New-York tribune., 1879-02-25
REVIEW OF THE DISEASE.

4 REV LEW Or lliI DlNI1AHb
To the EditOr Of The tribune.
SIR: The excitement about the cattle dis-
ease has had It's proyrrbal of nine days. and
there are already signs reaction From every side we
begin 70 hear statements that tho danger has been ex-
aggcra that the disease only exists IN three or four
herds thdtIt il seen only spOfadlcaiB -hol ePu'ni
caIy that the English live stock trade must d" specify
reGsab,ished; that In short. tho whole thlng ''
been a gigantic mistake. Saould this spirit preVaii so
IA to prevent uniform and concerted action Dy the
different injected crush out thlS banein exotic
II VII, rob the country OF her best and perhaps her only
chance OF securing and mana ming the European live
stock market.
II the object o this iSer firs argument Is 70 'oohe
the minds European COUSINS ana persuade theih
that this Is less dangerous than that ot Luoe
they may rs well save tder laDor. Europe has learned
v centuries O experience the true nature OF the CON
ta.10us pleuro-pneumona OF cattle Europeans no"
realize that wherever theTeI- anihd suffering from
tins disease there Il standing monaco to the "hoc
cattle OF the country They k1ow thai where htY h'o"
the disease to exist ut al 1t dccnare tEcF h'Ih-
yearly. They know that wherever they have o'uy
grapplod win the enemy, crushed ont every hhah'
Of the maD,dy and its virus, and jealous guari'h
tacir frontiers AGAINST further impordh"n'tAr' nave
permanently cleared their folds ota asrors Itlcner
Tnpy see that wherever the disease has appeared IN
Western Europe. or tbc western or southern A'"i-
spheres has only been vncrc d'aaa animal or ~
yirucut products have carried tie seeds nto snch
land They know that long - they allow III" if''
importation OF CHtto npm an infected eonh'f' ai'
their efforts to crush il OF their home stock VIA be
absolutely futile.
Turning to England. wach has been the main agent
in drawing pubic attention TO the matter she Wt-
absolutely ignorant TINS disease uni forty y'Is ago.
and ~ NouatI's ana other veterinary works pubhsh'u
pllor to ;h.s date find the most unsatisfactory ac-
counts Of this and other plaques known onp on t'
Continent. But from 1853, when II WAS Hisi' ID '"'
rr, sent century brought 10 the British Isles, aud above
an snce ei2 which brought the free trade act am
tine free importation continental stock. Great Britain
has suffered more from Ihan from a other animal
pa.ur, put together. n c-'ima. tI1i !u ihc hf>t
quarter # century after its introduction TINS plague
cost England $3.50 900 IN deaths alone. The aG-
dona losses from deter. Grafton and lack oi live Stock
and from the infection OF Tor ge, etc. which could
no longer be pat 10 their most profitable n>cs. have
never been computed, bat must enormously sven t"r
sum total
IugIaud had bard lesson learn, and -hc has 'ci
forty wears III learning it, nut we may depend upon il
she has uUH learned IL most thoroughly, ana can no
more forget 10 nor treat It with indifference" While Oh"
present generation survives. Many years ago was en-
Calc other veterinarians VINO had dcdu'iulcuthrm-
selves with the Continental experience and literature
in enforcing Great Britain the truth hai 10 deal wil
th disease economically they must Kill out The poison
within their own borders and exclude an stock from IL
fact .d countries. Th.n as now. found many aler-
Iu tat the disease native TO the soil. and occurred
sporadcallv, not epidcmicdlly. Then as now, We
found men bearing the name of Veterinarians, WHO had
fallen far behind the to support these Glcga-
Ions being either crimualY ignorant, or morally
obi ,i tina, they preferred the wrong because the pop
lar side So long a. it can be shown that this disease
never inyades country bat a. imported IN the ami
mai body or in sairr Of its products long viii all
CLAIMS Tor lis spontaneous generation, s sporadic az
lions, IKE swIll feeding. be put out OF court
TIE DISEASE PEOPAG TED BY CoNlAGIpN.
