Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1896-09-05
TROUBLESOME TICKS.

They Are Responsible for tho Trans
mtssion OF Texas Fcver Among the Herd
OF the Country Experiments Have Dem
onstrated the Fact, and Also That ths
Tleks May I~ Removed by the Use Of 3
simple Preparation.
COLUMBIA, Mo-. Sept. As the re
suit of experiments during the past
few months by the authorities Of the
Missouri agricultural college and the
Texas experiment station. the follow.
ing Is made public by Prof Ii. J. Wa
ters, dean Of the agricultural college;
"Qur first experiments were to thor.
ouehly convince ourselves that the dis
case OF Texas fever Is transmitted by
ticks. Although this has been gener-
ally believed for some years, we proved
this fact with little difficulty, and we
will next ascertain. II the disease can
be transmitted after the ticks have
been removed from an infected ami
NAL; that Is, 4 the animal has been
once infected with the ticks and after
ward thoroughly cleaned will il
still be dangerous 10 pnt it in an
Enclosure with healthy cattle. lam
almost confident that an animal once
disinfected is perfectly safe, but we
wish to be perfectly sure of this fact.
Texas fever IL terrible disease, and
generally fatal, death usually result
ing In four or five days.
''rhe first symptom generally noted
is the sluggish action of the kidneys.
Then raging fever sets in, and the
temperature Of the animal is frequent
ly as high as 106 The cattle frequent
ly become frenzied with fever, and
while seldom dangerous, are often
hard to manage. An afflicted COW
on the agricultural farm the
other day leaped over fence six
feet high, and was caught with
much difficulty. In making the expert
ments we exercise the greatest precau-
tion, for fear that the disease may
break out in neighboring herds OF cat
tie. We bury oil the animals which
have died of the disease, and will burn
the grass in the pastures in which the
experiments are conducted. The Texas
ticks breed on the ground, and multi
ply very rapidly. The presence of 1ao
ticks is enough to cause the death of an
animal, although / have frequently
found one COW inflicted with
over 1000. One of our main OBJ
jects in making the experiments
is to find a solution that will
remove all the ticks from an afflicted
animal. We now have simple prepara-
tion of black Virginia oil and carbolic
acid which is very effectual, though
not altogether satisfactory. have
known 1t to remove as many as loo
ticks from an animal, but in some
cases few ticks remain. This is, of
course, hardly satisfactory, as all ticks
must be removed beyond a doubt.
1T is highly probabl that if our ex-
periments toward finding a thoroughly
satisfactory solution for cleaning an
animal succeed, dip stations will be
established at many points in Missouri
and Texas. At these stations will
constructed huge vats containing the
liquid in question, In which the cattle
will be driven to cleanse them of
the ticks. The stations will be private
affairs. conducted by ranch owners
and stockmen.
ut is our intention to make many
other experiments with the germs of
Texas fever. and we will perhaps be
engaged in tho work for several years.
If we are successful, the Missouri
stock yards and feed pens can be
opened for Texas cattle at all periods
of the year without fear Of transmit
ting the disease to the cattle of this
state"