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REPORT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 N. I. STATE CATTLE COMIISSIOIEES, 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH THE 
 
 SPECIAL REPORT OF THE METROPOLiTM BOARD OF liEALTB, 
 
 TEXAS CATTLE DISEASE. 
 

REPORT OF THE NEW YORK STATE 
 CATTLE COMMISSIONERS, 
 
 FOR THE YEAR 1868, 
 
 To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York :* 
 
 The Board of Commissioners, organized under "An act to 
 prevent the introduction and spread of the disease known as the 
 Rinderpest, and for the protection of the flocks and herds of sheep 
 and cattle in this State from destruction by this and other infec- 
 tious diseases," passed April 20, 1866 (chap. 740), and amended 
 April 19, 1867 (chap. 453), respectfully 
 min 
 
 REPORT 
 
 That the disease known as Rinderpest has not, since the date of 
 their report for 1867, reappeared in the British Isles, or in any 
 of those countries in Europe from which cattle are usually brought 
 to the United States; and it is believed that, with the knowledge 
 we now have of the disease itself, and of its treatment, its ravages 
 would be speedily checked, should it, by any accident enter our 
 State. 
 
 The report of the Hon. A. B. Conger, of the State Agricultural 
 Society, on the " Statistics, pathology and treatment of the epizootic 
 disease known as the Rinderpest," is an exceedingly valuable con- 
 tribution to veterinary science, and its publication in the Transac- 
 tions of the Society, will very widely extend the knowledge of 
 epizootic diseases, and their treatment, among the stock owners 
 of New York State. 
 
 With the banishment of Rinderpest to its native steppes in South- 
 ern Russia and Hungary, all fears in regard to the safety of cattle 
 in this country passed away, and a sense of security was felt by all 
 engaged in breeding, feeding and handling stock. 
 IAg.] 60 
 
946 Annual Report of New TorjT. 
 
 FIRST APPEARANCE OF TEXAS CATTLE DISEASE. 
 
 About the 10th of June last, however, a disease appeared at 
 Cairo, the southern terminus of the Illinois Central railroad, at the 
 junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi river, where large num- 
 bers of cattle from Texas were being landed, and shipped thence, 
 by rail, to the interior of Illinois and Indiana. 
 
 This disease was soon recognized as " Spanish fever," so called 
 in the Gulf States; but better known in more Northern States as 
 the "Texas cattle disease" — a scourge that had repeatedly crossed 
 the Texan border and swept oif immense numbers of cattle in 
 Kansas and Missouri, previous to the late civil war, causing the 
 enactment of prohibitory laws in those States, relative to the intro- 
 duction of Texas cattle. 
 
 From Cairo the disease was conveyed along the railway lines 
 into the interior of Illinois and Indiana, reaching the little town 
 of To'lono, at the crossing of the Illinois Central and Toledo and 
 Wabash railroads, about the 20th of July, and speedily sweeping 
 away almost every native animal of the bovine race in that neigh- 
 borhood — two hundred and thirty-five cows having died between 
 that date and the first of August. 
 
 ITS RAVAGES IN ILLINOIS. 
 From fifteen thousand to eighteen thousand head of Texas cattle 
 had been landed at Tolono, resulting in the estimated loss of five 
 thousand head of native cattle in the county of Champaign alone,* 
 while multitudes were dying in other parts of that State and 
 Indiana; and stock destined to Eastern markets had become diseased 
 to such an extent, by the 5th of August, as to endanger the lives of 
 meat-consumers in the cities that draw their supplies of beef from 
 the Western States. 
 
 METROPOLITAN BOARD OF HEALTH. 
 By the 8th of August, it became apparent to the officers of the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health in New York city, that the alarming 
 increase of obstinate and fatal diarrhoeas in the Metropolitan dis- 
 trict, was caused by the use of diseased meats, and measures were 
 instantly taken to arrest the evil. The action of the Board, wise, 
 energetic and far seeing, not only averted the calamity that threat- 
 ened the city, but far beyond all this, by the rigid investigation it 
 conducted in resrard to the nature and character of the disease, 
 
 * See page 6, " Report of Delegates of Board of Agriculture, Province of Ontario." 
 
State Agricultural Society. 947 
 
 large contributions have been made to sanitary science, generally, 
 and certain great laws of hygiene established for the future. 
 
 ACTION OF THE STATE EXECUTIVE. 
 His Excellency Governor Fenton, after corresponding with the 
 Governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, who cooperated with 
 him in his efforts to check the progress of this fearful plague, 
 summoned the Einderpest Commission, as it was called, to meet hira 
 in Albany on the 17th of August, at the Executive chamber. 
 
 ACTION OF THE STATE COMMISSION. 
 
 In obedience to the summons, the Commission met, and received 
 from His Excellency all papers and correspondence that had come to 
 him on the subject, with instructions to carry out the provisons of the 
 acts of the Legislature establishing the Commission. On the 18th, 
 Prof. Jacob W. Mosher, of the Albany Medical College, was placed 
 in charge of the Albany district as Assistant Commissioner, with Mr. 
 John Phillips as his assistant, at the drove yards; Dr. Moreau 
 Morris, Sanitary Inspector of the Metropolitan Board of Health, 
 was appointed Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan district, 
 with instructions and authority to act as such along all the lines 
 of travel leading to the city; and Dr. William Manlius Smith 
 of Onondaga, was dispatched to Suspension Bridge, to prevent the 
 introduction of diseased cattle through the province of Ontario, 
 via the Great Western railway from Detroit and the Western States. 
 
 The city of Buffalo being cared for by its Board of Health, the 
 stock yards were, temporarily, placed under its health officer, and 
 the stations of Dunkirk and Jamestown provided for until they 
 could be visited by the Commissioners. 
 
 A brief code of instructions, regulating the inspection of cattle 
 at the stock yards, the transit of cattle through the State, the dis- 
 infection of cars, and quarantine of diseased animals, was drawn up 
 by the Commission, and published generally throughout the State 
 within the next three days. (A copy marked "A" is hereto 
 appended.) 
 
 INSPECTION OF THE DEPOT, ETC., BY THE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 On the 19th of August, the Commissioners separated, and made, 
 each, a rapid survey of his own district, Commissioner Allen taking 
 the Western, Gould the Eastern, and Patrick the Central district 
 of the State, while Dr. John Swinburne, Health Officer of the 
 Port of New York, was instructed by His Excellency to join 
 
948 Annual Report of New York 
 
 the Commissioners in making a tour of the State, that his knowledge 
 of the principles of quarantine might be made available in carry- 
 ing out the regulations already published. 
 
 THE STOCK YARDS AT CAMPVILLE. 
 
 At Campville, on the Erie road, the disease had first appeared 
 on the 9th of August, some eighteen or twenty head of Western 
 cattle, taken from the cars on the previous day, having died within 
 a few hours. They were buried in shallow trenches near the river, 
 and into these same trenches, shortly after, were thrown the mangled 
 remains of a large number of cattle, the debris of a railroad smash- 
 up, some distance east of Campville. 
 
 Only a few inches of soil was thrown into the trenches, not even 
 covering the animals from sight, and the weather being extremely 
 hot, such a stench arose from that mass of corruption as threatened 
 a pestilence, when Messrs. Swinburne and Patrick reached there on 
 the morning of the 21st of August. They were soon after joined 
 by Dr. J. G. Orton, of Binghamton, who had been previously 
 directed by Gov. Fenton to visit that station, and who was imme- 
 diately placed in charge of the district as Assistant Commissioner, 
 with E. Van Tuyl as his assistant, at the Campville stock yards. 
 
 Under Dr. Orton's directions, the trenches were promptly covered 
 with lime, and then with a heavy covering of earth, well sprinkled 
 with carbolic acid, as found in the heavy oil of coal tar. All the 
 yards, lanes and platforms about the premises were thoroughly dis- 
 infected by the use of the heavy oil. . 
 
 The result of this process was almost instantaneous and perfect; 
 no offensive effluvia afterwards arose, and no case of disease has 
 since appeared. 
 
 ELMIRA. 
 
 At Elmira, arrangements were made with Drs. Way, Squires and 
 Chubbuck, city physicians, to act temporarily in case the disease 
 should appear at that place, and Mr. G. E. Carpenter was appointed 
 Assistant Commissioner for the district. As no case of Texas 
 cattle disease has shown itself in that neighborhood, these gentle- 
 men have not been called into service. 
 
 MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS AT BUFFALO. 
 By the night of the 22d (Saturday), the Commissioners were all 
 gathered at Buffalo, Dr. Swinburne being with them. The mayor 
 of the city. Gen. W. F. Eogers, the Board of Health, the railroad 
 
State Agricultural Society, 949 
 
 officers, alnd many prominent citizens of Bufialo, took an active 
 interest in the business of the Commission, and by the 24th (Mon- 
 day) a system of inspections, quarantine and disinfection had been 
 perfected and put under the control of Dr. E. E. Mackay, Health 
 Officer of the city, who was appointed Assistant Commissioner, with 
 D. M. Josslyn as his assistant, at the extensive stock yards of the 
 Central railroad. 
 
 As Buffiilo is the principal gateway through which cattle enter 
 the State from the West, and vast numbers are being landed there 
 continual Ij'-, rendering it necessary that a very rigid control should 
 be exercised at that point. Commissioner Allen was specially 
 charged with the supervision of that important depot. 
 
 SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 
 The Canadian authorities having, by an order of his Excellency 
 the Governor-General, in Council, prohibited the introduction of 
 horned cattle from the United States into the Provinces of Quebec 
 and Ontario, all danger of infection from the transportation of 
 Western cattle over the Great Western railway, ceased, and Dr. 
 Wm. M. Smith was withdrawn from Suspension Bridge, to take 
 the place of medical adviser to the Commission, Dr. Swinburne 
 being compelled, by his official duties as Health Officer of the Port, 
 to return to New York. 
 
 DUNKIRK. 
 On the 25th, the Commission proceeded to Dunkirk, the western 
 terminus of the Erie road, and there established such quarantine, 
 inspection, and other regulations as appeared needful, appointing 
 A. H. Abell, Esq. Assistant Commissioner, with Dr. Benedict as 
 medical adviser, if his services should at any time be deemed 
 necessary. 
 
 ERIE. 
 As no system of inspections, quarantine, or other regulations in 
 regard to diseased cattle had yet been promulgated in Pennsyl- 
 vania, at the request of the Lake Shore railroad officers, the Com- 
 missioners extended their observations as far west as Erie, where 
 they had an interview with Mr. Luce, the transportation agent of 
 the Lake Shore road at that place. After a full understanding of 
 the objects of the Commission, and an examination of the instruc- 
 tions and regulations issued to its own inspectors, Mr. Luce decided 
 to adopt, as far as practicable, the same system at Erie; thus prac- 
 
*. 
 
 950 Annual Report of New York 
 
 tically extending our own quarantine regulations some twenty-five 
 miles bej^ond the limits of our own State. 
 
 JAMESTOWN. 
 
 As the Atlantic and Great Western railway, connecting with the 
 Erie railway at Salamanca, aflfords a fourth gateway for cattle to 
 enter the State from the West, the Commission visited Jamestown, 
 and there established the same system of inspections, quarantine, 
 etc., as at Dunkirk, and appointed Sardius Stewart, Esq., Assistant 
 Commissioner for the Jamestown district. 
 
 Having thus established a system of inspection at every point 
 where Western cattle enter the State, the Commission returned to 
 Buffalo on the evening of the 27th of August, where they found 
 several cattle in hospital yards, and had an opportunity to study 
 the disease itself more fully than heretofore; for up to that time 
 very few facts had been gathered as to its real nature. 
 
 THEORIES IN REGARD TO THE DISEASE. 
 Great numbers of Western drovers and stock dealers were exam- 
 ined as to their knowledge of its character and efiects, resulting in 
 the enunciation of a multitude of theories, prominent among which 
 were: 
 
 1. That no Texas cattle had ever been known to die, or be 
 affected with the disease themselves, but were universally regarded 
 as sound and healthy. 
 
 2. That by some mysterious agency, these healthy Texas cattle 
 had, at various times within the last few years, infected the native 
 cattle of the Western States with a fatal disease. 
 
 3. That native cattle, though sick and dying of the disease, could 
 not impart it to other cattle. 
 
 4. That the meat of diseased animals had never been known to 
 produce any ill results to the consumer, and might, therefore, be 
 regarded as healthy food. 
 
 5. That with the first frosts of autumn, the disease entirely dis- 
 appeared, and no infection could be conveyed thereafter by Texas 
 cattle. 
 
 The facts, however, that came under the observation of the Com- 
 missioners, led them to discard these theories, though without, then, 
 arriving at conclusions entirely satisfactory to themselves on the 
 subject; and on the 28th of August they adjourned, to meet again 
 in New York city, on the 2d of September, there to make more 
 thorouofh and accurate investigations. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 951 
 
 MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS IN NEW YORK CITY. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 2d of September, Messrs. Patrick and 
 Gould, with Dr. William Manlius Smith, met in New York, and were 
 joined by Dr. Swinburne, Health Officer of the Port, Dr. Harris, 
 Eegistrar of Vital Statistics of the Metropolitan Board of Health, 
 and Dr. Moreau Morris, its Sanitary Inspector and Assistant Com- 
 missioner for the district. In consequence of the large number of 
 cattle arriving at Buflalo, it was not deemed safe for Mr. Allen to 
 leave that most exposed position, at that time, and the other mem- 
 bers of the Commission were obliged to go on without him. 
 
 Under the guidance of the officers of the Board of Health, a 
 thorough survey of the whole field of operations w^as instituted, 
 extending beyond the city limits and across the Hudson to the 
 stock yards and abattoirs on the Jersey side, which furnish meats 
 to the New York markets. The " bone boiling" and "rendering" 
 establishments were visited, to follow up condemned meats, and 
 ascertain the final disposition made of them, as well as to become 
 familiar with the various processes of disinfection in use at those 
 places, where carcases of dead animals, in every stage of putref-ic- 
 tion, were gathered from every part of the city. 
 