The history Of the mlady m all tulr. ana 10 al com
trIc. and hcm!,pher.s East, West. North and South
tcs;iG.- with one voice that # The steppcs OF So
crn Europc aud Asia it is rropasatad uy contagiou
alone The unIea. coming and misleading TAX about "no
endemic" is therefore, IN the highest degree !cpicheu
sibc 1nc affection not eplicmic ~ the sense OF
being due to generally dihu~cd Influence, ThcA
acts alike upon all the stock Of hc country, an iikes
tboIn down ind-crminatrlv. and without regard 10
,rovi,ity or contact We're This the case efforts 10
always and only VrOportinnaic t' The faclts foI
,or and inicctlon And the present comparative i'm
niry oi Amerirai is only due that the plague
frchcd az that a.apUrt toward "Icn The greater
,,rt of the caitle traffic of the country tends aud
'r ~ which lew animals are removed inland. Gwen ~
the United states the same ire movement of cattle
nom cur injected poiut- 10 all point, INLAND as u
rr-l seen i'm Great I;ritpIn ana there wudG ~p,,di,
follow the general infection Of the country. Ihis
is sffricny Illusiraled III our past american eXprr-
rucr tssachuaetts imported the disease ruu Europe
aud although 1t met OT rvprosilyr measures
A. recognized, cost TIE Commonwealth two years auI
40 900 to eNtrptte it, II was imported into Brook yu
and huugh mad 10 tght IT. wly against the Uni
current Of cattle traffic eastward aud nor h"arju has
EXTENDED New-JeIsey, PeunsylyanIa, Maryland, Viz
s1nla AMI tne District OF Columbia.
Nv rcceut observations IN inns nclghb'rho"d are IN
perfect harmony with Le above. The STA es a. Bliss
vile holding 500 to 900 cattle atthg ami uhl king ne
property oi different ""ltr7 Wi" cou Wrciar" when
thry IN the surround ng injected .uDF could not
IAN tn become a prominent hptu"d OF the disease. II al
such stables WIN al thrlI '"oSRH OF uNtrcio"llng
uth aud swlrCl, been thor uGhiy dl-iuir ted Fl cd
with healthy Western stock aud seGui"lsY secluded
from all uriShnorEE otle ana visitors, tS "Odd not
have become fctcd with contiguous Ilouru-pucnmO
MA Again. 0i Hnecnth-st BROOKLYN. found that ALL
nearly all thc ddlf''S ~ u'@ N'chiy hAd recently
suffered from the disease. and that This infected centre
was within blocks Of Prospect Park, where herd
Of Jerseys hal been subjected to ti- in
August and September. Al Scw-LOta Kings County
wnerr found seven injected herds ~ very limited
the testimony OF TIE owners was to the effect that
the disease Oul appeared and spread thIough their
herds az they bought new cows FROM Obber Al Roslyu
on ems COunty. found TWO infected herds tAe htst
contaminated hy two cows bought FROM "A NcW-lOrk
first In Ne~iOrG CITY found one infected herd,
caused by purchased from ,e same obber whose
necticut herd which l examined at Morrlsania
was infected by two cows purchased from a
hi. own sworn testimony, proceeding 10 resell mem.
bers Of tue infected herd into Other diaries when
h, career Was cut short by the action - tn Me,ropol-
itau Eoard Of Health Nor the results In ,ilch
cases bat the Infection OF one or Two Ia hord; where
tue diseased introduced general infection was
The usual consequence Al that could learn about the
progress the disease III this and iorcr years was To
the Introduction of strange animals. and when Iutr.
duced te general injection Of tie nerd was The Cose
qutnco
The disease Is not widely prevalent because il extends
itsrayagcs only by cOntagon and Infection aud the cona
tons of the American cattle trade has strongly o
posed TO this But the disease have not only held It's own
for thrtysx years. but Eas slowly gained against every
obstacle until It numbers its victims IA different
states II is NOT wanting In y!rulcnoe. but wi when II
has = fair oDuortuulty sweep with rrEIor.cl.s faro,
over the entire land. To this is daily lending Frul
Brooklyn IT has laborousy crep onward far as MARY,
land and Virginia, and unless eIrpated It viii continue
its balc course until reaching open pasturarc. OF