Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-02-05

ing around we found eight other herds COM
posed of some two hundred head out OF which
a specimen animal had been killed in each
herd, and pronounced diseased but as no ami
nal had died, none appeared sick and as a
long time had elapsed since exposure, if there
had been any, these herds are left as livih'
specimens of the imperfection of some mems
knowledge of disease.
From the facts here related, and from in
Vulnerable others not stated, we are forced to
the unresstible conclusion that this terrible
malady was confined TO some ten herds, in
GLIDING Mr.. Chenery's. Nevertheless, out.
side of these ten herds of between two and
three hundred head, were the possible expo
sure from the herd Of Curtis Stoddard, sold
at auction Nov, 2nd, OF some two hundred
head. And from the "big team" of some four
hundred more. And the cattle commissioners
killed Curtis Stoddard's herd, the "big team
and all their connections" and l think they
acted wisely. Although the evidence fails to
convince me that either Curtis Stoddard's herd
or the "big team" ever had the disease.
But Curtis Stoddards herd passed the sick
calf daily in a pen beside passage way
through shed, which calf came from Mr..
Chenery's herd, gave it to Leonard Stoddard's
herd and died. The "big team" had yoke
of oxen working with them, that sixteen days
previous gave the disease to herd, many of
which herd died, and these oxen We're ex.
amined in the spring, port norton, and large
sacs found in their lungs, containing pus and
detached Jumps of lung.
And it would have been worse than folly to
have left any possible remnant of this great
pecuniary danger. OF its contagiousness l
have no doubt.
Its history must settle the question of its
contagiousness SO let us look at its origin ard
its progress In May, 31st, 1859, three sick
cows are landed on Mr.. Chenery's farm, from
Holland, and soon die; in a few weeks his
well animals sicken and die to the extent of
40 per cent. A calf goes, the first of July,
from this sick herd to Leonard Stoddard, in
North Broolfeld, and dies about the first of
August. In two or three weeks Stoddard's
animals begin to be 81 k and die one after
another till in a few months over 80 per cent
have died Stoddard trades yoke of oxen
to one neighbor, and this neighbours cattle be
come sick in two or three weeks, and in two
or three months about 80 per cent have died.
Then in an opposite direction he sells COW,
she sickens and dies, then one OF the herd Tin
to which she goes alter another are taken
down, till nearly all are taken sick and many die.
Then he sells or trades i'll another direction
COW and some steers,-this herd sickens and
dies. In another direction he boards his oxen
in the barn with 20 other cattle,-soon these
cattle sicken, and die i'll about the same ratio.
No cases occur whose pedigree cannot be
traced to Mr.. Chenery's herd. No herd es-
capes when a sick animal is introduced from
Leonard Stoddard's herd. The cattle com
missoners have killed off the sick herds and
the disease is stopped. The longest possible
time of incubation in the six herds known to
be diseased is rs days. The usual time from
2 to weeks The strange thing that we
found in the records of the cattle commissions
ers, dated before the extra session, was the
cases reported by the medical gentlemen in
charge as in the incipient stage, when the post
mortems were made in April or May,
and the exposure must have been in many
cases from six to nine months previous They
seem to have lost sight of the fact that in from
6 to months the disease should have been
far advanced, judging from the herds that
were sick, and that these animals should have
given It to many others and Of these others
many should have died.
But no Deaths save in enc or two isolated
cases, outside of these few herds, occurred in
the vicinity of North Brookfeld, from this or
any other disease, so far as l could learn.
The average duration of the disease before
death or the commencement of recovery is
about two weeks. The animals that die, die
from the quantity not the quality of the dis.
ease. All single cases as rule recover, and
all double cases die The cause OF death is
from pressure of water destroying the function
of the lungs, or from both lungs becoming so
infiamed and hardened as to be useless for res.
piration. The only single cases that die
are those in which there is so much water
in the diseased side as to destroy the function
of the well lung by pressure.
How long diseased animal will continue to
give the disease during convalescence is a very
difficult thing to determine, and foreign writers
throw no light on the subject. A yoke of
oxen gave the disease between Nov. 18th and
Dee Sd, then left this herd and mingled freely
after Dec 18th with "big team" and after
Dec 4th with a herd of ten head, and we have
no evidence that they gave the disease. We
have much negative evidence that they did not
give it-such as no beasts were sick or died
after being in contact with those oxen before
the next May.
Mr.. Chenery has fifteen of his original herd
still living, the most valuable OF the animals.
The question has arisen FREQ uently what shall
be done with this herd ?-the only animals
living that have probably had the disease.
We have put four fresh animals from Vermont
into this herd, intending to kill one every four
weeks till all shall have been slaughtered. The
first of the four was killed Jan. 3d. thirty.
three days after its introduction into this herd;
its lungs were every way well. We killed at
the same time heifer OF the original herd
that was i'll in the autumn of 1859, intending
to cut through the nodules in the lungs and
naming three fresh animal, to see if we could
induce the disease in any way from this herd.
Unfortunately we found nothing but adhesions
"a new thing to find adhesions without nod
ules. So we did not do anything with these
lungs, as they were well. May be this was
case of recovery.
The evidence against the contagion, are the
facts, that during the summer CT 1859, while
Mr.. Chenery's animals were sick, there were
found to be from fifty to sixty head of cattle
over the adjoining fences that did not take the
disease. A yoke of oxen that gave the dis
ease, between Nov 18th and Dec. Sd, failed to
give it the on the 4th of December or any
time after, although they were in herd of
ten head. Curtis Stoddard's herd probably
failed to take it Of the sick calf, by passing its
pen daily.
Mr.. Chenery says the sick animals were
usually kept in the barn. and when turned
out did not go far from it. This farm of Mr..
Chenery's is on the top of high HILL the
other farms are lower down-a pretty stiff
breeze usually blows over this hill. These
oxen may have lost the 3ower of propagation
between Nov. 18th and Dec Sd. We cannot
tell when they were taken sick as they were
never Off their feed,-their first exposure was
about the LIST of August previous. The sick
calf was in passage open at both ends, with
large doors for carting manure. These doors
were kept open in the summer, and led through
the shed tof fifteen or sixteen feet in width.
These are the facts, each person can judge for
himself
One German writer says, the marbled ap-
pearance is diagnostic OF the disease, as the
inflammation produces thickening of the It's.
sue between the lobules without changing its
color first, and hardening of the main sub