 METROPOLITAN BOARD OF HEALTH INSTITUTES INVESTIGATIONS. 
 Autopsies of animals dying of the Texas disease, were made by 
 the officers of the Board of Health, at the drove yards of the 
 Messrs. Allerton, and the results of these examinations recorded. 
 A careful analysis of the various tissues, fluids and viscera of the 
 animals was conducted by Prof. Chandler, of the School of Mines, 
 Columbia College, Chemist of the Board, while the same st^-uctures 
 were subjected to the scrutiny of Prof. Stiles, of Brooklyn, Micro- 
 scopist of the Board. Bringing his skill and large experience to 
 the work, Prof. Stiles soon unmasked the mysterious and active 
 agent in this disease, revealing not only its perfect outline and 
 form, under the microscope, to every eye, but, with equal distinct- 
 ness, exhibiting the mode of its attack upon the blood discs, and 
 the entire destruction of the blood that resulted from it. One 
 of the most brilliant discoveries in medical science, but not more 
 brilliant than useful. 
 
 RESULTS OF OBSERVATIONS. 
 As the result of their observations in New York, the Commis- 
 sion drew up the paper marked " B" (appended hereto), and caused 
 it to be published in the leading papers throughout the State. 
 
952 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Notwithstanding the utmost caution and watchfulness at Buffalo, 
 and other places of inspection, diseased cattle often reached New 
 York city, until quite late in the season, and the Commissioners 
 were frequently called to look at cattle in different localities, and 
 affected with various ailments, but which, in the excited state of the 
 public mind, were supposed to be cases of real Texas disease. 
 
 WESTERN COMMISSIONERS SENT TO NEW YORK. 
 
 As was expected, the inspection and quarantine regulations estab- 
 lished at Buffalo, and other railway depots, created great consterna- 
 tion in the Western cattle dealing States, and caused His Excellency 
 Governor Oglesby, of Illinois, to appoint a special commission with 
 instructions to visit New York, for the purpose of conferring with 
 Gevernor Fenton and the New York Commission, as to the best 
 means of regulating the shipment of cattle to Eastern markets, so 
 as to embarrass the trade as little as possible, while protecting the 
 health of our citizens and guarding their herds from infection. 
 (See paper marked " C," hereto appended.) 
 
 An examination of the workings of the system adopted in this 
 State, proved satisfactory to the Illinois Commissioners, and a 
 request was made by them, that a call should be issued by the 
 Governor of the State of New York, for a convention of commis- 
 sioners from all the States interested in breeding, feeding, handling 
 and shipping cattle, as well as from the Eastern consuming States, 
 where cattle are marketed. 
 
 CALL FOR A CONVENTION OF CATTLE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 In this request Illinois was joined by other Western States and 
 Canada; resulting in the issue of a circular from the Executive 
 Chamber in Albany, calling such convention to meet at the city of 
 Springfield, Illinois, on the 1st day of December, 1868. (See 
 paper marked " E.") 
 
 As the subjects to be discussed in that Convention involved ques- 
 tions of vital importance to the citizens of this State, it was essential 
 that this Commission should be thoroughly prepared to meet them 
 understandingly, and be able to bring facts before the convention, 
 in opposition to the interested statements of dealers in Texas cattle, 
 and the numberless theories set afloat in regard to the character and 
 effects of the disease, by persons who had never thoroughly inves- 
 tigated the subject. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 953 
 
 NEW YORK STATE COMMISSIONERS AND METROPOLITAN BOARD 
 
 OF HEALTH. 
 
 Accordingly, after having met and conferred with the commis- 
 sioners of the Province of Ontario, who had but just returned from 
 an extended tour of observation in the West, the New York Com- 
 missioners assembled at the rooms of the Metropolitan Board of 
 Health, in the city of New York, on the 2d day of November, and 
 were permitted to avail themselves of the results derived from all 
 the scientific investigations that had been going on since the 8th of 
 August, as well as all the data gathered by Dr. Harris, the Eegis- 
 trar of the Board, in the course of his widely extended correspond- 
 dence, and the mass of facts gathered by Assistant-Commissioner 
 Morris and his associate inspectors of the Board of Health, during 
 the prevalence of the disease. 
 
 Every stock yard, abattoir, slaughter house, rendering and bone- 
 boiling establishment of the Metropolitan district, was made the 
 subject of investigation, and all classes of disease affecting rumi- 
 nants (and to some extent swine), came under the observation of 
 the Commission, revealing such an amount of reckless barbarity 
 towards animals, and of criminal indifference to the public health, 
 on the part of many who furnish meat to consumers, that one 
 almost wonders how the city has escaped a pestilence. 
 
 It is to be hoped that some of these terrible nuisances will soon 
 be abated by law, and that all animals for slaughter Avill be taken 
 to the great abattoirs of Communipaw, East Forty-fourth street, 
 and the like, where the meat can be inspected by a proper officer, 
 and everything condemned, be conveyed speedily to such rendering 
 dock as that of West Thirty-eighth street, where steam and car- 
 bolic acid effectually destroy all offensive odors. 
 
 DR. MORRIS TO REPRESENT THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF 
 HEALTH AT SPRINGFIELD CONVENTION. 
 
 As it was of much importance that some competent medical 
 gentleman, who had been personally acquainted with the disease 
 as it developed in New York, should be present at the Convention 
 in Springfield, the Board of Health very kindly authorized its 
 Sanitary Inspector (and our Assistant Commissioner), Dr. Moreaii 
 Morris, who, more perhaps than any other individual in the city, 
 had come in contact with infected and diseased cattle, to accompany 
 the Slate Commissioners to the Convention. 
 
954 Annual Report of New York 
 
 TEXAS DISEASE IN ORANGE COUNTY. 
 
 A question of great interest in connection with the spread of this 
 infection, had been settled, by facts, only the week previous to the 
 meeting of the Commission in New York. On the 20th of October, 
 Commissioner Gould had been called to Hamptonburgh, in the milk 
 district of Orange county, to ascertain the cause of a number of 
 sudden deaths amono- cattle in that neighborhood. Dr. Morris was 
 eventually summoned from New York, and on the 24th October, 
 with Mr. Gould and Dr. Montfort, Assistant Commissioner, made 
 post mortem examinations of two heifers, found dead on that day, 
 and these were followed by the post mortem examination of a cow 
 on the 27th, by Dr. Montfort. From all the facts elicited during 
 these investigations, and from the autopsies of the animals, not a 
 doubt was left on the minds of these gentlemen that they had died 
 of genuine Texas cattle disease; and further, that this disease had 
 been introduced into that neighborhood by a herd of native cows 
 brought from Painesville, Ohio, on the Lake Shore railroad, over 
 which large numbers of Texas cattle had been passing. (Com- 
 missioner Gould's instructions to farmers, marked " E," are hereto 
 annexed.) 
 
 As it had been almost universally assumed in the West, that 
 Texas cattle., only, could communicate the disease, an important 
 question was settled at Hamptonburgh. 
 
 AUTOPSIES OF TEXAS BULLOCKS AT BUFFALO. 
 
 Again: It had been announced by stock dealers as an undeniable 
 fact; that, although Texas cattle might give the disease to native 
 cattle, they were never affected by it themselves. Yet at Biifialo, 
 on the 24th of November, the Commissioners found two Texas 
 steers (taken on the previous day from a herd directly from Kansas) 
 in a dying condition; and, on being slaughtered, presented every 
 characteristic feature of the genuine Texas cattle disease in its most 
 intensified form; and this, too, in very cold weather, after nearly 
 two months of frost — establishing beyond all cavil the fact, that 
 Texas cattle may die of the disease, and that, in freezing cold 
 weather. 
 
 A TEXAS HERD AT LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. 
 
 While on their way to Springfield, the Commissioners sought 
 information from all sources; and at Lafayette, Indiana, spent a day 
 in the slaughtering establishment of Sample & Son, where a herd 
 of one hundred and forty-two Texas cattle were being slaughtered 
 
State Agricultural Society. 955 
 
 for packing. These animals appeared to he, in perfect health, pre- 
 senting no external symptoms of any disease, and the meat, except 
 in a single instance, appeared to be of good quality; yet the viscera 
 of large numbers of these animals, taken indiscriminately from the 
 herd, exhibited in every instance the unmistakable scars which that 
 disease invariably leaves upon the coats of the stomach. 
 
 So evident did it appear to the Commission, that Texas cattle, as a 
 class, were all, more or less, at some time, affected by this peculiar 
 disease, which invariably left upon the coats of the stomach an 
 ineffaceable and characteristic mark, that Texas cattle dealers in 
 Springfield were permitted to select one of the best Texas bullocks, 
 from the best Texas herd of the season, and have it slaughtered, to 
 test the question. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE STOMACHS OF A TEXAS STEER AND 
 NATIVE COW, AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 
 
 On the morning of the 1st of December, in the presence of a 
 large number of gentlemen of the Convention, and cattle men gen- 
 erally, the selected animal was slaughtered, and presented such 
 jialpable evidences of former disease, as to convince the most skep- 
 tical. To meet the assertion, " that all animals grazed on Western 
 prairies, presented the same appearance of scars upon the stomach," 
 a fat native cow was knocked down, and, on being opened, the 
 stomach exhibited a perfectly smooth, clean and healthy appear- 
 ance, entirely different from that of the Texas animal lying by its 
 side. 
 
 The record of disease written upon the viscera of the Texas 
 animals, so distinct and perfect as to be seen of all men, had much 
 influence in settling the opinions of Commissioners who had already 
 assembled from most of the States; so that, when the Conven- 
 tion organized, much useless debate upon exploded theories was 
 avoided. 
 
 MEETING OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 The convention met in the Hall of Representatives at 12 m., on 
 Tuesday, the 1st day of December, and proceeded to business. 
 Hon. Lewis F. Allen, of the New York Commission, was chosen 
 President of the Convention, which continued its sitting until Thurs- 
 day, the 3d, when it adjourned. 
 
 As a very full copy of its proceedings are published under the 
 direction of His Excellency Governor Oglesby, it will not be neces- 
 sary in this Report to speak of them in detail. 
 
956 Annual Report of New York 
 
 A mass of facts and general information in regard to the cattle 
 trade of the West were elicited during the discussions, which 
 were of great value to the New York Commission, and those from 
 States on the Eastern seaboard. 
 
 The results of the series of investigations conducted by the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health, were presented to the Conventiou 
 by Dr. Morris, and attracted marked attention; especially certain 
 plates and drawings illustrating the appearance of diseased matter 
 under the microscope, and the various developments of cryptogamic 
 growth in the blood and other fluids of diseased animals. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Resolutions were adopted by the Convention, recommending to 
 the Legislatures of the several States interested, the enactment of 
 uniform laws, regulating the times for introducing Texas cattle into 
 their respective States; the driving, shipping, feeding and trans- 
 portation of cattle designed for market; instituting a system of 
 inspection along the routes of cattle transit, and providing suitable 
 penalties for persons difi'iising dangerous diseases from animals in 
 their possession. 
 
 MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 
 
 The. convention also appointed a committee to present a memo- 
 rial to Congress, asking for a small appropriation, to be expended 
 under the direction of the War Department, in following up the 
 disease to the pastures of Texas, and with the data obtained already, 
 identify the fungus parasite which is always found associated with 
 the disease, and is the probable cause of it. 
 
 It is believed by your Commissioners, that with the knowledge 
 already possessed by the scientific corps of the anny, of the Flora 
 and Fauna of the regions traversed by the Texas herds, and with 
 the facilities they possess for carrying out these investigations, the 
 object can be far more speedily, thoroughly, and economically 
 effected, than by the appointment of a civil commission, which 
 must, after all, be largely dependent upon the War Department 
 for assistance and protection. 
 
 VISIT QUINCY AND ST. LOUIS. 
 It was, in part, to gain an opportunity of conferring with the 
 the Lieutenant General, and other officers of the army, on this sub- 
 ject, that the Commission, on leaving Springfield, accepted an 
 invitation from the Missouri delegation to visit St. Louis. Since 
 
State Agricultural Society. 957 
 
 meeting the army officers at St. Louis, no doubt is left in the minds 
 of the Commissioners as to the success of an investigation conducted 
 mider the direction of the War Department. 
 
 Another, and the main object of the Commission in extending 
 their trip to the Mississippi, was, to gain from personal observation 
 and reliable data, correct information in regard to the magnitude of 
 the Western cattle trade, and the modus o-perandi of feeding, handling 
 and shipping cattle, as well as their treatment en route for Eastern 
 markets. At Quincy, much interesting information was obtained. 
 
 At St. Louis, through the kindness of gentlemen connected with 
 the Board of Trade and the Board of Health, as well as of other 
 business gentlemen of the city, the Commission had access to all 
 the feeding grounds, stock yards, slaughtering establishments, 
 packing houses and sale yards of the city and suburbs, and were 
 furnished with a mass of statistics, of an exceedingly valuable 
 character, as illustrating this trade. 
 
 EXTENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CATTLE TRADE. 
 
 Formerly, say fifty years ago, the States east of the Alleghany 
 mountains reared the meats consumed by their own population; 
 They also reared and fatted much for exportation. As our foreign 
 and internal commerce increased, and manufactures of various kinds 
 sprung into existence, the soil was needed for the necessary pro- 
 duction of grains, roots, fruits and other human edibles. The new 
 States of the West increased in their herds of cattle, sheep and 
 swine. They were driven on foot over the mountains, and found 
 ready markets in those States which could no longer be supplied 
 from their own soils. 
 
 For many years past meat-growing in the seaboard States, has 
 become unprofitable, and our almost sole dependence for that indis- 
 pensable article is now from the broad grass and corn-growing 
 regions south and west of our great lakes, and extending even 
 beyond the Mississippi. 
 
 The amount of our consumption is astonishingly large. New 
 York city and its immediate vicinity now consume, directly and indi- 
 rectly, about 7,000 beef cattle weekly, making an aggregate of 
 more than 350,000 per year, valued at present prices at about 
 $35,000,000. In addition to these, about 65,000 calves arrive in 
 the city, which may be valued at eight dollars each, amounting to 
 $520,000; about 700,000 swine, worth $10,000,000, and 1,200,000 
 sheep, worth $5,000,000, amounting in the aggregate, striking ofl' 
 
958 Annual Report of New York 
 
 fractions, to the round sum of fifty millions of dollars. All this is 
 aside from the vast quantities of salted meats of beef and pork, 
 which are also brought in and consumed in their cured conditions. 
 
