Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1903-07-09
ciRcUMvENTiNo THE CATTLE
TICK.

Prof. w. H. Balrymple of the Louis
lana station, in an address to Ne
braska stockmen, said:
We in the South consider, so far as
our cattle interests are concerned, and
we might also say, those of the North
ern breeder who aims at creating a
market in the South, that perhaps the
most valuable discovery ever made, is
that when a few drops of blood are
drawn from one of our native tick
infested animals, and injected under
meath the skin of a susceptible one, II
will produce In the latter mild at
tack of Texas fever, from which, in
the great majority of cases, the animal
so treated will recover, and after
wards be able to withstand subse
quent attacks of the disease, brought
about by transmission of the specific
organism through the medium of the
common cattle-tick, or, in other words.
become immune. | do not know just
how 1t is up here in Nebraska, but
down our way, there are still to be
found few people, the exact mum.
Der | have never attempted to esti-
| mate, who have a sort Of ingrained
aversion for anything to which the
| term scientific" is applied, but who,
| at the same time, seem absolutely OBJ
| livious to the fact, that scientific in
| vestigation, about which they appear
to possess such crude notions, and at
| which they are inclined to sheer, as
| IL there was some sleight-off-
| juggling connected with 1t, is nothing
more nor less than persistent, pains
taking searching after the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. In this very work of immuniza-
ton, we have an excellent illustra-
ton: Texas fever, the hitherto dread
ed bane and bugbear of every South
ern stockman, below the fever line,
whose desire it was to purchase, in
northern ATTITUDES, pure bred cattle
for the purpose of upbuilding and i'm
proving his degenerated herds, either
of beef or dairy animals, has almost
as many names as there are breeds
of cattle, and just as many theories as
to its cause and methods of treatment.
And it is probable that such chaotic
state of affairs would still have existed
had 1t not been for the interchangeable
logged, and persistent efforts of the
scientist in his search after truth
which has resulted in the accuracy OF
the knowledge now possessed relative
to the true cause and nature of the
disease, and the more intelligent and
effective measures by which to com
bat its ravages.
AS has been previously limited, the
actual, or exciting, cause of Texas
fever is germ-a malarial type oil
germ-belonging to the protocol, the
lowest form of animal life. Technic
ally, this organism is known as "piro
plasma bigeminum," and it can be
found within the red blood cells Of
any of our native southern cattle tina,
have been exposed to tick infestation
1t may be of interest to state a
this point that we have Southern ma
tives, however, that are non-immunes
This may appear rather strange t
some of you, as 1t did to many, in
Guiding some of our leading stock
journals, when a South Carolina here
of cattle became infected with Texa!
fever after exhibition at the Charles
ton Exposition in 1901. The explana
ton of such an occurrence, however
Is quite simple, when we realize tina
the tick is, so far as we know, tn,
only intermediary host of the disease
germ, and that there are many place
in the southern states, as, for eS
ample, the alluvial lands of my owl
state, or lands subject to periodi
inundation, on which ticks are rarel
to be found. Consequently animal
born and raised on such tick-fre
places are non-immune, because the
have not had the opportunity to be
come inoculated by the natural meth
cd. viz, through the INTERPRETATION @
the tick. But, il animals so raise
are afterwards placed upon ticky pas
lures, they will contract the feve
just as surely as IL they had been in
ported from North of the Fedora
Quarantine Line. In short, 1t is, wit
US, question of ticks. or no ticks.