The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-30

lThe skin over the swollen area Is often
 very tense and on tapping over this
 sound is heard, as if the tissue beneath l were distended with air. If firm prcs-
 sure is made upon the swollen area, cracking sound is heard re-
 sembiing that caused by crumpling a bit of crisp newspaper. The animal
 becomes sluggish, ceases to eat and
 shows considerable fever. the nose be- | ing dry and parched. At the height | of the attack the thermometer often | registers a rectal temperature of 105 or | 106 degrees. An hour or more before
 death the temperature falls to 95 de- grees or lower. (The normal tenn
 perature varies from 100 to 102.) The | breathing movements are considerably laccelerated at the height of the at | tack. The duration of the attack from | the first appearance of lameness until 4 the ensues varies from six to forty eight hours. If the animal showing l the above symptoms should live several days, 1t Is probable that the lameness and swelling are due to injury, and not | an infection that is liable to spread te. other cattle. The animal does not manifest the symptoms of acute pain | that would be shown if the confusion and. swelling were the result of an in- jury from violence.
 Examining the Carcass.
 If the skin be removed from a calf | that has died from "blackleg'' the mus |
 sents blackened, bruised "blood-shot' appearance, yet the skin which cover | this portion shows no signs of ex-
 ternal injury. There is a striking con-
 trast between the healthy and the dis | eased muscular tissue, which will at- | tract attention. In an infected limb, | 1t often occurs that an apparently per- | fectly healthy muscle lies alongside, | and almost In contact with, badly | diseased muscle. If an extensive cut I fC AA &AA =.
 to expose an end view of the muscles i of the region, the healthy muscle shows up like piece of flesh from a healthy
 butchered animal; it has reddish
 color is firm in texture, and in fat
 calves shows the marbling of good
 edible meat. The diseased muscle
 nearly by Is dark in color often | almost coal-black; the muscular flores l instead of lying close and compact are
 spread apart. giving to the muscular mass soft, spongy texture. This condition of the diseased tissue is the
 result of the action of the blackleg" | germs. During their growth in the muscular tissue large quantities of gas
 force apart the muscular. flores, and gives to the tissue it spongy appear ance Poisonous products are formed
 which deprive the blood of the affect
 ed parts of its oxygen; hence. the
 
 | between the finger and thumb. a crack l ling sound is heard. due to the libera- | tion of the imprisoned gas. No dis agreeable odor is emitted from the diseased muscle if the examination Is made soon after the death of the | animal. This is a point of distinction between "blackleg' and the 'gangren- ous tumors' that result from extensive bruises of muscular tissue; in the lat | ter, the odor is very offensive.
 Cause of Hl0ckIew,
 As intimated above the essential cause of the disease is a minute living organism or germ which finds outside | the animal body condition favorable | its continued multiplication. Some pastures at least seem to be perma- nently infected. The manner in which this germ gains entrance into the the feet or mouth. On gaining en- | trance to the circulation, tie micro organisms are carried to the muscular | tissue nearest by, in which are found
 the nutrient materials which are espe- cially favorable for the growth of these particular germs. The gaseous tumors never develop in the lower part
 of the leg which is tendinous and al-
 most free from muscular tissue, although the inoculation may have oc- cured at such point. l>r
 Burn the Dead.
 Since the diseased flesh contains mil lions of the germs of this disease, and these germs can live in the soil of the pastures and barnyards, it is important that every calf that dies from this disease should be. destroyed by fire. It Is an exceedingly bad practice. and poor economy, to remove the skin and drag the carcass across the pasture to the hog lot to permit these animals to scatter the seeds of the disease over
 the grounds. Such a practice Is liable to yield in years to come an increased harvest of this same very expensive hog feed.
 It is not a difficult matter to burn
 up the carcass of the diseased animal
 nor does it require a great amount of fuel. It,is always best to burn the animal where 1t has died if this can
 be done without danger to buildings or other property. If necessary to re- move the carcass to some distance, 1t shoGld not be taken away in the usual
 manner of dragging over the ground
 by means of a strong rope or chain looped around the head or horns as track. A low sled will be found very convenient for removing carcasses.
 This can be easily and quickly made
 by using a couple of two-inch by ten
 inch joists. eight feet long, for run ners; and notching in and spiking on three or four two-inch by four-inch cross pieces. A few stout boards nailed across the top completes the NenlCle. IT DlOOuy 0lScnarge issue from the mouth or nose, wrap an old
 grain bag about these orifices before removal of the carsess.
 In order to burn up the carcass com pletely and with smallest amount of fuel a few old rails or useless fence should be laid on the ground a foot or more apart and covered with a bed of straw. The carcass should be dump ed temporarily along side of this on another heap of staw, the back of the animal toward the rails. The carcass should then be cut up in the following manner By means of a sharp butcher knife remove the front and hind legs that lie uppermost, cutting through the skin and muscles and close to the body of the animal Lay the legs on the straw across the bed of rails and make number of cuts lengthwise of the legs through skin and muscle. Next open the chest cavity by cutting through all the spaces between the ribs, running the knife from the junc- ton of the ribs with back bone down. ward to the cartilaginous tips. In a calf these cartridges are easily cut through. The ribs can then be broken back or cut off with an axe or hatchet, The walls of the belly should then be opened so as to fully expose the paunch and other organs. few cuts should be. made into the paunch and liver Make several deep cuts lengthwise through the skin and muscles of the neck. A tthis stage a half gallon of coal oil should be sprinkled over the exposed lungs heart. paunch and other viscera and muscles of this side The carcass is now turned over into the bed of rails and straw and the other front and hind legs removed and cuts made through the skin and muscles.