 A great majority of these live stock enter the State of New York 
 by the railroads from Western States leading to Suspension Bridge at 
 the Niagara river, and Buffalo, and by the Atlantic and Great West- 
 ern road through Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua, which 
 connects with the Erie railway at Salamanca, in the county of Catta- 
 raugus. The Erie railway also receives many at Dunkirk, in the 
 county of Chautauqua, from the Lake Shore road, and also at Buffalo, 
 whence they are directly transported to New York. The cattle arriv- 
 ing at Suspension Bridge and at Buffalo, are transported over the 
 Central railroad direct to Albany. Then a portion of them are 
 distributed over various railways into New England, but the bulk 
 of them are shipped over the Hudson river and Harlem roads 
 direct to Ncav York, their final destination. A very considerable 
 number of cattle are also shipped from the Western States by the way 
 of Pittsburg, through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and arrive at 
 Jersey City and the Communipaw cattle yards, opposite New York, 
 and make a portion of the consumption of the city and its environs. 
 
 The journeys which these cattle make, according to the locality 
 from which they are removed, occupy a distance of eight hundred 
 to fifteen hundred miles by direct railway communication, taking 
 from six to fifteen days in the time of transit, with the stoppages 
 for feeding, water, and rest included. The cattle trains move at the 
 rate of about two hundred to three hundred miles in twenty-four 
 hours; but frequently from detentions, delays, and unavoidable 
 accidents, they are delayed between their proper feeding places to 
 thirty, or even forty hours. At an average, the feeding stations, 
 where they can be taken out and fed, rested and watered, may be 
 about two hundred and fifty to three hundred miles apart, but 
 governed some what by the intersections and connections of different 
 nt roads, as they diverge from or come into a main line running 
 eastward, which embrace the traffic. 
 
 WHERE OUR BEEF CATTLE COME FROM. 
 
 The sources of supply previous to the last three or four years 
 have been principally from the States west of the Alleghany moun- 
 tains and north of the Ohio river, with the exception of a consider- 
 able number from Kentucky and Missouri. They are composed of 
 native stock mainly, with more or less admixtures of foreign blood, 
 
State Agricultural Society. 959 
 
 chiefly of the short horn breed many years ago introduced into our 
 country from England, and to some extent, other improved English 
 varieties, all which have improved the quality and value of our 
 native herds. These cattle have usually been healthy, both in their 
 native localities, and on their way to and arrival at our markets. 
 
 Their usual condition, on their native feeding grounds, and in 
 their various homes, on their removals for grazing and fattening 
 (for they are a commodity of frequent sale and purchase among the 
 breeders, graziers and feeders, who fit them in various stages for 
 market), is generally healthy. Their pastures are good, and their 
 feed usually abundant. Of consequence, when kept from adverse 
 influences by local disease, which is quite unfrequent, they are in 
 good condition when starting for market. No diseases prejudical 
 to their flesh, or adverse to afibrding good meats to the consumer, 
 have aflfected them, as a rule, when properly and honestly handled, 
 •and our people have eaten freely of their flesh without fear of 
 evil consequences. 
 
 THE TEXAN CATTLE. 
 
 But another and a widely different source of supply, within the 
 last eight or ten years, has opened. For a very few years previous 
 to the late civil war, some droves of cattle were brought into South- 
 western Missouri, which found their way through the Indian 
 territory west of the State of Arkansas. They were compara- 
 tively few in number, and attracted little attention, other than 
 that they were known to bring with them a peculiar local disease, 
 which, under certain circumstances of exposure, hardship and 
 abusive driving, they imparted to the native cattle of that then far 
 distant region of Missouri. 
 
 The rebellion at the South put an end, temporarily to that recently 
 opened traffic, and from that prolific source of supply the Southern 
 armies were mainly fed while thej^ held possession of portions of the 
 lower Mississippi; and when the Northern armies gained possession, 
 the outlet for them being cut oflT, and no hostile invasion occurring 
 in that distant State, their herds increased in great numbers. 
 
 WHAT ARE TEXAN CATTLE? 
 They are the descendants of the Spanish herds introduced into 
 Mexico in the sixteenth century, soon after the conquest of that 
 country by the Spaniards. In that country of wide savannas and 
 abounding herbage, Avith continuous green foliage throughout the 
 year,- they increased, multiplied and spread over the wide territory 
 
960 Annual Report of New York 
 
 with a fecundity unparalleled in all previous histories of their race. 
 Every Mexican State and appendage where settlements prevailed, 
 whether occupied by Spaniard or Indian, were ranged over and 
 grazed by these numerous herds. They composed the chief wealth 
 of the sparsely settled population, and were mainly valued for their 
 hides and tallow, which became large articles of export. Their flesh 
 was a secondary object, and of little value. Texas, when admitted 
 into the United States, was full of them, and they soon became the 
 chief sources of beef supply to New Orleans and the other cities 
 and towns on the Gulf and Lower Mississippi. 
 
 CHARACTER AND PROPERTIES OF TEXAN CATTLE. 
 
 In stature, they are medium, coarse and sleazily biiilt, with large 
 bone and horn; they are but moderately fleshed, and that flesh, 
 in its natural wild condition, when compared with our own good 
 native beef, is coarse, flabby and stringy. Savage and semi-wild in 
 habit, they come into domestication reluctantly; yet, in many instan- 
 ces, when well tended and fed on our best pastures, and " finished 
 off" on corn, after the manner of our good graziers and feeders, 
 they yield a passable carcass of beef, but at more expense of food 
 than those reared and fed in our own States. They mature tardily, 
 at a not less age than five, six, or seven years, and at such ages, 
 their live weight, in good condition, ranges from nine to twelve 
 hundred pounds when brought to market. 
 
 THEIR MODE OF REARING AND TREATMENT. 
 They are owned in Texas, in large herds, ranging from a hundred 
 to several thousand, in the hands of a single individual. No fenced 
 pastures enclose them, and they range over the country in multi- 
 tudinous droves, for many miles away from their owners' localities, 
 all sexes and ages running together. One man may own a thousand 
 head or more, and his only personal property aside from them, may 
 be a few semi-wild horses, a little household tackle, his shooting 
 and cutting irons, and a raw-hide tent, or log cabin, where he lives 
 and rears his family. 
 
 - Running wild, the cows drop their calves at all seasons of the 
 year, and rear them as best they may, in their own wild and vagrant 
 manner. At a certain season annually, the several owners turn out, 
 hunt, and collect their cattle from their various ranging grounds 
 and drive them into enclosures made for the purpose — each one of 
 a year old and upward having the brand or mark of their owner 
 
State Agricultural Society. 9gX 
 
 upon them. Here the calves are seleeted and branded with their 
 
 several owners' marks, or initials, the males castrated, those selected 
 
 for driving away and selling taken out and retained, and the rest 
 
 ^ turned out again for grazing. Such is their rearing and treatment. 
 
 DRIVING, TRANSPORTATION, AND SELLING. 
 
 When collecting for sale and a market, those selected and fit 
 for the purpose, mostly steers and cows, are separated from the 
 maju herds (each owner knowing his own brand — and it is but 
 'justice to say that they are scrupulous in acknowledging among 
 each other that mark of ownership), and strictly guarded by the 
 drovers from getting back into the main herds. When ready for a 
 start, they are then hurried out from their accustomed ranges into 
 new grounds on their way to market. In many cases they are 
 mhumanly driven, without sufficient food or water. 
 
 WHEN INTENDED TO GO ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 On arriving at the landing places of the steamboats on the Gulf, 
 or Mississippi and its tributary waters, they are rushed on to boats 
 in the most brutal manner. When refusing, by fright or terror, to 
 go on board quietly, they are lassoed by the horns, necks, or legs, 
 as chance or opportunity may offer, and hauled on the decks, w^here 
 they are crowded into the closest possible space, and securely railed 
 in from escape. There the poor suffering beasts remain, tortured 
 by hunger and thirst for several days together, with nothing to 
 eat and no opportunily to drink, from their huddled condition, 
 although a sea of water may be all around them, until they are taken 
 to their destination on the rivers several hundred miles above, or 
 below, and landed. 
 
 Those destined for immediate slaughter in the lower cities, on 
 landing go immediately to the slaughter houses, or may be fed 
 for a few days in yards until marketed. Those intended for 
 grazing in Eastern Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, or Illinois, go to the 
 readiest landings on the Mississippi, or Ohio, and are there taken 
 off and driven, or put in railway cars for transportation to the inte- 
 rior. We have been told on credible authority, that as many as 
 eleven hundred head had been crowded and transported on a single 
 steamboat to St. Louis, and perhaps nearly equal numbers on a single 
 boat to Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio. In this wretched condition 
 at landing, many of them are found dead; others are terribly bruised 
 and mutilated from crowding, and getting down and trampled upon 
 
 [Ag.] 61 
 
962 Annual Report of New York 
 
 by th'e others while on the boat — so much so as to be thrown over- 
 board, or put aside from driving, or car transportation at all. Those 
 able to be put on the cars are then, without food, in many instances, 
 transported two hundred and twenty-eight miles — sometimes occu- 
 pying two or three days on the journey, without food or water — to 
 Tolono, the principal distributing point, where they are disembarked 
 from the cars, and driven to their feeding or pasturing grounds. 
 
 To say that these poor, abused, emaciated cattle, having lived 
 for a week, or ten or twelve days, without food or water, or with 
 so trifling an amount of either, as only to tantalize their existence 
 into the desperation of misery and torture, with their systems 
 relaxed almost to a state of collapse, can be healthy, is to assert^ 
 fact utterly inconsistent with the laws of either health or animal 
 physiology. The normal causes of disease — -elsewhere discussed— r 
 existiug within them, become active, and, when ranging with thp 
 native cattle with which they come in contact, they impart the dis- 
 ease to them, or leave it by the spores of their excrements on the 
 cars and on the roads, in the streams, or the pastures and grasses 
 over which they pass, to be imbibed or drawn in by the animals 
 which follow them. Such is the condition and treatment of a large 
 proportion of the Texan cattle which come into the upper States 
 by boat transportation on the Mississippi. 
 
 INLAND MOVEMENTS OP THE TEXAN CATTLE. 
 
 Gathered into their several herds for driving northwa^^'d, froia 
 the central portions of Texas, they are rapidly hurried forward, 
 sometimes, as we are informed, at the rate of more than forty miles 
 a day on their first starting — they are driven thi'ough Upper Texag 
 and across the Indian territory west of the State of Arkansas, graz- 
 ing on the open prairies and wooded ranges by the way, into Kansas, 
 to a station called Abilene, in the central part of Kansas, one 
 hundred and sixty-three miles west of Leavenworth. The journey 
 to Abilene may be from five hundred to eight hundred miles, 
 according to the parts of Texas from which they first started. 
 Abilene is now the great point of arrival for the cattle from the 
 interior of Texas. Here have recently been built large yard 
 accommodations for their collection, sale and purchase as they 
 arrive; and immense numbers, sometimes as high as twenty-five to 
 fifty thousand in number, are pastured and herded in the vicinity, 
 awaiting a market. Here they are bought by the large cattle 
 dealers of the States east, and driven or "carred" forward to their 
 
State Agricultubal Society, 963 
 
 various points of destination for feeding. They usually arrive at 
 Abilene in a moderate condition of flesh — some better, or worse 
 than others, as they have been driven, fed and watered by the way. 
 They remain in the vicinity oi Abilene sometimes for Weeks and 
 months, as purchasers may arrive from the East, or as the condi- 
 tion of the cattle may need recruiting for sale. As the land is 
 mostly prairie, with abundant grasses growing, and mainly unset- 
 tled, pasturage costs little or nothing. They only require herding, 
 which is cheaply done by their owners. 
 
 t These cattle are bought in Texas for six to eight dollars a head, 
 and their entire cost on arriving at Abilene does not exceed ten to 
 twelve dollars each, thus establishing the foundation tor 
 
 "CHEAP BEEF." 
 
 Here lies the solution of the grand question, why such compara- 
 tively inferior animals as the Texan cattle have been introduced 
 into the wide cattle breeding and gracing regions of our Northwest- 
 ern States. That they are " cheap," in every signification of the word, 
 is certain. They bring the same seeds of disease with them to 
 Abilene, as do the more southern herds which come up the river 
 to Cairo and St. Louis^ and under like circumstances impart it as 
 readily to our native stock as they.* But allowing that quite a 
 percentage of them die by abuse, and their own native disease, 
 still, the wide margin of the whole cost left on the survivors, below 
 the values of the native cattle of the Northwestern States, gives the 
 ** handlers " of them a large profit. 
 
 The losses sufiered by the owners of native stock, which the 
 Texan cattle have imparted to them, have been very heavy, and 
 could they be thrown upon the owners of the Texans, the question 
 of " cheapness " in their original cost, and the expense of " hand- 
 ling " them, might prove altogether a difierent matter. 
 
 What the proportionate number of Texan cattle, which reach our 
 markets, may be to the natives, is difficult to say; and how much 
 their considerable numbers may reduce the prices of beef at our 
 seaboard cities, if they were not available, is simply a matter of 
 conjecture. 
 
 There are two distinct parties to the policy of using Texan cattle. 
 It can be proved, by credible witnesses, among the graziers and drov- 
 
 • It is, perhaps, proper to say that, from aU the recent evidence gathered by the Com- 
 mission, there can be no doubt that a much larger proportion of those Texas animals that 
 come north by the Cairo and Mississippi route, are badly diseased, than of those which are 
 brought by the Kansas and Abilene route. 
 
964 Annual Report of New York 
 
 ers, in a court of justice, that the Texans are a profitable, useful and 
 valuable class of beef-makino^ material to our Western o-raziers and 
 farmers; and it can be equally well proved by other witnesses, in the 
 same occupation, that they are a scourge and a curse to the country, 
 and that it is a calamity that they were ever introduced, and will 
 remain a calamity so long as they are suffered to enter our States. 
 These are questions which we need not argue. They who pur- 
 chase, feed and handle them, say their flesh is good, palatable and 
 healthy to the consumer. When it is conceded by good physiolo- 
 gists that a coarse, raw-boned and streaked fleshed, six or seven years 
 old beast of any kind, is equal in tenderness, juiceness, flavor and 
 nutritive quality to a well constituted, small-boned, nicely fattened 
 one of three or four years, and the general sentiment of the beef- 
 consuming population concur in it, the question will be settled in 
 favor of the Texans, and we fancy not until then. The fact of 
 disease existing among the Texans, left out, would do much in their 
 favor. But that fact admitted, sound policy, and a due regard to 
 the sanitary condition of our population, may well interfere with 
 he decision; and the sanitary question is probably the only one 
 with which our State Legislature has a right to interfere. 
 
