The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-11-25


is no longer an experiment.
The results already accomplished de
monEtrate that the determination OF
this costly pesr ia not only possible
but practicable. though several years
may hn required for the completion
or the work"
The years since that report have
been wears Of meeting and overcom-
ing obstacles until now, when the
real magnitude Of the task can be
appreciated IT IS certain that nothing
can permanently hold up the work
TICK Fever and the Manner Of It's
Transmission TO CattIe.
The story Of the COttle tick (known
scientifically as Marrai opus "A nnuiat-
u.s.. In relation To the part II plays as
carrier Of the tick fever organism Is
one Of the most interesting In the an
nRts of scientific investigation It
has been described by one writer ss
romance In pathology" II NAV
he recalled that IN the early DAYS
of our cattle exunrtiOg trsaa .N4
Texas Ionghorn was most prominent.
i II soon heCa me known thai il tee
cattle. although APPARENT healthy
themselves, caused n deadly disease
IN other cattle. tho part played by
The tick being nj that time unknown
and unsupported Hence the disease
acquired the name OF Texas fever.
The tick. however, IL no respecter Of
localities SO long as they ere suitable
for it's propagation. and tick fever
occurs wherever the combination Of
nfected ticks and cattle is present
The problem OF combating the disease
was undertaken soon after the bureau
~ animal industry was organized in
1854, and a few years later the epoch
making discoveries Of the bureau
scientists led 70 the true cause OF
tse disease being found
The discovery that ticks can carry
- r~rrrr1r Of rf~wna.s-s- from ~aaa-aninlaI
ia another was the Grst instance in
which the important role Of iurects "a
carriers ~ diseas e was aseertained,
From It arose new procedures n pre-
ventive sanitation. Since thee the
noxious roles Of various other iuFecta
have been learned; for example, mos
guitoes carrying malaria and yellow
fever. the rat flea bubonic plague:
the house fv, typhoid fever. Former
~ no attention was paid 10 the car
riers; only treatment OF the patients
waa considered necessary, Now mos
quitoss are screened out or buildings
and exterminated: rats are killed; and
house flies are screened starved. and
"swatted"; all Of which has greatly
reduced the number OF victims NJ the
mentioned diseases. The discovery
81 tick incubation was made through
THE FONT efforts n several members
r of the bureau staff.
y systematic study Of southern
cattle fever begun in 1888. developed
that the disease, very similar to ma
laria in man was caused hY minute
protozoan parasite that invaded the
! red cbrDuscleS OF thu blood ana in
acute cases destroyed them 30 fast
that the spleen became ciogged with
debris from the blood. the liver filed
, with bile, and red coloring matter %
the blood was passed Off with tho
Z urine Intense fever developed and
the animal usually died IN from one
to four days after the hrst appearance
OF symptoms OF Illness. The death
rate war usually low in herds with
rlanv young or Insusceptible animals;
among old cattle II ran as high as so
or 30 per cent II was further found
that the disease was Acquired soon
: after the young of the cattle tick
called seed ticks--attnchsd to the cat
tia A Acquisition ef-tAs ticks was
found to be governed by their life
history, on which Is based the science
OF tick eradication and also the rules
OF quarantine. The life history is as
foliows2
: Adult ticks carried by cattle fall
TO the ground and IN about IA week
ea on female lays from 2,00o to 1000
eggs each Of them carrying fever
germs Matching is about three weeks
OF warm weather but requiring a
= much longer time In. cold weather, the
seed ticks remain on the ground or on
grnsses hungry and waiting for a
. chance 20 attach themselves 40 a COW
or steer Attaching themselves, the
! ticks hunt for places in the hide they
, can penetrate and. finding them, i'm
. mediateiy begin to suck blood and to
z grow Two immature STAGES of de-
= veIopnent precede the adult stage,
I when The males fall of the animal
= and die, and the females also fail off,
but Law their eggs on the ground be-
" FORE they die,
= Arsenfcai Dipping Vat Is Effective
Weapon.
The method OF tick eradication
- found to he effective and now used
} almost exclusively Is the arsenical
dipping bath This method will rid
"a County OF ticks in p single season,
/ il has been shown, For the method
to he effective every cow and steer
, IN the county must so through the
d bath once every two weeks during
> the season,
The ticks clinFipg TO the cattle are
e Killed by the arsenical bath Those
that attach themselves before next
, bath are killed in the immersion be
= fore thew have time to lay eggs. Those
8 forced Il remain in the grass die
Of starvation
The araenical bath-Ased In dipping
cattle for ticks was developed by+fed-
eral inspectors in Texas about 1907.
! The small dipping vat for arsenical
: dipping OF cattle was first used in Ia
, hssna ~ a federal inspector in 1909.
? He modified the larger vat previously
used in oil dtppin~ ~ animals IN IN
: terEtate commerce. Previous TO sos
svabbirg ard spraying by hand were
= the methods generally used In the
eradication work. The vat method
has been found TO he not only effeo-
> tive and speedy but 10 he comparative
" inexpensive
= In sepAauiher,- ALI 1l-0ab public
or private watts were availanis IN ten
southsr states The work in ass
s7s square miles ef territory was SUP
eryised by ara inspectors Of the bu-
i rsau of animal industry. ssl state