Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1870-08-12
The Cattle Disease.


terrible plague which is now inlcsting the cat
est two articles from the pens of two of our
most scientific gentlemen. DR.. II. after Gnu
merating all of the symptoms. and accurately
describing the disease from its inception, final
ly declares it to be pleur- pneumonia, while
DR.. Peyton thinks that it IS not result OF any
descasc of tho lungs Of the animal, but attrib-
| utes it to be the result of ticks. 1t is true
that the herd when first brought to Salem was
! covered with ticks, some Of them OF an cno1-
nous size. But why did they not kill them ?
| Is it owing to the lact that the hide of the
! Texas steer is so much thicker than the native
bullock? thiuk not If the disease results
| from eating the millions Of small ticks, why
| does it not kill the Texas IS we'll as the ma.
| tive steer? Will DR.. Peyton advance tho
! theory that the stomach of the Texas steer
is so accustomed to that dainty fare? from
calthood up, that it makes no impression upon
him? while it becomes death penalty for one
Of our native cattle to indulge in the same
diet no think not. will not 90 over the
grou I'D detailing the symptoms. duration, and
course Of the disease which both Of the learned
gentlemen have so accurately described but
will advance an entire different theory. LIST: The
Texas steer not being affected, but fatteus upon
tho pastures which becomes so deadly to the
| native, shows clearly that it the plague result.
ed from the eating Of ticks, both would die.
2nd; fit be pleuro-pne rlnderpcst or
any other of the diseases mentioned IN either
| OF Dr. Peyton's or DR.. Horncr's articles, why
should one &c more exempt than the other. L
contend that the Texas cattle from the excessive
hardship which they undergo both for the
want Of water and feed, during their transit
here become enfeebled from the close cOnlinc,
ment, &C., &C.. that low grade CT fever su
pervcnes, called the Spanish fever, and upon
bis arrival here, if not reduced to too low state
of order, will rapidly recupera!e upon our rich
pastures, and pure water, but while doing so
he undergoes a through change. The lungs and
| kidneys Of all animals arc the organs Tor throw.
ing off all OF the cff.tc matters OF the system.
Now, we know that plants live and breath.
Their foliage constitute their lungs. Hence tie
| reason why they do not die during the exces-
| siVc drouphtS; when there is heavy tall o.
dew at night, they absorb the moisture and
| arc Kept alive. Their food is moisture aud
the gases Carbon aud Nitrogen). The Texas
steer as he grazes along or drinks from the
pool breaths upon the plants his noxious
breath, loaded with the ehete matters OF the en-
evercd system, and voids upon it his urine,
which absorbs the moisture and leaves the con.
ctntrated poison upon its blades, which is in.
nocuOus to him, hut az soon as taken into the
stomach or inhaled by a native, acts like the
yeast plant upon bis blood, which sooner or
later innoculates his whole system, when
he soon Is seen to commence uroo ping, and ia
| few days dies.
DR.. Peyton is in error when he states that
Mrs.. Welch bought thirty alter having drop
ped their ticks, and brought them home without
| ~, bo III FOR
the elapse of sixty five days it broke out and
has killed every COW hut two which grazed
upon that field. Mr.. Robert Beverly bought
out Of the same herd few days alter the pur
chase OF Mr.. 5. WEIGH, aud carried his some
ten or more miles from Salem, and up to within
| the last few days thought that he had capped,
but his ovcrseer has informed him that it had
made its appearance among the native cattle
which ran upon the same pasture. | have lost
one, aud two of my nearest nelghb0rs have each
| lost one, and Mr.. Welch one all OF which
were in the field from which hetook his Tex.
ans sixty five days since. have heard Of no
| care, and unless the late showers will dissolve
the concentrated poison and wash it away, our
community will suffer as severely as the people
around Salem t. +. CLARK, NJ. ID.
| The Plains, Fauquicr county, Aug. ~, 1870.
10 the Editor Of tie ih.ccmclria Gazette.
MARKHAM STATION, Fauquier Co., Va,
Aug. 10th, 1870. desire to say a few words,
through the columns Of the Gazette upon the
subject Of the Texas cattle disease" MIR.
John A. Chappacar bought ten Texas clttlc
at Salem, drove them to his farm, situated
halt mile from Paris, Fauquicr county, Va.
turning them iu field with about forty head
of Virginia raised cattle. The Texas cattle are
doing well, but he has already lost II OF the
Virginia cattle, and they are still dying at the
rate of two and three per day, yet he has a
| know how to cure the diSclsc, "Secua0em ar.
tena" At one house where Mr.. Chappalear
kept his cattle over nigh, this terrible disease
has also broken out, and several deaths have
occurred. This, to my mind points clearly
| to miasma as the source from whence this ter
rible disease originates.
| Is this disease contagious? This is ques-
ton OF paramount Importance. not only to the
| investigator OF medical science, but TO The
populace at large. In the present sense of its
| Specification, in which this term contag ous) IS
used, it strikes my mind as being too vague
and indefinite, and rather appears as it pre-
| pared with care, TO cover great deal too much
ground, and yet witha seems perfectly nom
| committal in its character. The same Office.
tioDs may be urged with propriety against the
term infection. For ii you mean TO signify
! by the term contagious disease that trans.
mits its disease from one subject to another, ty
direct or Indirect contact without the assistance
of any exciting and predisposing causes, |
should then unhesitatDgly pronounce this di.
sease, by no means contagious, and should con.
tend that very few diseases were so, strictly
| speaking. But il you mean by contagious
to signify disease from which eminatons may
| arise during its progress, capable OF exciting a
| similar disease in those exposed to the inhu-
ence OF these nox!ous eminations, | will say
| then, that this disease is contagious, AID most
endemic, and epidemic diseases are So to a
greater or less degree, only requiring for their
successful propagation that a predisposing
cause should be furnished ly the system
These cattle 10 transit from Texas are crowded
together and poorly fed, basidcs they have had
this same disease in Slight ard ephemcruI
form before thew left Ihp;r native shores ,,d