 KEGULATIONS ATTENDING THE TRANSPORTATION OP CATTLE IN 
 THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 This is a question, out of our own State, either way, with which 
 ■we have nothing to do, and can only allude to it as touching our 
 government in the matter. As a sanitary measure, we take it that 
 the Lesrislature has entire control over it. A statement of the facts 
 regarding the cattle transportation through the State will explain. 
 
 In the first place, the great lines of railway running from the 
 western line of the State to Albany and New Yorh, appear to have 
 done and are doing all in their power to accommodate the cattle traffic, 
 both for the public and the owners of stock to the best advantage. 
 The New York Central railroad, at its cattle station at Suspension 
 Bridge, where it receives stock via the Great Western, through 
 Western Canada, or Ontario, from the Michigan Central road, has 
 capacious and excellent yards, with good supplies of forage and 
 water, where cattle and other stock are yarded, fed, watered, rested 
 and shipped into their own cars for Albany. 
 
 At Buffalo, this road has also extensive yards of the most com- 
 modious character, fenced, paved and sheltered, with abundant pro- 
 visions of forage and water, where the stock is received from the 
 
State Agricultural Society. 955 
 
 Lake Shore and Canadian Grand Trunk roads, and treated as at 
 Suspension Bridge, and again shipped into their own ears for 
 Albany. We hear of no abuses in the cattle transportation on 
 either branch of this road. 
 
 The Erie railway now receives the chief part of its stock for 
 transportation, which comes in over the Lake Shore road, at the 
 yards of the Central road in BuJSalo, although we understand it 
 contemplates erecting commodious yards of its own contiguous to 
 the Central yards, on land which it now owns. It also receives a 
 portion of its stock at Dunkirk, the western terminus of the road, 
 and also at Salmanaca, four hundred and fifteen miles west of New 
 York, from the Atlantic and Great Western road. Here, we under- 
 stand, it takes the stock cars from the latter road, as they arrive, 
 and runs them to Campville, half way the whole distance between 
 Jersey City and Dunkirk, two hundred and thirty miles. At Camp- 
 ville, all their stock are intended to be transhipped, fed and watered 
 for the remainder of the journey, although some of it is hurried 
 through without either. 
 
 The Atlantic and Great Western road enters the State of New 
 York at its western line, about fifty miles west of Salamanca. 
 How far its stock-feeding place is west of here, we are not informed, 
 but at Jamestown, thirty-four miles west of Salamanca, we learn 
 that portions of its stock are put oflf the cars, yarded, fed and watered. 
 They are again taken aboard, and proceed to New York by the 
 Erie road, from Salamanca. 
 
 The Lake Shore road brings the great bulk of the stock from 
 the West, and delivers it to the Erie and Central roads at Dunkirk 
 and Buffalo, as before stated. Thus it will be seen, that when stock 
 arrives from States west of New York, our own roads are prepared 
 to receive and treat it in a proper manner, and were there no further 
 difficulties connected with the traffic, our people, or Legislature, 
 would have little to do in the matter of regulating the transporta- 
 tion. But stock of all kinds intended for slaughter arrive at our 
 Western cattle yards in all possible conditions and circumstances. 
 
 THE DROVERS, CATTLE OWNERS, AND DEALERS. 
 These are a numerous, and in the aggregate, an active, influential 
 class of men, embodying great business experience, frequently of 
 large wealth, making extensive transactions, handling great amounts 
 of money, and usually fair in their dealings. Their homes are on 
 all the lines of railway, and frequently off from them, extending 
 
966 Annual Report of New York 
 
 from Maine, and Boston, and New York city, to Kansas. They are 
 alert in movement, quick in bargains, bold in their operations. 
 Their business is usually profitable, but sometimes the reverse. 
 They consider their word as good as their bond, which it should 
 be, as heavy amounts of property frequently change hands among 
 them, with nothing but a slight written memorandum, or a witness 
 called at the moment to attest their bargains. Detected in an unfair 
 or under-hand transaction, they quickly lose cast, and are ruled out 
 of the circle of fair dealing. Many among them, in the chief 
 Wstern cattle States, are large breeders, graziers and feeders of 
 stock, and they embrace bankers, merchants, lawyers, and men 
 of almost every profession connected with the ownership of laud 
 and capital. Their individual transactions amount, in the aggregate, 
 from a few thousand to more than a million or more of dollars 
 annually. One cattle dealer, Mr. Alexander, alone, for the year 
 ending May 1st, 1868, sent to New York market about 40,000 
 cattle. About 9,000 of them were fatted on his own farms, which 
 consist of some 45,000 acres in one body in the county of Champaign, 
 Illinois, and 31,000 head were purchased of other farmers and 
 dealers. The value of these cattle in New York, including cost at 
 home, and transportation, was about $115 each, making in the 
 aggregate, $4,600,500; and his business for the current year will 
 exceed that of the last about twenty per cent. These cattle all, 
 or nearly all, passed over the Pennsylvania and New Jersey rail- 
 ways to Jersey City. 
 
 Chicago, Toledo, Buffalo and Albany are the chief wmj cattle 
 markets on the great routes to New York and the New England 
 States, where dealers and drovers congregate in large numbers for 
 sale and purchase; so that, in frequent cases, cattle change owners 
 two or three times after their first shipment before reaching their 
 final destination. 
 
 In justice to a great majority of the drovers, we take pleasure 
 in remarking that they are careful of their stock in transportation, 
 liberate them from the cars at proper points, and care, for their 
 health and welfare by food, water and rest, so that they arrive at 
 market in good condition. 
 
 Yet, it must also be remarked, there is another class of drovers 
 and dealers, trading chiefly in the inferior and cheaper classes of 
 cattle, who pay little regard to the impulses of humanity, and rw?* 
 their cattle through to market from their distant Western shipping 
 points on the cars, in the most cruel and merciless way, for three, 
 
State Agricvltural Society. 9ig7 
 
 five, or even more days and nights together, as the case may be, 
 with little, if any, food, water or rest on the route. In such cases 
 the poor suffering animals become jaded with fatigue, almost fam- 
 ished with hunger and thirst, and lose much flesh. In frequent 
 instances they become diseased, or falling down in the cars and 
 tramped on by the others, arrive in a most pitiable condition 
 of bruises, sometimes broken limbs, and utterly disordered con- 
 dition. Cattle apparently well at the time of their shipment, or 
 having incipient ailment only, frequently have disease break out 
 among them which is only discovered at the transhipping or car- 
 changing points, when they are unable to go further. At these 
 points, usually Chicago, Buffalo or Albany, a class of "shyster" 
 butchers congregate on the chief cattle-arriving days, who buy these 
 maimed, bruised and diseased animals, drive them slyly away, 
 slaughter, and cut them up, taking out the bruised or diseased parts, 
 and sell them in the meat markets and stalls to the unwary and 
 unsuspecting, who are ignorant of what they buy, only looking at 
 cheapness in the price. Such meat must be diseased, and unwholesome. 
 
 Nothing short of stringent laws for the inspection and condemna- 
 tion of such cattle will correct this dishonest traffic, and save the" 
 community from the bad effects of consuming such unhealthy food. 
 Sanitary protection of the community in our cities demands it. The: 
 numerous instances of such traffic which have come to the eyes and; 
 ears of the Commissioners, compel them to expose these glaring; 
 impositions, which from small beginnings have now become so fre- 
 quent as to demand the action of the Legislature to enact strong 
 and positive laws for the protection of -the people from further 
 impositions of the kind. 
 
 To follow this chea'p and unwholesome trade, the Texan and the 
 inferior classes of our own native stock offer the greatest induce- 
 ments for unscrupulous men. The poorer classes in our cities 
 clamor for cAeap meats, and as these kinds of stock are offered to 
 them comparatively \oyj in price — but in reality the dearest, when 
 the amount of bone, gristle, and offal is considered, and which they 
 do not consider — the imposition upon them is cruel and inhuman. 
 
 Yet the Texan cattle are not altogether of the classabovenamed. 
 Many of them, when well wintered in the Western States, with 
 good summer pasture, and corn feeding following, produce good 
 and healthy and palatable beef, even with the signs of their native 
 previous disease lying latent within them. But, with the over- 
 driven, jaded and abused ones, the disease is liable at any time to 
 
968 Annual Repobt of New York 
 
 break out, and communicate to other healthy ones with which they 
 come in contact and association; or, they may leave it in the cars 
 in which they are transported, in the streams or pools from which 
 they drink, the pastures on which they graze, or on the roads over 
 •which they are driven. 
 
 SHEEP AND SWINE. 
 
 The abuses which have been recounted in regard to cattle, also 
 appertain to sheep and swine, but not to an equal extent. They 
 equally require inspection, and condemnation if necessary, at the 
 cattle yards and shipping points, as well as rest, food, and water. 
 Large numbers of diseased, maimed and bruised ones are bought, 
 slaughtered and sold in the markets, and consumed by the unsus- 
 ecting buyers of cheap meats, quite as deleterious to their health as 
 the bad beef, and in this disposition, the buyers and consumers 
 require equal protection from their bad effects. 
 
 REGULATION OF STOCK TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 From the attentive observation which the Commissioners have 
 been able to make, and the various information they have obtained, 
 they are satisfied that laws regulating the transportation of live 
 stock to market, should embrace — 
 
 1. A careful and thorough inspection of all stock on their arrival 
 at the transhipping yards in the State. 
 
 2. The selection and condemnation of all diseased, maimed and 
 dangerously bruised animals, which, if unable to be immediately 
 removed into quarantine, or driven into the country, out of the way 
 of healthy animals, should be immediately taken to rendering 
 houses, and their carcases summarily disposed of. 
 
 3. A rest to the stock of full twenty-four hours, in which they 
 have sufficient wholesome food and water. 
 
 4. That they should not remain on the cars a longer time than 
 twenty-eight hours (barring unavoidable delays and accidents to 
 the progress of the cars), and that their passage between Suspen- 
 sion Bridge or Buffalo and Albany, should not exceed that length 
 of time. At the latter place they should be again unloaded for 
 food, and rest twenty-four hours before shipped to New York. 
 
 5. Stock passing by the Erie road, or coming in by the Atlantic 
 and Great Western road, should be unloaded at Campville, and there 
 fed, watered and rested as at Buffalo, before proceeding to Jersey 
 City or New York. And in the latter lalace they should, on their 
 
State Agricultural Society. 959 
 
 arrival at the yards, be fed and watered, unless they proceed imme- 
 diately to the slaughter yards; and also that power be given to the 
 State Commissioners to make any other, or additional regulations, 
 which the necessity of the case may demand. 
 
 OBJECTIONS TO THESE LAWS. 
 
 It may be complained on the part of some of the drovers and 
 dealers that such rules may be too stringent; that it will bear hard 
 on those who have invested heavy sums in the purchase of their 
 stock; that they are unnecessarily kept out of a return of their 
 money; that a rising or a falling market may seriously affect such 
 delay, and prove greatly disadvantageous to their interests. 
 
 In some instances it may be so; but is not the health and welfare 
 of the people who consume their stock to be equally considered ? 
 Animals pushed with such headlong speed through from their first 
 shipment to market, lose much flesh and weight — an average of 
 quite one hundred or more pounds per head — and the tissues of 
 their entire system are turned into a feeble, disordered and feverish 
 condition, to say nothing of such barbarous and inhuman treatment 
 to the poor brutes themselves. And this treatment is oftentimes 
 greatly aggravated by the merciless beating, punching with iron- 
 sharpened goads, and maltreatment they receive in their " hand- 
 ling " by some of the drovers and their attendants. 
 
 Again, there are great numbers of first class cattle, sheep and 
 swine, well fattened, of large size and heavy weights, which must, 
 of necessity, be shipped and transported with care. They are 
 valuable. Their owners know it, and are watchful that they be 
 rested, fed and watered at proper times and places. It is for their 
 interest so to do, that their stock may arrive at market in good 
 condition, and bring good prices. They make no complaint of 
 delay, or of losing time and capital in their transportation. "A 
 merciful man is merciful to his beast," and if the owners of inferior 
 stock show less regard to their meaner or cheaper things, they 
 should be compelled, by all considerations of humanity, as well as 
 sanitary law, to comply with like conditions which the owners of 
 better cattle impose upon themselves. 
 
 REGULATIONS OF OTHER STATES. 
 
 Although it is to be hoped that the several States west and south 
 of us will do their whole duty in this matter, by enacting such laws 
 regulating the stock trade and transportation, as may be needful 
 
 \ 
 
970 Annual Report of New Yore! 
 
 within their own boundaries, the State of New York should, irres- 
 pective of their action, do its whole duty to itself and its people. 
 Our population is rapidly increasing. We must receive the bulk of 
 our meats from the West. It is indispensable to the health of that 
 population that these meats should be wholesome and of good 
 quality. It is an imperative duty, so far as the law-making power 
 is concerned, to render them as much so as possible, and the Com- 
 missioners would fail in a grave and solemn duty did they not 
 present all the facts and considerations within their power to the 
 consideration of the Legislature. 
 
 OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF INVESTIGATING THE NATURE 
 OF THE DISEASE. 
 
 As this peculiar disease had never been known in the Eastern 
 States, and had nowhere been investigated, the Commissioners were 
 greatly embarrassed when its appearance in New York created so 
 much alarm in the month of August last. They were in no con- 
 dition to institute a series of investigations under their own direc- 
 tion, for their duties called them into every part of the State, and 
 required them to be on the move a large portion of their time. 
 
 The small appropriation made for the use of the Commission, 
 under the act of 20th April, 1866, having lapsed (under the two 
 years Constitutional provision), the Commissioners were without 
 funds to pay their personal expenses, much less to call into service 
 such professional gentlemen as were competent to carry forward 
 the work of investigating the disease. 
 
 TAKEN UP BY THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF HEALTH. 
 
 By an unlooked for and most fortunate concurrence of circum- 
 stances, the Commissioners were relieved from their embarrassment 
 by the action of the Metropolitan Board of Health, which had, at the 
 first outbreak of the disease at Communipaw on the 8th of August, 
 organized a special committee of its medical officers to investigate 
 the nature of this fearful malady. 
 
 It will be recollected that at the first meeting of the Commis- 
 sioners in Albany, on the 18th of August, Dr. Moreau Morris, Sanitary 
 Inspector of the Metropolitan Board of Health (who had been- 
 specially charged by that body with the inspection of all cattle 
 arriving in the Metropolitan district), was appointed Assistant Com- 
 missioner and clothed with State authority to act along the lines 
 of approach to the city, while the Commissioners themselves were 
 engaged in the other parts of the State. 
 
