National Republican., 1884-04-10
LIVE STOCK INTERESTS.

Report OF the Veterinarian of the De-
pnrtncnt OF Agriculture on the Foot
and Mouth Disease.
DIR. Salmon, veterinarian of the department
of agriculture, has returned to Washington
from Kansas and other states, whore, by di-
roction of Commissioner Loring he has been
investigating Tho alleged outbreak of foot
and mouth disease, and has made % prelimi-
nary report to the commissioner Of his in
vestigations After describing the symptoms
of the present disease tho report deals with
the characters which distinguish it from that
Of contagious foot and mouth disease. OF
the latter 1t says: "The foot and mouth
disease of Europe is specific fever
which only arises by contaRion from
other affected animals In tho whole
history Of America there have been no spon-
tanoous outbreaks of this disease, and in
Europe the conviction Is growing stronger
every year that it has no other cause than
contagion. We may accept IL, therefore, as
fact that foot and mouth diseases cannot
occur in the United States except by tho
introduction of virus from abroad. Tho
animals affected had beon purchased in the
neghborhood and no foreign animals or
people had been upon tho farm whom the first
attacks occurred, and other considerations
made it impossible to find means by which
tOGtlHU COuthHlOu COulu uuNC DeSu lnbTO-
duced. In regard to tho contagiousness of
tho foot and mouth disease the report
says: Foot and mouth disease Is one of the
most active contagious known. The period
which elapses between exposure to tho virus
and the appearance Of the first symptoms Of
disease is, MS q rule, but two or three days.
very large proportion of the exposed
animals become diseased, and tho plague
rapidly spreads from farm to farm. As q
result of these characters, within n week
after the introduction Of the foot and mouth
disease into herd nearly every animal in
that herd shows unmistakable evidences of
having contracted IL. A very small proper
tion of tho animals may resist the contagion,
but this proportion is much less than with most
other contagious diseases, and is so small that it
does not affect the rule just mentioned" The
report shows that there was a period of one
month between the first and subsequent cases
at one place visited. The report reviews the
symptoms of tho foot and mouth disease in
comparison with those of tho present out
break. The normal appetite, the absence of
difficulty in swallowing, the temperature,
the mouth symptoms being much less intense,
and the foot symptoms, even in the worst
cases, being entirely unheard of in the real
disease, all taken in connection with the his
tory, tho character, other symptoms, and
everything connected with the disease led to
the conclusion that has accepted by tho de-
foot and mouth disease. DIR. Salmon states that
with but one exception there were typical
cases of dry gangrene, and that there is but
one cause known to science which is capable
of producing the condition of the limbs
which he observed in many of the diseased
animals in Kansas and Missouri" and that
cause is ergot. & "The peculiarities
of the disease led mo to examine the feed to
learn if an unusual quantity of ergot could
be found. The result of this examination
was to find that at every one of the
farms where the diseased cattle were
located hay had been fed which con-
tained q considerable proportion of wild
rye ergotized to an extreme degree" The
report also says that it is probable that the
cold weather had considerable influence in
developing the effects of the ergot, since many
cases occurred soon after q severe ice storm
or sleot, and with the appearance of milder
weather now cases ceased to appear, although
the same hay was still fed. In conclusion
DIR. Salmon declares that tho recent outbreak
is therefore attributable to these local condi-
tions and that no single symptoms of con-
tagious foot and mouth disease has been or
can be shown,