The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-06-13

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: which they keep filled with corn and
! permit the animals to eat as much or
little as they choose. Large racks are
kept filled with alfalfa and sorghum
! hays. The disease has not been OBJ
\ served among the old. emaciated horses
belonging to the negroes, nor among
| cattle, hogs or other animals.
Theories as to the cause. we may
mention first mouldy corn. There is
nopuIar notion that the disease re-
suits from or follows eating mouldy
jcorn. II we examine the corn we ind
several kinds of mould. First, black
mould; second, a green one, and third
pink one which is undetermined. We
may remark at this moment that the
disease destroyed fifteen mules In one
lot near Hearne. The food consisted
| OF corn. alfalfa hay and cane tops.
| examined these with much care and
considered them sound and perfect. In
other instances mouldy' corn has been
fed In considerable quantities without
sickness following It. Bearing on this
we cultivated these three moulds on
potatoes. and having secured pure Gull
lures grew a large quantity of each in
moist chambers on a sterile cornmeal
mush medium. After a dense growth
had formed, which required eight
weeks, we gave them to horses.
4 Horse C, received 200 grams daily of
the dense black mould 1t was sim
ply crushed in mortar into thin
1 Cruel and given as drench for five
consecutive days. No effects could be
obtained from 1t.
Horse B, received in similar man
ner the same quantity of green mould
and no sickness followed.
Horse c, received 200 grams of the
pink mould daily for three days. No
sickness.
Mule D. received twenty-five cubic
centimeters of the amber colored water
of condensation which occurred in the
| moist chamber containing the black
mould No sickness resulted.
A guinea pig received one cubic CEN
timeter of the same liquid subcutane-
ously without sickness following
These results harmonic with those
obtained by the experiment stations
of Arkansas and Delaware some years
ago.
As a rule the cases did not occur
simultaneously. Sometimes but one or
two animals of the whole lot would
die and sometimes more. say five to
ten. The disease is certainly not con-
tageous. possibly II Is infectious. VIII
SON and Brimhall of the Minnesota
state board of health have found in
the ceres -J-spinaI nulo OF norses' cat
tie. sheep and swine that died of men
nights. an organism which they con-
sidered the specific cause of the trou-
BILE, viz, Diplococus pneumoniae. We
have been unable to find bacteria in
the blood before or after death or in
the cerebro- spinal mud. or in snears
from the lungs. liver or brain sub
stance.
Symptoms-The animal is usually
found in a blind condition. stumbling
about in the yard Some of them be-
come delirious and run at full speed
in any direction, crushing bfindly
against the fences or buildings 9th
ers are not so violent. but travel in
circle or wander aimlessly about, strik-
ing the blind side of the head against
posts or buildings. They may stumble
over woodpiles. agricultural imple-
ments or push blindly through wire
fences regardless of the injuries re-
ceived. At times they stop few mo-
ments and stand with head held side
ways. the ear dropping. the eye half
closed. the lower lip pendulous and
perhaps with unmasticated food be-
tween the jaws No soldering was
observed. After a few moments they
travel as before and finally come to
rest in some awkward position, viz
the forelegs may be crossed, one may
extend forward. the other backward.
or both may be backward
There may be trembling of the
| muscles
hind quarters we observe less trouble.
the legs are controlled quite we'll. the
tail may brush flies away. In a word
we have not observed that early pos
terror paralysis which occurs in the
cerebro- spinal meningitis of horses
in the cities of the north and east. The
temperature may be sub-normal, nor
NAL or somewhat elevated. The high
est we have observed was 103 degrees
There was nothing peculiar about the
pulse or respiration.
AS a rule no attention was paid to
food or water. The violent stare is
succeeded by one of stupor. The an
imal remains standing with the legs
immovable and serving as props, tho
head hangs low. the eyes closed, the
ears dropping and pays no attention to
the surroundings He finally staggers
l fails, and may succeed in regaining
his feet, but usually remains down.
Death follows in a few hours. When
down there is usually some violent
motions with the legs without attempt
to rise.
In the acute type death resulted in
twelve hours or less. We may find
an animal dead in the, morning that
was apparently we'll the evening be-
fore. In the sub-acute type they live
two or three days, while in the chron-
ic type they remain stupid and par
| TALLY blind for several weeks then
slowly recover The mortality Is very
high probably IS per cent
Post -mortem-The blood appears
normal We have been unable to find
bacteria in 1t. The digestive tract has
been opened the entire length and ex-
| amined without finding anything alb
| normal. The lungs, liver and kidneys
appeared normal and smears made from
| them presented no bacteria. The brain
| ana covering snow as IoIows: IN
| two very violent cases we found hem
| orrhage. In one 1t was outside the
| dura mater and in the other 1t was
within it, As a rule hemorrhage was
| absent. The cerebro- spinal fluid was
| whitish fiocculent masses. The hem
ispheres were very habby. Their sur
face appeared normal. but in the inte-
rior of the brain substance we found
broken down areas. sometimes on one
side, sometimes on both. These could
ling in the removal of the brain or
have been due to postmortem changes,
| We failed to find bacteria in smears
| of these broken down areas or in the
cerebro- spinal fluid.
| We made the following experiments:
No. l. a horse received into the iugu-
| lar vein ten cubic centimeters of blood
direct from the jugular vein of one
down with the disease in question. No
result
No. >. another horse received ten
cubic centimeters of blood sub-cutane-
ously from the iugular vein of the
same case No result.