Statu Agricultubal Society. g^j 
 
 LETTER OF DR. HARRIS, REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS. 
 Before the Commissioners had left Albany, on the 19th of August, 
 Dr. Harris, Eegistrar of Vital Statistics, under whose direction the 
 investigations of the Metropolitan Board were being conducted, 
 communicated to the Commissioners the desire of the Metropolitan 
 Board of Health, that the State Commission should assume the 
 conduct of these investigations; but no action could be taken in 
 regard to such proposition, until the Commissioners could be spared 
 from the duties then pressing upon them in the Western parts of 
 the State. 
 
 OPERATIONS OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE METROPO- 
 LITAN BOARD OF HEALTH. 
 
 When the Commissioners finally reached the city of New York 
 on the 2d of September, they found the measures that had been 
 adopted by Dr. Morris under the double authority of the city and 
 State, were so very judicious and salutary in all their results as not 
 only to give entire satisfaction to all concerned, but to render it 
 obvious that this cooperation of the Board of Health and the Com- 
 mission must continue as begun, and that there must be an entire 
 unity of plans and purposes. 
 
 Already the unwearied labors of those gentlemen connected 
 with the Board who were studying the disease, had been crowned 
 with discoveries of an extraordinary character and the acquisition 
 of a large amount of valuable information, not only in relation to 
 the Texas disease, but to Pleuro-pneumonia, also. 
 
 PROPOSITION TO TURN OVER THE INVESTIGATIONS TO THE 
 STATE DECLINED. 
 
 It was at this time that the medical officers of the Board of 
 Health who were engaged in these investigations, again, and more 
 formally, expressed their wish to wholly relinquish their scientific 
 investigations, and transfer whatever facilities they possessed for 
 carrying them on, to the State officers acting under the special law 
 for preventing the spread of infectious diseases among cattle. 
 
 But this proposition the State Commissioners unhesitatingly 
 declined, and earnestly requested that the gentlemen who had com- 
 menced these labors in the Metropolitan district, should continue 
 them. It was eminently proper that the thoroughly scientific and 
 devoted medical officers, whose comprehensive and exact researches 
 into the causation and prevention of pestilential and infectious dis- 
 eases had already commanded the respect of the medical profession, 
 
972 Annual Report of New York 
 
 and had shown how to apply such knowledge in disarming the 
 most threatening of human pestilences in former years, should con- 
 duct and complete, in their own way, their inquiries concerning this 
 
 cattle disease. 
 
 SPECIAL REPORT. 
 
 Yielding to the request of this Commission, the investigations of 
 these medical officers of the Board of Health were continued during 
 the remainder of the season, and this Commission herewith submits 
 a body of evidence which the Metropolitan Board of Health has 
 caused to be prepared in the interests of the public health and 
 sanitary knowledge. 
 
 Although this evidence constitutes a portion of the report of the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health to the Legislature upon the public 
 health of the Metropolitan district, yet, inasmuch as it also consti- 
 tutes the most important part of the record concerning the Texas cattle 
 disease as it was developed in the State of New York, this Commis- 
 sion, with the full approval of all concerned, has obtained the use 
 of that " Special Eeport" to be presented in connection with its own. 
 
 It is not necessary for this Commission to add a single word of 
 praise in regard to this " Special Report," as it cannot fail to be 
 appreciated by the State, and by all persons interested in the appli- 
 cations of scientific and sanitary knowledge. 
 
 INSUFFICIENCY OF THE ACT OF TWENTIETH APRIL, 1866 
 As the act of April, 20, 1866, under which the Commission has 
 acted, was framed to meet a foreign enemy and prevent it from 
 getting a foothold in this State, the Commissioners have found it 
 very difficult to perform the duties demanded of them, in protecting 
 the State from an infectious disease prevailing in the neighboring 
 States from which we are receiving daily supplies of meat for our 
 markets. 
 
 To meet such a condition of affairs as has existed in the cattle 
 trade during the last half of the year 1868, and in accordance with 
 the resolutions adopted by the Springfield Convention of Cattle 
 Commissioners, the draft of a law, regulating the trade, transporta- 
 tion and handling of cattle in this State will be submitted to the 
 Legislature for its consideration. 
 
 NO FUNDS TO MEET EXPENSES. 
 The appropriation of April 20, 1866, having lapsed, as before 
 stated, the Commission was much impeded in its work, just at the 
 time when funds were most needed and the most vigorous mea- 
 
State Agricultural Societt. 973 
 
 sures must instantly be taken to check the progress of the disease. 
 
 After a few weeks, however, an arrangement was efiected with the 
 
 Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany, under the advice and 
 
 with the concurrence of His Excellency Governor Fenton and the 
 
 Comptroller, by which some of the most pressing demands were 
 
 met. 
 
 CHANGES IN THE LAWS ARE SUGGESTED. 
 
 By the eleventh section of the act, which now governs the Com- 
 mission, the expenses of the Assistant Commissioners at the various 
 cattle yards and stock depots throughout the State along the routes 
 of cattle transportation, are to be paid by the counties in which 
 these yards and depots are located, respectively. 
 
 To throw such burdens upon the citizens of such counties is 
 manifestly unjust, as they are in no sense responsible for the evils 
 that are introduced by stock en route through the State for an 
 Eastern market; nor are the county boards of supervisors proper 
 judges of expenditures ordered by State Commissioners in such an 
 emergency as occurred in August last. 
 
 It is earnestly recommended by your Commissioners, that all 
 expenses incurred under the act of April 20, 1866, not already met 
 by the railroad companies and owners of live stock, be assumed by 
 the State, and that the counties of Erie, Chautauqua, Tioga, Albany, 
 Dutchess, Columbia, Orange and New York, be reimbursed for 
 money already paid out, if any, on such account. 
 
 ESTIMATED EXPENSE TO THE STATE OF THE TEXAS CATTLE DIS- 
 EASE IN 1868. 
 
 The expenses incurred under the orders of the Commission 
 
 cannot, at this moment, be stated with certainty, as the accounts 
 
 have not all been presented, but will not materially vary from the 
 
 following 
 
 Statement. 
 Expenses in the Albany district, including Rensselaer. . . $4,098 42 
 
 do Tioga do 162 99 
 
 do Erie do 930 00 
 
 do Chautauqua do 276 00 
 
 do Orange do 194 83 
 
 do Columbia do ^ 
 
 do Dutchess do >- 3,900 00 
 
 do New York do ) 
 
 Total *P,562 24 
 
 • Of this sum there has been paid by the county of Erie already, $345.98; Chautauq[ua, 
 $150 ; Orange, $150. 
 
974 Annual Report of New York 
 
 The Commissioners have drawn from the Mechanics' and Farnl- 
 ers' Bank of Albany, and paid out, for all purposes ($2,230) two 
 thousand two hundred and thirty dollars, of Avhich sum ($400) four 
 hundred dollars was used to defray expenses in the Metropolitan 
 district; mailing a total cost to the State, when all known demands 
 are paid, of about $11,792.24, for which an appropriation is asked. 
 
 Although it is to be hoped that no considerable expenditure will 
 be necessary during the year upon which we have entered, prudence 
 requires that a sufficient fund to meet emergencies be placed at the 
 disposal of the Commission. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In conclusion, the Commission cannot but feel, that though the 
 State has barely escaped a great calamity, the visitation of the Texas 
 cattle disease has not been an unmixed evil. 
 
 As direct resultants of investigations connected with this cattle 
 disease, some of the most brilliant and useful discoveries in sani- 
 tary science have been achieved. Pleuro-pneumonia has been 
 successfully treated, and a remedial agent of incalculable value 
 has been brought into common use among the herds and flocks of 
 the State. 
 
 With reasonable care on the part of stock o\NTiers in keeping 
 themselves supplied with carbolic acid in some one or more of its 
 forms and using it freely on their premises, there appears to be 
 a perfect immunity from diseases that have, hitherto, carried inevi- 
 table destruction wherever they appeared. 
 
 Further than this, the observations of the Commission warrant 
 the belief that this same agent possesses curative properties of the 
 greatest value when applied to "foot rot" in sheep. 
 
 From the fact that carbolic acid acts specifically upon all germs, 
 or seeds of disease that are propagated in a manner similar to the 
 spores, or fungus parasites of the Texas disease, it is not too much 
 to hope that it may be used successfully in the treatment of many 
 diseases in animals heretofore regarded as incurable, especially the 
 Glanders in horses; inasmuch as the recent researches of the world- 
 renowned Hallier, of Jena, have brought to light in the nasal 
 discharges and circulating blood of glandered horses, the conio- 
 theciwn equinum* a microscopic parasite of the same genus as 
 the coniothecium stilesianum, which is the active agent in the Texas 
 
 • See last plate of illustrations in the special report of the Board of Health. 
 
State Agricultubal Society. 975 
 
 cattle disease, and is effectually destroyed by verv weak solutions 
 of carbolic acid. 
 
 Indeed, in many aspects of the case, the experience of the past 
 year in connection with the Texas cattle disease, has been full of 
 interest to the citizens of this State, whether engaged in the handling 
 of live stock, or deriving their supplies of meat from the public 
 markets of the large cities. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 M. R. PATRICK, 
 LEWIS F. ALLEN, 
 JNO. STANTON GOULD, 
 Albany, January, 1869. Commissioners. 
 
976 Annual Report of New Yobk 
 
 DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN REPORT OF 
 COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 (A.) 
 THE CATTLE DISEASE 
 
 IMPORTANT PAPER FROM THE COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 Upon the request of the Governor, the undersigned Commissioners convened at 
 Albany on the 17th instant, and after careful deliberation, make the following 
 announcement to the public : 
 
 In view of the fact that the Commissioners appointed in pursuance of chapter 
 740 of the Laws of 1866, have power and are directed to establish all such quar- 
 antine or other regulations as they may deem necessary to prevent the spread of 
 the disease (rinderpest or other contagious disease) in its transit in railroad cars, 
 by vessels, or by driving along the public highways ; and also to appoint Assistant 
 Commissioners, whose duty it shall be to carry out " such quarantine and other 
 regulations ;" and who, in order to eflfect this, are clothed with all the power con- 
 ferred by this act on the said Commissioners, or their agents or appointees, in 
 order to obtain a perfect history of this disease for future use ; and also to subserve 
 most fully the purpose of this Commission, they have deemed it advisable to select 
 the most practically scientific men in the State to act as such local Assistant Com- 
 missioners, or health officers, to carry out the intentions of the law and to preserve 
 proper medical records. 
 
 They have also appointed Assistant Commissioners for the various localities 
 infected or suspected of having been infected or exposed to the infection known as 
 cattle disease, to the end that all persons dealing or having an interest in 
 cattle in the various States, shall be made acquainted with the measures which 
 this Board has deemed prudent to adopt, and in order that as little delay may be 
 caused in the movement of such cattle, or loss to the owners thereof, as is consis- 
 tent in the present emergency. It is believed that the sanitary and other author- 
 ities of adjoining States, will act in harmony with this Commission in promptly 
 carrying out measures which it is hoped will speedily arrest the disease. 
 
 General instructions will be given to all such Assistant Commissioners, varying, 
 perhaps slightly, depending upon the circumstances which may surround each 
 locality, from time to time changing such regulations as they may deem necessary 
 to prevent the spread of disease on its transit on railroad cars or by driving along 
 the public highways : 
 
 Firstly. All cars containing cattle will be stopped at the most convenient point 
 on or after entering the State, and if such cars are not in a proper sanitary con- 
 dition, the cattle, even though healthy, are to be disembarked and the cars 
 thoroughly cleansed and disinfected. After the completion of this process, if the 
 cattle continue healthy, they can be reshipped ; such cars upon reaching such 
 further point or points of inspection as may be designated by this Board, will 
 
State Agricultural Society. 977 
 
 again be inspected, and if found unclean, will be subject to such other stoppage, 
 examination, cleansing and disinfection as may be necessary. 
 
 Secondly. If at any point on the line of said railroad or railroads, the said 
 Assistant Commissioners shall learn hj inspection or information of the existence 
 of disease in cars, they shall be stopped at some convenient point on the road, 
 where they have reason to believe that no infection exists, such cars thoroughly 
 cleansed and disinfected, the sick taken from the well, and properly isolated and 
 kept under proper sanitary restrictions and medical treatment. If any such cattle 
 are slaughtered, the skins must be thoroughly disinfected, properly preserved and 
 kept on the premises, or deeply buried. The carcass of the animal itself should 
 be either tried into tallow in the most approved manner, or else, with the offal, 
 etc., should be deeply buried. Cattle sick with this disease should not be slaugh- 
 tered until in the judgment of the Commissioner, or his Assistant on the spot, they 
 are past recovery. 
 
 The well cattle exposed to this disease should be removed from the cars to some 
 distance, and furnished, as above directed, with a sufficiency of water and food, 
 with salt at will, and kept under proper surveillance for such period as may be 
 directed from time to time. All places or yards, or fields in which cattle are sick, 
 or in which cattle have been exposed to disease, are to be kept disinfected. The 
 sick cattle, and all such as have been exposed to disease, and in which the disease 
 may be incubating, should be kept in an enclosure separated from all well cattle 
 by a neutral ground of at least one thousand feet. 
 
 All cattle yards or places in which diseased cattle, or cattle exposed to disease, 
 may have been, must be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected before being agaia 
 used for the herding of other cattle. If in the judgment of the Commissioners or 
 their Assistants, such yards or reception places for cattle are not susceptible of 
 being cleansed and disinfected, they will be cleansed, &c., as well as may be, closed, 
 and other cleaner places being substituted therefor. 
 
 Thirdly. All cattle being sent to market, on entering the State, or being car- 
 ried on vessels in the State, or by driving on the public highways, will be sub- 
 jected to the same careful inspection and sanitary restrictions as above directed 
 fcr those carried in the cars. ^ 
 
 The clothing of persons engaged in the care of diseased cattle, or in the slaugh- 
 tering or rendering of the same, or in any employment bringing them in contact 
 with them, or of those employed in the care of suspected cattle, should be cleansed 
 and disinfected before leaving the premises. The Commissioners will prohibit the 
 slaughtering of animals for beef after they have been exposed to the contagion, 
 until all sanitary restriction is withdrawn therefrom. 
 
 DISINFECTION-. 
 
