The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-01-29
Propagation and Prevention of Black.
leg in Cattle.


Mr.. CYRENUs GIBBS, Stamford, N.
T., sends prescription which he claims
has proved very efficient in cases of
blackleg. He says:
"When heifer is found dropping or
on its broadside, rub the hand carefully
over the whole body, and you will at
once detect the spot by the touch.
Drench this spot with spirits of turpen-
tine, rubbing some along the whole
length of the spine as well. Do not fail
to do it if the creature breathes."
He claims that the turpentine is alb
sorbed, thins the blood, and starts the
circulation anew. There appear to be
two distinct forms of blackleg; onesis
the genuine malignant anthrax, and will
produce malignant pustule when inocu-
lated on man; the other is peculiar to
cattle, and is produced by different
form of bacterium-round in place OF
rod-shaped-and is conveyed from OK to
OK by incubation, but not from OK to
man. In each case the affection is to>be
warded off by the destruction of the
bacterium in any infected locality, and
in the removal of those circumstances or
conditions which favor its preservation
out of the animal body.
Burning the carcasses of the dead and
of all their products is manifestly the
most efficient method. Yet the germs
may be destroyed by thorough putrefac-
ton. Covering the carcasses, ETC., with
freshly burned quicklime and delaying
burial until they are completely decayed,
is decidedly preferable to burial at once.
But the products must be carefully pro-
tected from dogs and other animals.
Burial in dry, porous, sandy or gravely
soil is better than in tenacious clay or
wet loan, in which putrefaction is re-
tarded and an opportunity given to
worms to bring the germs anew to
the surface. In any case of burial
the body should be covered with
quicklime. When it can be availed of,
prolonged boiling or superheating under
pressure, as in the city rendering works,
will destroy the virulence. The infect
ed buildings should be washed with a
strong solution of chloride of lime, and
left empty as long after as convenient.
Infected pastures should be put under
the pillow and passed through rotation
of crops, to favor the decomposition of
all morbid products by repeated expos
ure to the air and weather, before they
are again used for pastures.
The cure of the sick is rather the ex-
ception. Turpentine is beneficial, not
by thinning the blood, as alleged, but
by checking the growth of the bacter-
ium, by checking hemorrhage, and by
stimulating the system and supporting
it over the most depressing stages of the
disease. When the germs are as yet ex-
clusively, or almost exclusively, con-
fined to the affected part of the skin,
the tupentine will check their germina-
ton and increase, and retard the escape
of blood from the vessels, which is one
of the most marked results of the local
action of the malady. Even when the
disease is more general, turpentine may
still be given by the mouthful in doses
of one or two ounces for the larger ami
mails, either beaten up with eggs or
shaken in milk. In this way it will
serve the treble purpose of checking the
increase of the disease-germ, counter
acting bleeding into the tissues, and
supporting the system under the pros
tration. Even when applied to the dis
eased part, it may also be proftably
gwen luOOi h1liJ' Sui pOliO uOiu AUS
like turpentine, and may be used in
place of it, diluting it with fifty times its
bulk of water to prevent it from acting
as a caustic, and giving but one drachm
in place of one ounce
Rnt unless the disease and disease
germs are confined to the skin and parts
Immediately beneath, successful result
is hardly to be expected, and this is
true, not of these agents alone, but also
of all other antiseptic and stimulating
agents that prove useful in this disease
The great remedy must be prevention,
and besides the measures already named
as applicable to the diseased products
and soil, the exposed stock may be for
tilted to some extent by keeping them
constantly in good, thriving condition,
without plethora or excess of fat; by
watching the state of the bowels and
giving daily doses of a few ounces Of
glauber salts to keep them free and pre-
vent infractions in the third stomach, or
by feeding daily one pound of inseed
cake, to secure the same end by pro-
tecting the stock against sudden ex-
IRENE changes of temperature, as from
a hot midday sun to cold, wet or frosty
night; by keeping the stock indoors all
the time, or at least at night and until the
dews of the morning have disappeared
and by feeding daily to each animal one
drachm carbolic acid in the food or
drinking water.-N. y. Tribune.
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