Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1865-09-12
The Cattle Plague of the Old World

While the dreaded cholera is making ns wav
steadily and reentlessly from its Oriental home
to the countries Of the West, another pestilenee
apparently one OF the plaques Of ancient Egypt.
" the murrain of cattle is preceding it, appar-
emily to prepare the way and make the paths
straight"
A year ago was in Egypt, and million seven
hundred thousand cattle perished from the herds
Of that country Passing around the Mediter.
ranean, il made It's way northward into Russi.
and the countries on the Danube Poland, Siessa,
GalIica, Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and Mo-
raya were visited and depopuated of their cattle
with astonishing rapidly. 10 the eagerne@ to
avoid total loss, the owners Of neat stock sold
large number OF their animals to be transported
to Hamburg, and thence to England
A cores pendent Of the London Tines writ
ing from Vienna under date of August 7th, says
that i is called the Llmgen@uche, or pulmonary
disease, and discourses concerning it as follows
" The first SYMPTOMS Of pueumonp pecorunl
epizootod typhoSa are doleiulness and leebleness,
with difficulty Of breathing. The animals stand
with their heads hanging down. hsir ears are
pendulous, their eyes fixed. The inner skin Of
the nose is pale, the inner part Of the mouth
Shiny the body horns, ears and egs are cool,
the skin is dry, and the hair rough and btsty.
The first stage Of the msldy, during which there
is litte or no fever, lasts from fortnight to three
weeks The symptoms during the second stage,
are feyerish movement violent shIyerings and
exaeeFbAton towards the evening; increased diff
Guilty in breathing, with dry, hollow, spasmodc
cough. 10 very many cases there IS no cough
during the first stage Of the mliady. The appe
tite is generally good, though the animals rumin-
ate but little. lns COW gives as much milk as
usual, but il is thin, and OF BLUSH color As
the malady progresses, the anim,ls get very weak
and iaintj sometimes the extremlties are hot,
sometimes they are cold the hair on the back
and withers stand on end the eyes are red and
wide open, the neck and head are stretched out,
the excfelions are partially suppressed. The
second stage, during which there Is still chance
that the animal may be saved, lasts four or five
days. The thIrd stage, during which the fever
assumes putId character need not be described,
as it invariably ends With death.'
Such mufrains have occurred over and over
again in Europe, and an infectious ds!emper is
supposed 10 prevail Prominently among the vast
herds which are pastured 10 Siberia and on the
steppes OF Asia 1t depopulaled the plsturages
Of the contInet in the time Of Iheodosus, it
followed Charlemagne back from DenmlrS, and
made havoc Of the French herds I scoutgeI
Europe n the year 81 in 1928, and again ia
1925. The worst instances OF all, however, oe
cured ON ITO to III. On that occasion The
steppe -muuain passed by way Of Iartary, Rus
STA and Poland, all over the West and ia the
first three years 100000 oxen persisted.
In l74j it prevailed 10 New Zealand in Ito
Holland lost il one year ,14l Of her horned
cattle and in 1895 it followed Napoleon inlo
Italy, and Piedmont alone paid for Bis march with
! $500 600, head. Faust, in the Ftutde du Cut
tuafe,r, estimates the loss to France and Belgium,
between l7l3 aud 1893, at the enormous to'al Of
| 10000 900 animals. In 1906, when the Cossacks
Of the Don mustered en- the Nstus, their bu-
locks brought the pesiience aglin, and Sehwar-
zenbergs INVASION Of France, at the head Of tbs
allied forces, in 1912, imported it,
! 1t is related that 10 l145 the same psstilence
crossed the sea 10 parcel of d,,tempered hides
from Zealand, which were forbidden sale here
and should have been buried but q Coyetous
knsys sold them for leather and the pague struck
the cattle aud spread from Essex al. over the
kingdom. On that occasion it ragged for twelve
whole ears, but not I'LL the third year did the
government take up the matter 20 seriously as TO
order that every infected Rbimll should be in
stautly destroyed, and in this way alone $4,000
head we're Killed and paid for, while at least 100
900 died Of the maI1dy.
10 1871, 10000 persisted in Notnghlmshire
and LeicesIershlre, and 80 600 10 Cheshire within
six months. Deaiond computes the loss Of stock
by that visitation in Europe at 100000.