 For disinfection of the cars, yards and other places, the Assistant Commissioners 
 will be instructed to depend mainly upon the use of carbolic acid, the various pre- 
 parations of chlorine, quicklime and the different sulphates. Attention is also 
 called to the directions for disinfection given by the Board of Health, New York, 
 and published on Saturday, the 15th instant, in most of the papers throughout 
 the country. The aforesaid Assistant Commissioners will be directed to cominu- 
 nicate daily with the Governor, each of the Commissioners, and President of the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health, giving information and receiving additional instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 As the carrying out of these regulations involves a knowledge of the principles 
 of Quarantine, Dr. John Swinburne, Health Officer of the Port of New York, has 
 [Ag.I 62 
 
978 Annual Report of New York 
 
 been entrusted with the general sanitary supervision, and will at once make a tour 
 of the State to superintend the carrying out of the above regulations. Dr. Jacob 
 S. Mosher and John Phillips, of Albany, and Dr. William Manlius Smith, of 
 Manlius, have been appointed assistant Commissioners. Others will be appointed 
 
 soon. 
 
 M. R. PATRICK, Chairman. 
 
 JOHN STANTON GOULD, > Commissioners 
 LEWIS F. ALLEN, 5 ^«'"™^««*«"«'^«- 
 
 Albany, August 18, 1868. 
 
 (B.) 
 THE CATTLE DISEASE. 
 
 OFFICIAL EEPOET OP THK CATTLE DISEASE BY THE COMMISSION OF THE STATB 
 TO INQUIRE INTO ITS ORIGIN AND CHARACTER. 
 
 The undersigned. Commissioners appointed under the act of the Legislature of 
 the State of New York, passed April 20, 1866, for the prevention of the spread 
 of the Rinderpest, and other infectious diseases, having, since the publicntion of 
 their regulations on the 18th August, had an opportunity of seeing many cattle 
 sick of the Texas cattle plague, and of learning much respecting its history and 
 the circumstances attending its manifestations, and knowing the anxiety of farmers 
 in various parts of the State to obtain information respecting it, have deemed it 
 proper to communicate the following facts for the information of such as are 
 interested in cattle and beef: 
 
 1. Hoio the Disease is Communicated. — We have not heard of a single case of 
 the disease having been taken by any animal that has not been in contact with 
 Texas cattle, or with their excretions. We have had authentic evidence that Texas 
 cattle that have passed over a road, dropping their excrement thereon, have coirf- 
 municated the disease to native cattle +,hat passed over the same road forty-eight 
 hours afterward. We have no evidence whatever that native cattle afflicted with 
 the disease have in any case communicated it to other native cattle ; at the same 
 time we have not felt at liberty to act upon the negative testimony, but in our 
 quarantine regulations we have acted as if the disease could be thus communicated. 
 Sick and healthy animals have been mingled together at several of our quarantine 
 yards, and in no case have the healthy animals yet developed the disease. 
 
 2. The Disease is Aggravated by Motion, and Ameliorated by Fresh Air and 
 Repose. — We have abundant evidence upon this point, which is entirely satisfactory 
 to us. Wherever cattle have exhibited the earliest symptoms of the disease, and 
 have been taken from the cars and allowed suitable food and drink, with rest and 
 fresh air, they have invariably recovered speedily ; while those which have exhibited 
 the same symptoms, and have gone forward in the cars from sixty to one hundred 
 miles further, have rapidly developed the disease in its most malignant form, and 
 it has been necessary to send them to the bone-boiling establishments. It is, 
 therefore, decidedly for the interest of the drover to withdraw the cattle from the 
 cars at the appearance of the earliest symptoms, and subject them to the hygienic 
 measures above spoken of. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 979 
 
 3. The Earliest Symptoms of the Disease. — The first symptom of the disease in 
 all the cases observed by us and by our Assistant Commissioners, is an appearance 
 of languor and weariness, which is unmistakable; the head droops, the ears hang 
 down, the eyes are staring. This sometimes occurs when cattle are terrified, but 
 the stupid stare of the cattle affected by the disease is very different from the 
 furious stare produced by terror. The back is arched, strong efforts are made to 
 dung, which are often ineffectual, the droppings being unusually dry, scanty, and 
 stained with blood. These symjJtoms are invariable. The m-ine is generally 
 dark brown in color, and commonly called "black water." This symptom is not, 
 however, always present in the earlier stages of the disease. The coat is generally 
 rough, the hairs standing almost erect. The horns are hot, the nose dry, and a 
 frothy drool from the mouth ; flies settle in great numbers upon them, and the 
 animal rarely makes an effort to brush them off. These latter sj^mptoms are not 
 invariable, especially the roughness of the coat. In cases of doubt, the most 
 reliable distinguishing mark is undoubtedly afforded by the thermometer. If, in 
 connection with the before named symptoms, the thermometer, iiitroduced into 
 the rectum for two or three minutes, shows a temperature much higher than one 
 hundred degrees Fahrenheit, the animal may be safely pronounced to be suffering 
 under the disease. In some cases it has come up to one hundred and nine degrees 
 Fahrenheit. 
 
 4. How the Meat of Diseased Jliiimals may he Distinguished. — The fat has a 
 deep or high colored greenish yellow appearance, and has not the firm resistance of 
 health. The lean meat is of a brownish mahogany color, and on being cut into 
 has a peculiar sickening odor. Sometimes the superficial muscles have the natural 
 pink red tint, but the deep seated muscles, and especially the intercostal muscles 
 (those between the ribs), have the dark brown color and nauseous smell. 
 
 5. Disinfection and Disinfectants. — Carbolic acid is an absolute and perfect 
 disinfectant. It not only destroys the odor but kills the virus of the disease. 
 We advise all farmers and drovers who have reason to suspect that their cattle 
 have been exposed to the infection, to sprinkle the substance known as " heavy 
 oil," which contains about ten per cent of carbolic acid, abundantly about the 
 yards where they are confined, and to put some carbolic acid into the water they 
 drink, in the proportion of one part of pure acid, with thrice its own weight of 
 sal soda, to one thousand parts of water. 
 
 6. The Disease is not Necessarily Fatal. — Several cases have recovered under 
 our immediate observation, that have exhibited unequivocal indications of severe 
 disease, at Providence, Communipaw and the National drove yards. In some 
 instances the diseased cattle have been pastured where they have had access to 
 salt marsh grass, for which they have exhibited a decided fondness, abandoning 
 the upland pastures and confining themselves to the salt marshes, and it appeared 
 to accelerate their recovery. In other instances, where such facilities could not 
 conveniently be had, salt was liberally supplied and a recovery was manifest. 
 Diluted carbolic acid used as a drink has appeared to act beneficially ; but we do 
 not wish to speak positively with respect to these apparent remedies. One of the 
 cattle which had been seriously diseased, but was convalescent, was slaughtered 
 in our presence. The fat had nearly recovered the normal color ; the lean meat 
 still retained much of the characteristic brown color of the disease. The viscera 
 showed unmistakable marks of recent disease, but were rapidly healing. We 
 barely allude to this most interesting disease in this place, leaving full details for 
 description by our scientific associates. 
 
980 Annual Report of New York 
 
 7. We have reason to believe that our Assistant Commissioners have been very 
 faithful in executing our instructions. We hear from every point, that the move- 
 ment and marketing of infected cattle is efl'ectually stopped. Our Assistant 
 Commissioner, Dr. M. Mon-is, acting in conjunction with the Board of Health for 
 the Metropolitan district^ has been indefatigable in devising and executing a series 
 of measures which, it is believed, will eifectually protect the citizens of the Metro- 
 politan district from the dangers of diseased meat. In fact, we have no doubt 
 that the meat now sold in the markets of that district is far more sound and healthy 
 than it was even before the outbreak of this disease. 
 
 8. The committee for scientific investigation under the Metropolitan Board of 
 Health have caused an extensive series of researches, under the supervision of Dr. 
 E. Harris of that Board, in regard to the chemical, microscopic and chief patho- 
 logical characteristics of this disease, and also caused most accurate drawings to 
 be sketched to illustrate the pathological changes in the several organs and tissues 
 that are chiefly affected. These, when published, will present an exhaustive expo- 
 sition of all phases of the disease, and give peculiar satisfaction to the public 
 generally as well as to scientific men. 
 
 M. K. PATRICK, 
 LEWIS F. ALLEN, 
 J. STANTON GOULD, 
 New YoeEj September 5, 1868. State Commissioners. 
 
 (C.) 
 
 THE CATTLE DISEASE. 
 
 ILLINOIS COMPLAINS OF THE ACTION OF THE NEW TORE AUTHORITIES — COMMIS- 
 SION APPOINTED TO VISIT THIS STATE. 
 
 On Monday last, says the Springfield (^III.^ Journal of September 2d, an infor- 
 mal meeting of several of the citizens of this section interested in cattle and 
 the cattle trade, was held at the ofiice of Colonel John Williams, in this 
 city, for the purpose of devising some means for the protection of the shippers 
 of stock to Buffalo, New York, and other points,. The committee addressed a 
 letter to Governor Oglesby, and in accordance with the wishes of the committee, 
 he appointed Messrs. Harvey N. Edwards and Edmund H. Piper as Special Com- 
 missioners to proceed to New York to look after the interests of Western shippers 
 of cattle. He also addressed a letter to Governor Fenton, of New York, in rela- 
 tion to the matter. 
 
 Below we publish the letter of the committee addressed to Gov. Oglesby, and 
 other documents relating to the matter. 
 
 The following is the letter to the Governor : 
 
 Springfield, III., Monday, August 31. 
 His Excellency Richard J. Oglesby : 
 
 The undersigned having been appointed a committee, by a public meeting of 
 some of the citizens of Sangamon county interested in the cattle business, to wait 
 on your excellency as Governor of Illinois, and request of your excellency a semi- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 981 
 
 oflBcial power or authentic letter authorizing and empowering Harvey N. Edwards 
 of Sangamon, and Edward H. Piper of Macon county, to proceed to Albany and 
 Buffalo, in the State of New York, and there take into consideration, among the 
 conflicting and clashing interests of the harsh speculators, the best cattle interest 
 of the State of Illinois. There is reason to fear that the interest of Illinois will 
 be sacrificed unless this matter is promptly attended to. 
 
 Hoping you may give as strong a power as you have authority to do, we sub- 
 scribe ourselves, most respectfully, 
 
 S. H. JONES, 
 JOHN WILLIAMS, 
 W. H. HERNDON, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Appointment of Special Commissioners. 
 
 State of Illinois, Executive Office, P 
 Springfield, Sept. 1, 1868. 5 
 7b all whom these presents shall come, greeting : 
 
 Responding to the wishes of our citizens especially interested in preventing dis- 
 ease among cattle, and in protecting the trade in and shipment of live stock from 
 the State of Illinois to Eastern markets, as formally expressed in a resolution passed 
 at a meeting of citizens interested in stock raising and shipment of cattle, held in 
 Sangamon county, August 31, 1868, I do hereby appoint and commission Harvey 
 N. Edwards, of Sangamon county, and Edmund H. Piper, of Macon county, as 
 Special Commissioners, to proceed to the State of New York, with full power to 
 inquire into and cooperate with the efforts made by the authorities of the State of 
 New York, referring to and bearing upon the shipment of cattle from this State to 
 the Eastern markets, and especially to petition the Executive authority of that 
 State and the Special Commissioners or Inspectors to whom has been intrusted, 
 under the laws of said State, the power to impose restrictions and limitations upon 
 the trade in and shipment of cattle to Eastern markets, to so regulate and alter 
 the same as not to hinder or embarrass oppressively the shipment of and trade in 
 stock from the State of Illinois. In this respect due consideration will be given 
 to prevent and suppress the disease or threatened epidemic among cattle. 
 
 The Commissioners appointed by this authority have full power to enter into 
 any arrangements necessary to a satisfactory settlement of all questions arising 
 upon the subject of their appointment. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal 
 of the Sate to be hereunto affixed. Done at the city of Springfield, this first day 
 of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. 
 
 RICHARD J OGLESBY. 
 By the Governor : 
 
 Sharon Ttndale, Secretary of State. 
 
 Letter oj Gov. Oglesby to Gov. Fenton. 
 
 State of Illinois, Executive Office, 
 
 Springfield, Sept. 1, 1868. 
 His Excellency Reuben E. Fenton, Governor 
 
 of the State of New York, Albany : 
 Dear Sir — I take pleasure in introducing to you, and recommending to your 
 favorable attention, Messrs. Harvey N. Edwards and Edmund H. Piper, of this 
 State, whom I have this day taken the liberty to appoint as Special Commission- 
 
982 Annual Report of New York 
 
 ers to visit your State for the purpose of making inquiry into the restrictions yonr 
 authorities have deemed important and necessary to impose upon the trade in and 
 shipment of cattle from this State to the Eastern markets, in consequence of an 
 apprehended epidemic among cattle, commonly known as the Spanish or Texas 
 fever. I will thank you, in behalf of the people of this State, for any assistance 
 or suggestions you may be able to give these gentlemen, to aid them in securing 
 the objects of their appointment . 
 
 They have been instructed to present to you their authority, and to confer with 
 you freely on the subject, in a spirit of entire good will, to the end that trade may 
 not be unnecessarily restricted, and that both the consumer and shipper may 
 enjoy the full benefit of as free trade as is possible under the circumstances. 
 
 With high regards, I am. Governor, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 
 
 E. J. OGLESBY, Governor of Illinois. 
 
 (D.) 
 
 Albany, Odoher 13, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir — In view of the ravages of the disease known as the Texas fever 
 among cattle, and the inadequacy of the lavrs enacted by the several States for the 
 repression of this and other kindred diseases, and the conflicting provisions of 
 these laws, which have been disclosed since this disease has been prevalent, a 
 general desire has been felt and expressed by farmers, drovers and the consumers 
 of meat in several States, that a wise and efficient system of legislation should be 
 adopted for the repression and prevention of this and other similar diseases in the 
 several States, so that the laws should be harmonious, and adapted to mutual pro- 
 tection. And it has been believed by nearly every one that has expressed an 
 opinion upon the subject, that the best mode of effecting this object is by the 
 assembling of a Convention of the Cattle Commissioners of the several States 
 interested in the subject, who would represent all the varied interests of the pro- 
 ducing and consuming States, and supply all the mformation necessary for the full 
 elucidation of the subject, and whose duty it should be to prepare a draft of a law 
 which should ensure the most perfect protection to all parties, to be recommended 
 to the several Legislatures for adoption. And the Commissioners of the State of 
 New York having been requested by the Commissioners of several of the States, and 
 of the Dominion of Canada, to take the initiative in calling such Convention, 
 
 We do, therefore, recommend that a Convention be held in the city of Spring- 
 field, in the State of Illinois, on Tuesday, the first day of December, 1868, at 
 twelve o'clock at noon of said day. 
 
