness among the peasantry is
more prevalent on the Steppe. Sheep are liable to
catch the disease in years when the epidemic rages
with violence, and this occurs when the second or
autumn crops of grass fail in seasons of drought.
Some dogs which had eaten the meat and offal of
diseased animals are stated to have gone mad,' and
their bite is said to engender the epidemic in a few
hours. The late inspector of the Kherson Hospitals
has observed that diseased cows have been cured by
homeopathic treatment when other remedies had
failed; and the statement of this gentleman is sup-
ported by other corroborative evidence of great force
and respectability.--I have, &c.,
(Signed) cc B. C. GLENVILLE MURRAY."