New-York tribune., 1879-03-12
THE CATTLE PLAGUE.
STAMPING OUT FAVORED.

VICINITY.
The interest felt in the ravaGes of the cat
tie plague is unabated. Professor James Law
gives. in a letter to The TRIBUNE, the result
of his observations. Dr. A. s. Heath read a
PAPER on the subject yesterday before the
Farmers Club. Additional cases have been
found in stables in Blissville and Jersey City.
4 LETTER PROM PROFESSOR JAMES LAW.
IN THIS COUNTRY THE DISEASE ALWAYS lHE RE-
suit OF CoNTAGIoN-FUTIITY AND DANGER OF
HALE MEAsURE5-DIsEAsED CATTLE MUST BIZ
SLAUGHTERED.
To the Edtfor of The Tribune.
SIR: As legislation Is now pending IN tho various
States infected with the contagious pleuro-pneu-
monia OF cattle, and as there is some danger that
legislators who have not for themselves studied
the nature of the Iualldy may be betrayed into
sanctioning enactIncnts that will leave the States
in question helpless to eXtemlnate the plague, and
a continued sourte of danger and expense to the
neigbb0nng States beg that you viii allow me
space for few remarks the subject. These ]
shall confine TO vital points in connection With the
nature OF the disease and the only efcctual means
of eXterminatlng IT.
TIE DISEASE NEVER ARISES II THIS COUNTRY But
As THE RESULT OF CoNTtGloN.
That this malady is contagious is shown every
day in the course Of orr work. Wherever we find
itcxistiug in herd We obtain history Of a recent
purchase. or Of somc other form of exposure By
which the herd has been infected. To give llustra-
tions would be to record the whole history of our
course in stamping it out so far. But this is not
enough The disease is not only contagious, but IN
this country it is only prOpsgated by cOnta0ion.
ThrourhOut the immemoral ages this, the Oldest
of cont inents the herds of Duiiaioes roaming
its plains never contracted this affection Yet buff
falocs are susceptible TO the disease well as our
nd tbe b1tTo on fba
unfnced plains had once developed the maady 1t
would have remained rs a permanent plague, as it
has throughout all historic periods the open
steppcs of Eastern Europe and Asia, and since 1853
In the wide stock ranges of Australia During the long
period that has elapsed since the colon zation of
America the cattle have been subjected 10 all the
conditions ofIlfo that have besct them since; but
until 1913. when an infected Dutch COW was inn
ported into Brooklyn. the malady was unknown.
Since that date il has never at any time been alb
sent from Brooklyn and Long Island.
ON the contrary, Massachusetts,, which imported
this animal plague in 1859, set herself vigorously
70 the work Of exterminating it, In the next five
years she killed and paid for over 600 cattle, but
in so doing she killed the contagiOn, and since
1865 has not known tins disease. Cattle have lived
in innumerabe herds IN the Western States, sub
jected to all possible prvatOns and to the greatest
trials in the way of travel crowding, filth and star
NatlOl Ot on no OCCdSlen udS iLlo lung Hl0gUt DtH
deyelJ el, and to-day believe the cattle Of those
States are as sound the bufaloes of tie
plains. In Europe this plague always extends on
the occasion Of any great war, and devastates the
countries through which the armies pass but only
because the cOmmssariat parks are supplied from
infected districts. During the late American war
our commissarat herds subjected TO great pri-
vations, with the additional drawback of the ab-
Of the smooth-paved roads of the Old World,
but the plague never broke out in these herds nor
ravaged the States where the armies were opcrat- !
ing. The explanation s that the cattle supplies !
were drawn from uninfected regions, and in the alb
sence OF the specific imported dsease-germ no
abuse in America was capable of producing it, The
swill-mlk stables of the West much crowded.
as filthy and as ill-ventiated as those of NewYOrk
and New-Jersey. But the swill-stabes of the West
never produce this disease while those of the
board into which the germ has been introduced are
Tavaged to a ruinOus extent. II more proof Is |
wanted of the purely contagious nature of the !
malaly it is to be found in the en-
tine absence of the plague from the Highlands |
of Scotland, the Channel Islands, Brittany, much |
of Normandy SPAIN Portugal, Norway and Swe- |
den. These places breed their own stock, and |
rarely import strange cattle, therefore this
poison exotic to their soil has gained foot
hold. Norway and Sweden have. indeed imported |
the plague, but speedily expelled it by the only |
eflecual method of exterminating the poison. The |
same is true of a number of other European nations
as we'll as of Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The |
remark is as true to-day of Western Europe and
America az il was a century ago when made by the
immortal Haller of his own native Switzerland.
that the disease appears but the result of
the introduction into "a country district of an
imal from an infected place
FUTIITY AND DANGER OF HALF MEASURES
This being the case, any tempOrizng with the
poison is in the highest degree injudcious and
harmful In some of our States laws enacted
against thstles, and YOU may travel from side to
side OF such States without beholding this emblem
of agricultural shftlessness This success has been
attained by attacking the weed in the early stages
of its growth. and by preventing any specimen from
reaching fructifcatOn and diffuslng its myriad of
seeds So with the bovine lung fever. HcOmpar-
ably less apprecable and less tangible than the
thistledown the seeds of this disease are being con-
stantIy exhaed from the lungs of the sick animal,
and the infected air is wafted onward, loaded with
a freight of death to every susceptible animal. We
NAV quarantine the sick, but cannot quarantine
the air. We may purify the air, it Is true,
by an inceGsant disengagement of disinfectant
yapors But the cost would exceed the value
of the sick animal, even if 1t recovered. We may
shut out and beasts from the injected premises
though even this will be found to be practically I'M
possible when attempted on a large s, ale, but We
cannot absolutely prevent wild animals like
pigeons rats and mice from eluding cur vigilance.
Wocan dIsInfect and drain our manure heaps, but
we can never be sure that every particle OF the
poison has been decOmpOsed. and that II removed
or washed such products VIII not inject other
animals. When the sick are preserved for any Dur
pOsp the poison is being constantly given of in all
the products, and accumulated III the ar. IN the
buildings, and in the excretlGns To such an extent
that watchtuneSs can at all Tunes guard a0aInsJ
Its escape. To quarantine the SICK L. therefore u