 The object of such Convention is to consider ,the pathology, symptomatology and 
 history of the Texas cattle fever, and other infectious and contagious diseases to 
 which cattle and other stock are subject, and the best methods of preventing the 
 . spread of such diseases with reference to the interests of the producer and con- 
 sumer, and also to consider the sanitary requirements of the community with 
 reference to the feeding and rest of the animals in transitu^, and to the best methods 
 of slaughtering and preparing them for market. The Convention will also prepare 
 a draft of a law which shall provide for the accomplishment of these objects, to be 
 submitted to the Legislatures of the States represented therein for adoption. Each 
 State and Province to be represented by three (3) Comnussioners. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 933 
 
 The Cattle Commissioners of the State of Illinois are requested to secure a 
 suitable place of meeting for the Convention. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor is hereby respectfully requested to transmit copies 
 of tiiis call to the Governors of the several States, where such Commissioners are 
 not already appointed, with a request that they would appoint such Commissioners 
 to represent their States in such Convention. 
 
 M. R. PATRICK, 
 
 L. F. ALLEN, 
 
 JOHN STANTON GOULD. 
 
 (E.) 
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO FARMERS. 
 
 1st. When the disease makes its appearance in any neighborhood all the owners 
 of neat cattle should make a point of examining each animal every morning. 
 The chief points to which their attention should be directed, are the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 (a.) The head. Whether it hangs down ; whether the eyes are dull and staring j 
 whether the horns are hal or cold 
 
 (6.) The coat. Whether it is rough or smooth. 
 
 (c.) The urine. Whether it is a dark red or black. 
 
 (d.) The hind legs. Whether the gait is staggering, and whether the knees 
 seem weak. 
 
 (e.) The dung. Whether it is natural or otherwise, and especially whether the 
 animal arches its back and makes ineffectual efforts to dung. 
 
 (y.) See if there is any drooling of frothy matter from the lips. 
 
 (g'.) If you have a fever thermometer, insert it into the rectum (bung), let it 
 remain until the mercury ceases to rise, then note the temperature. If it is 102*-* 
 Fahrenheit, and any of the above mentioned symptoms are present, you have good 
 reason to suspect the presence of the Texan cattle fever, and the probability is 
 increased by every additional degree of temperature. 
 
 (A.) It is very important that the dates be carefully observed of all the symp- 
 toms connected with the disease, and experience has shown that memory is very 
 untrustworthy; by all means, therefore, let the above facts be clearly written down 
 as soon as possible after the observation is made. 
 
 (i.) Shut up all suspected cattle in a lot or building by themselves, so that no 
 other cattle can have access to them or their droppings. 
 
 (j.) Send word as soon as possible to the nearest Assistant Commissioners, of 
 the suspected cattye, by telegraph, if one is accessible. 
 
 2d. Means of prevention. 
 
 (a.) When the disease is present in any neighborhood, every owner of cattle 
 should be provided with a barrel of heavy coal oil, which contains from eight to 
 twelve per cent of carbolic acid, and a quart of liquid carbolic acid containing 
 ninety per cent of the acid. The latter is miscible with water; the former is not. 
 
 (6.) If the suspected cattle are kept in a building, let the floors be sprinkled 
 with heavy oil, and especially let it be sprinkled on the droppings as fast as they 
 
934 Annual Report of New York 
 
 are made. The woodwork of their stalls, and behind their stalls, should be 
 covered with this substance, spread on by a common whitewash brush. The 
 heavy oil may be sprinkled on the floor with a common watering pot. 
 
 (N. B. — These articles are furnished by the Warren Chemical Manufacturing 
 Company, No. 4 Cedar street. New York.) 
 
 (c.) If the suspected cattle be herded in a yard or small pasture, let the drop- 
 pings be sprinkled daily with heavy coal oil. 
 
 (rf.) Remember that strict isolation is the chief means of safety. Let no strange 
 animal come upon the place. Let no suspected animal go upon the public road, or 
 have access to running water to which other animals go. The dung and urine of 
 diseased animals are the chief means of propagating the contagion, and it is known 
 that it is often diffused by the dung which adheres to the shoes of attendants. A 
 box containing slacked lime or ground plaster, well saturated with the heavy oil, 
 should be kept near the diseased animals, and all persons when leaving the vicinity 
 of such animals, should carefully rub their shoes in the powder in the box. 
 
 , 3d. Curative means. There is no certain cure for the disease. Some animals 
 get well without any medicine, others seem to have been benefited by feed- 
 ing in a salt marsh and on green corn. 
 
 (a.) In case you have the liquid carbolic acid of ninety-five per cent which will 
 mix with water, drop enough of it into a part of water to give a slight taste to the 
 water, and let the diseased cattle drink of it twice a day. 
 
 (6.) If you have nothing but the heavy oil, mix three ounces of soda with it, 
 which will render it miscible with water, and put the mixture into a quart of 
 water ; pour enough of the mixture into a pail of water, and let them have two 
 pailsfull a day. 
 
 (c.) Let the sick animals drink freely of water, as they are generally thirsty, 
 and place salt where they can lick it whenever they are disposed to do so. 
 
 (d.) With regard to food, follow the advice of the medical practitioner. 
 
 (N. B. — If carbolic acid cannot be obtained, dissolve two pounds of sulphate of 
 iron — green copperas — in a gallon of water, and use the solution as directed for 
 the heavy oil.) 
 
 Let aU animals that have died of the disease, be buried at least seven feet deep. 
 Cover them with a barrel of lime, then replace the earth. 
 
EEPORT UPO^ INVESTIGATIONS 
 
 CONCBBNING THE 
 
 TEXAS CATTLE DISEASE, 
 
 To the Sanitary Committee of the Metropolitan Board of Health: 
 
 The investigations that were committed to your direction in 
 regard to the infections disease in beef cattle, by the Metropolitan 
 Board of Health, are now so nearly terminated that it becomes a 
 duty to report to you the results which have been reached in the 
 inquiries that you placed under the writer's supervision. 
 
 In presenting this report, the superintendent of the work feels 
 that it is due to 3'our committee, and especially to the medical 
 officers who have been engaged in these researches, to state that 
 this duty was undertaken at a period when each of us was burdened 
 with an unusual amount of work, and that whatever may appear in 
 the report to be incomplete and too meagre in the record of details 
 or circumstances concerning these labors, might justly be charged 
 to the excessive demands that were made upon our time, as well 
 as to the new and difficult nature of the investigations. And, in 
 addition to this, it is proper to remark, in this introductory para- 
 graph, that these investigations were at first undertaken and subse- 
 quently carried forward — step by step — wholly from a consciousness 
 of the duty which was due to the Board of Health, and by the 
 Board to the public; and that if the Board could have found the 
 means to employ more aid in this work, your committee would 
 now be able to present at the conclusion a more complete report. 
 
 The exigency was instantaneous, and the duty of making an 
 investigation in the interest of the public health and of sanitary 
 knowledge was obvious; but until the nature and extent of this 
 remarkable infection in the herds that supply our markets had 
 
986 Annual Report of New York 
 
 become known, it was not certain that the results of these investi- 
 gations would warrant the scope and cost of them unless the labors 
 were voluntarily assumed by medical men who were already in the 
 Board's service. The possibility of prosecuting any exact and trust- 
 worthy scientific investigations depended, practically, upon the wil- 
 lingness of medical officers to make considerable sacrifices of time 
 and toil; and it is due to them and to the Board that the fact should 
 here be stated, that the hope of making these investigations con- 
 tribute something to hygienic and medical knowledge, particularly 
 in regard to pestilential fevers, cojitinued to inspire and sustain 
 these labors after all danger of the sale and use of the diseased 
 beeves had passed. The medical profession and sanitary authorities 
 will bear witness that this hope has not been disappointed. 
 
 Practical difficulties in conducting such investigations unfortunately 
 deter Boards of Health and individual observers from attempting 
 to make their inquiries systematic and comprehensive; and it has 
 been found impossible to make all branches of these inquiries in 
 New York as complete as the requirements of exact investigations 
 demand. This is especially true of the medical observations upon 
 symptoms and tests of the disease in its various stages. But what- 
 ever observations were possible during the brief last stage of the 
 disease, are put on record in this report. Great difficulties were 
 experienced by the committee of investigation in reaching the 
 diseased animals, and providing for the killing and dissecting of 
 them. So sudden was the onset of the obvious or fatal stage 
 of the malady that this circumstance is found to have efiectually 
 defeated the attempts of many of the best sanitary officers in other 
 places. It has been easy to find and examine dead cattle, but diffi- 
 cult to bring medical observation to bear upon the living, and upon 
 the condition of the organs and tissues at the moment of death, 
 and before any post mortem changes could occur. It is this latter 
 feature of success that gives special value to the results reached in 
 the Metropolitan district. 
 
 The requirements of the present advanced state of pathological 
 and hygienic knowledge demanded that whatever investigations we 
 undertook in this matter should extend beyond the merely super- 
 ficial and obvious phenomena and appearances, and that, so far as 
 possible, the methods and purposes of each line of inquiry should 
 be exact, searching and strictly in accordance with the requirements 
 of the sciences whose aid should be invoked in the work. It was 
 also known to us that the Metropolitan market being the natural 
 
State Agricultural Society. 987 
 
 terminus of the great railroad route for such herds of infected 
 beeves as might be hurried forward by the unfortunate holder of 
 them — true to " the commercial instinct to make whatever salvasre 
 he can," when an incubating poison threatens inequitable destruc- 
 tion to his cattle and his fortunes — the opportunity and the public 
 duty of making faithful investigations would probably be greater 
 in New York than at any other point east of the prairies, which had 
 become the temporary source of the disease. Experience soon 
 confirmed the truth of this opinion. 
 
 Lest the nature of the sanitary questions, which were of pre- 
 dominant importance in these investigations, may be misconceived, 
 by readers of this report, the fact must here be stated that no 
 medical officer presumed that the Texas cattle disease would repro-. 
 duce itself in the human family. But it was believed, and it is true, 
 that the rapidly and utterly putrefactive efiect of this disease in 
 its fatal stages, clearly pronounce upon the unfitness of such dying 
 cattle for human food. This view of the subject did, at first, very 
 energetically animate the endeavor which the Board of Health put 
 forth to prevent such dead and diseased beeves from being sold in 
 the markets. But it must not be supposed that the Board's officers 
 were ignorant of the fact that some of the most deadly viruses, even 
 that of the rattlesnake and the woorara, may be taken into the 
 human stomach without obvious harm. The point aimed at was 
 attained, namely, to prevent the diseased and dying beeves from 
 being used for food. The means employed by the Board in attain- 
 ing this result, were universally understood and appreciated. The 
 press and the people throughout the Metropolitan district, and 
 wherever the diseased cattle were seen, emphatically sustained and 
 commended this action of the Board. Herdmen and agriculturists 
 also gave their willing testimony and obedience to the mere recom- 
 mendations of the sanitary officers, and are now sincerely grateful 
 for the practical results of the sanitary regulations and the scien- 
 tific inquiry relating to the disease. 
 
 In pursuing these labors, the Board's committee has sought 
 information from every available source throughout the country, 
 and has enjoyed the most hearty cooperation from every class of 
 observers of the disease; and it seemed very desirable to make 
 investigations, upon as broad a basis as possible, of general informa- 
 tion concerning it. Such a basis has given a certain tone of trust- 
 worthiness to the Board's work, that is justly a subject for the 
 committee's gratitude. Great care has been taken to examine and 
 
988 Annual Report of New York 
 
 analyze the mass of general and special evidence that has, by the 
 kindness of correspondents and co-workers, come into our hands. 
 The conclusions that are reached in this report are in harmony with 
 all that is logically deducible from that body of evidence, though 
 we have depended upon our own observations and the collateral 
 researches that grew out of them. ; 
 
 Could the medical officers who have pursued these inquiries now 
 consult their personal preferences, they would defer the presentation 
 of this report until there shall have been a free interchange of the 
 various reports by State Commissioners; but the request that this 
 report shall be submitted without such delay, is obeyed with alac- 
 rity, because both the Board of Health and the State Commissioners 
 for the prevention of cattle plagues in New York, have expressed 
 a desire to make immediate use of the information contained in 
 this report. But in thus hastily closing the report, it must inevi- 
 tably be marred by defects that will need to be corrected hereafter. 
 The culture experiments upon the cryptogamic or fungus element 
 found in the blood and bile of the infected cattle, are still in pro- 
 gress under the skillful hands of Dr. Stiles, the deputy registrar 
 of the Board of Health, and of Prof. Ernst Hallier, of Jena, and 
 will be continued as long as they may deem it desirable. These 
 and some other incidental inquiries, while they may eventually 
 throw light upon the causation and concomitants of the disease, do 
 not in any way postpone the practical conclusions and sanitary 
 measures which State authorities need to adopt. And there is 
 much reason to believe that every branch of the investigations 
 which have been commenced under the approbation of your com- 
 mittee and of the Board, will ultimately lead to a correct knowledge 
 of the disease, and to the utter extinction of it. If, in attaining 
 that result, it is found that important truths are established con- 
 cerning the cause and prevention of certain pestilential diseases in 
 the human family, the public duty of exact inquiry into the causes 
 and prevention of all epidemic and epizootic diseases will be prac- 
 tically illustrated. This ultimate object of medical inquiry will 
 not fail to be attained if sanitary officers will, in the discharge of 
 their duties as guardians of human health, carefully observe and 
 investigate the nature and causes of the infectious plagues that 
 occur in those useful classes of animals which the beneficent Creator 
 has given to man for food and service. The people who require 
 safeguards against insidious sources of disease, will share with the 
 
State Agricultural Society 989 
 
 herdman and the farmer such immediate and obvious benefits of 
 the sanitary investigation and restraint of cattle plagues, as will 
 fully repay the toil it costs, and in the end, the total results will be 
 found added to the sum of human happiness and healthy life. 
 
 E. HARRIS. 
 
 New York, December Zlst, 1868. 
 
PLAN OF THIS REPORT. 
 
 I. A consecutive account of events connected witli the appearance of 
 the Texas Cattle Disease, and of the procedures which were taken, 
 thereon. 
 
 II. The Records of the Sanitary Inspector of the Board and Assistant- 
 Commissioner of the State, concerning the herds of Diseased Cat- 
 tle that have come into the Metropolitan District. — Dr. Moreau 
 Morris' Special Report. 
 
 III. Statement of the Results sought and reached in Correspondence with 
 
 other observers. 
 
 IV. Statement regarding the chief objects of exact Scientific Investiga- 
 
 tions, the nature of the Methods adopted for attaining them, and 
 the Results attained. 
 
 V. Special Report, by R. Cresson Stiles, upon the Pathology of the 
 Cattle disease, and upon the Microscopical Researches for ascer- 
 taining the Nature and Effects of the Contagium, or Cause of this 
 Disease. 
 
 VI. Report of the Results of Chemical Analysis of the Blood, Bile, 
 Urine and Liver, obtained from the Diseased Cattle. By Prof. 
 C. F. Chandler. 
 
 VII. Explanations of the Illustrations. 
 
 VIII. With what well described diseases is this Texas Cattle Disease 
 allied ? 
 
 IX. Remarks upon the New Facts and Demonstrations added to Physio- 
 logical and Pathological Knowledge by these Investigations. 
 
 X. Conclusions. 
 
I. ACCOUNT OF EVENTS AND PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE DISEASE IN THE HERD YARDS. 
 
 Early on the morning of August 8th, the Eegistrar of the Board 
 of Health obtained information from a member of the staff of the 
 daily Tribune, that there was believed to be a herd of diseased 
 and dying cattle at one of the two great herd yards near Jersey 
 City. Certain unusual events in the progress of sudden and fatal 
 diarrhoeal disorders, in various parts of the city of New York, in 
 the previous ten days, induced us to make a personal investigation 
 concerning the reported herd of infected cattle. Proceeding to 
 the abattoir yards at Communipaw, the fact was ascertained that 
 there were then remaining alive upon the grounds there, one hundred 
 and forty-one bullocks that arrived the previous day, consigned to 
 J. T. Alexander, Esq.," Mr. Fitch, agent, and out of which there 
 had died, or been sacrificed, because dying, two hundred and 
 twenty-four bullocks during the trip from Homer, 111., to this 
 eastern terminus of the route. 
 
 Having ascertained the fact that these cattle had been shipped 
 from Central Illinois, in apparently perfect health, only eight days 
 previously to the visit here mentioned; that the care of that herd 
 train had been quite as good as is usual upon the railroads; that 
 the disease began to be noticed about the second day after departure 
 upon the route, and that between Central Ohio and the time of 
 departure of that cattle train from Pittsburg, a period of four or 
 five days, no less than one hundred and fifty-nine of the herd died 
 of the disease, permission was asked and granted for examining 
 the residue of the herd then in the yards at Communipaw. About 
 fifteen out of the hundred and upwards that were seen, appeared 
 to be sick, and upon testing the temperature of two that were 
 approached, the mercury in the self-registering thermometer went 
 up to one hundred and five, and one hundred and six degrees 
 respectively. This observation not only comported with the 
 circumstantial history of the events above related, but of itself 
 alone this remarkable excess of animal temperature, in the absence 
 
992 Annual Report of New York 
 
 of any evidence of inflammatory disease, and with the pulse rapid and 
 flickering, the secretion from the kidneys copious and blood-stained, 
 and the gait and posture tremulous, fully warranted the conclusion, 
 that the disease there witnessed for the first time at our herd yards, 
 must necessarily be of a pestilential nature, and that any virus or 
 morbid poison which could cause such a malady, was deserving of 
 the most exact and careful scientific inquiry. 
 
 The peculiar circumstances of the season which had made it 
 necessary to watch very vigilantly for all removable and special 
 . causes of acute and fatal diarrhoeal disorders among the people of 
 the city, rendered it a duty to undertake a careful examination of 
 the viscera and fluids of the dying bullocks, to ascertain what dis- 
 eased conditions they might present. Accordingly, the Registrar of 
 the Board requested the president of the abattoir to allow the medi- 
 cal officers an opportunity to make such examinations at the earliest 
 convenient hour. It was earnestly advised that no sick cattle should 
 be sent over to the city markets, either alive or dead.' Mr. Payson, 
 the president, took an enlightened and proper view of all questions 
 connected with this matter, and remarked that it would be well to 
 have the Governors of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
 take such action, in concert with the Governor of Illinois, as might 
 lead to the proper investigation of the local sources of the disease, 
 and to a proper restraint upon the transportation of cattle subject 
 to it. The course pursued by that gentleman during the evening 
 of the 8th and the morning of the 9th of August, proved how 
 judiciously and honorably he undertook his own duty in regard to 
 the sick cattle. To this we will presently refer again. 
 
 During the afternoon of the 8th, Hon. Geo. B. Lincoln, President 
 of the Board of Health, in concert with Hon. Commissioner Manniere, 
 decided to have the herd yard, within the limits of New York city, 
 inspected under the direction of the Sanitary Superintendent, Dr. 
 E. B. Dalton. The circumstances and results of that inspection 
 are mentioned in the proper place in the special report of Sanitary 
 Inspector Dr. Morris, 
 
 Upon the return of the Board's officer. from Communipaw, in 
 the afternoon, it was deemed expedient to send dispatches to the 
 Governors of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, giving 
 them information, and suggesting such action on their part as should 
 at once restrain the movement of all sick and infected herds. 
 Consequently, the president of the Board sent telegraphic dispatches 
 to Governor Fenton, at Albany; Governor Ward, at Newark-, N. J., 
 
State Agricultural Society. 993 
 
 and Governor Geary, at Harrisburg, Pa., informing them of the 
 sick cattle, and suggesting the sanitary inspection of the transport 
 trains and herd yards on the railroads that enter these States from 
 the West. The several Governors replied that the desired action 
 would be taken. 
 
 There doubtless may have been some persons who thought that 
 such promptitude of official inquiry and action was unwarranted 
 by any possibilities of peril, and by all lessons of experience; 
 and, that there may occasionally be found a man, who still believes 
 that it would have been wiser to wait, and see the results of the 
 pestilence, and of the use of the diseased beeves as food, is not 
 unexpected. But the public would not have excused the sanitary 
 officers for any such stolidity and indifferent delay, nor does 
 experience warrant the belief that it would have been safe or 
 jDrudent to have delayed action. Indeed, it chanced to be true 
 that the officer who first moved in this duty for the Board of 
 Health, knew the history of epizootic pestilences too well to admit 
 of hesitation and delay.* 
 
 ♦The following extract from an editorial leader in the London Times of August 28th, 
 will now be perused with advantage, for it conveys the true principles regarding such 
 duties, in clear and forcible language : 
 
 "As the home of the rinderpest is on the steppes of Russia, ^o this American plague 
 comes from the vast plains of Texas. Now, it appears that during last May and June 
 some fifteen thousand cattle were slowly driven from Texas to Illinois, feeding on the 
 prairies as they passed. «««««»«• 
 
 From Illinois, the disease spread to the adjoining State of Indiana, where thousands of 
 cattle are still said to be dying of it, and to the city of Chicago. The next step in its 
 progress was, that some Illinois cattle were dispatched by railway to Pittsburg, ia 
 Pennsylvania. Before reaching Pittsburg a large proportion of them perished, and others 
 died in the Pittsburg drove yards. Thence some apparently healthy animals were sent 
 by rail to New York, but the fatal symptoms appeared after their arrival, and within tea 
 or twelve days after the appearance of the cattle at Pittsburg, the disease had penetrated 
 to the northern part of New York State. The history of the development of the disease, 
 therefore, is complete. From Texas it is tracked over the prairies tu Illinois, and thence it 
 is followed over railways to the great towns of the West. With us, though the course 
 of the rinderpest is sufficiently established, there are generally some doubtful links in the 
 chain of communication, but in this instance every step is discernible. 
 
 "The gentlemen who thought it a fatal objection to a precautionary measure that it 
 might slightly raise the price of meat in the London market, may, perhaps, accept 
 instruction from the fact, that on the appearance of this disease, the supply of beef in the 
 msirkets of New York and Chicago had fallen off at least one-half. They may see that, 
 from fear of a slight and very doubtful disadvantage, they would have exposed us to the 
 certain peril of an occasional meat famine. This example may also give us, occasion to 
 reflect, that at least in the present state of our knowledge, we are quite unable to rely oh 
 special acts of precaution against the introduction of a contagious disease. Here is a 
 disease, not less fatal than the rinderpest, of which we have only just heard; and, besides 
 this, its approach is so sudden and so subtle as to leave no time for exceptional measures. 
 Cattle apparently healthy are dispatched to New York, and within three days after their 
 'Ag.] 63 
 
994 Annual Report of New York 
 
 THE FIRST POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS. 
 
 The next day, Sunday, August 9th, the president of the abattoir 
 informed the Board of Health that all the surviving bullocks of 
 Mr. Alexander's infected herd were to be slaughtered and sacrificed 
 at the fat-rendering tanks, and he invited the officers of the board 
 to be present and make whatever examinations they desired. This 
 invitation was accepted, and during that afternoon the officers in 
 attendance witnessed the slaughter of a large number of the herd, 
 and made minute examination of the viscera and fluids of three of 
 those that were most diseased. The record of these and all other 
 post mortem examinations of cattle will be found in the proper 
 place in a subsequent section of this report. But we would here 
 remark that the excessive temperature of the blood and viscera of 
 the sick bullocks immediately upon the slaughter was so uniform 
 and striking as to confirm the opinion that had been expressed 
 by the Registrar concerning the significance of this fact in regard 
 to the pestilential nature of the sickness; yet in these first exami- 
 nations there was so great an amount of evidence of other kinds, 
 and which required the analysis of the microscope, and of the 
 chemist, that arrangements were immediately made to have the mor- 
 bid specimens so examined by Dr. E. Cresson Stiles, the Deputy 
 Registrar of the Board, an acknowledged authority in pathological 
 and microscopical researches, and by Professor C. F. Chandler, the 
 chemist to the Board. The subjoined note from Dr. Stiles gives 
 the first result he reached in the microscopical examinations 
 which he made of the specimens obtained on the 9th and 10th of 
 August: 
 
 arrival, they have given birth to a malady which may destroy all the stock in the State. 
 That is the danger to which we are exposed the instant we relax our restrictions. 
 Inspection might some day fail to detect the germ of disease in half a dozen animals, and 
 the cattle of as many counties might be decimated in a month. Our knowledges^is not 
 sufficiently extended, our means of information not suflSciently complete, our methods of 
 observation not sufficiently subtle, for inspection to offer any sufficient security. It is 
 somewhat singular that we should only now be learning to what subtle and contagious 
 diseases our most valuable stock is exposed. Like other knowledge, this has probably 
 been lost from mere want of due records. If the past history of the diseases of mankind 
 had been preserved for us, medical science might now be in a very different position. 
 This disadvantage will scarcely be allowed to check our progress for the future. The New, 
 as well as the Old World, will yield experience, and we think we may fairly expect from 
 our men of science that, with their means of observation, they will materially advance 
 eur control over the conditions of health. At all events, such an example as the present 
 deserves the utmost attention, and we shall await with the greatest interest the further history 
 <jf the ' Texan Fev*r.' " 
 
State Agricultural Society. 995 
 
 Brooklyn, jiugust 12, 1868. 
 E. Harris, M. D., Registrar, etc.: 
 
 Dear Sir — I have examined carefully the specimens of the plague cattle which 
 I took on Sunday (August 9th). I went at them at once, before decomposition 
 could change their character. 
 
 The Blood. — Not a single red blood disk could be detected. The red disks had 
 parted with their coloring matter, and the serum was of a dark mahogany color. 
 This evidence of disorganization of the blood is a most important fact, as indicating 
 the nature of the disorder. 
 
 The Urine — Was of a glutinous character, excessively albuminous ; the blood 
 corpuscles which were abundantly contained in it, were shrivelled and crenated. 
 The urine was of a claret color, and contained a few casts of the tubuli uriniferi. 
 
 Tlie Kidneys — Were deeply congested with dark blood ; and their glomeneli and 
 tubuli uriniferi were filled with extravasated blood. 
 
 Yours, 
 (Signed) R. C. STILES. 
 
 Thus tlie work of scientific inquiry commenced, and the foregoing 
 quotations from the first written statement by Dr. Stiles concern- 
 ing the pathological changes which characterize the disease, show 
 what direction this kind of inquiry took. The notes of the obser- 
 vations made upon this first group of infected cattle will be found 
 in the subsequent chapter of this report. Unfortunately our efibrts 
 to procure a complete chemical analysis of the fluids from these 
 first cases Avere unsuccessful; yet from one of this herd, that Avas 
 slaughtered on the eighth day of convalescence, entire success 
 attended the analysis of the blood, etc. 
 
 Having examined as many of the animals as practicable in this 
 first herd before and during slaughter, it was deemed expedient to 
 have a certain number of the bullocks that exhibited unmistakable 
 symptoms of the disease, and yet were not rapidly sinking or 
 incapable of moving about, selected and kept under medical obser- 
 vation and care, in order that the nature of the disease might be 
 suitably studied, and if the sick bullocks survived through certain 
 periods of partial or actual convalescence, they might, at suitable 
 periods be, one by one, slaughtered for the purpose of making post 
 mortem examinations of the results of the disease, and the mode and 
 rapidity of convalescence from it. Consequently, by the liberality 
 of the agent of the stock, five such diseased bullocks were selected 
 and placed by themselves in a large yard that was spread with a bed 
 of sawdust saturated by heavy oil of coal tar, and they were allowed 
 to spend the greater part of each day in an adjacent meadow of 
 luxuriant salt marsh grass. The further treatment of these sick 
 cattle, and the results of final examinations of them when slaugh- 
 
995 Annual Report of New York 
 
 tered, will be found in the subsequent sections of this report, under 
 the heads of "Inspection and Care," "Chemical Analysis," and 
 "Post Mortem Records." But it should be mentioned here that 
 the results of these observations were more definite and satisfactory 
 than we had anticipated. In fact the investigations pursued in 
 regard to this first group of infected cattle served to open up the 
 whole field of inquiry that was subsequently occupied by the medi- 
 cal officers who followed up the subject. 
 
 The fact must here be mentioned that the excessive pressure of 
 regular official duties, the difficulty experienced in securing the 
 attendance of each officer and expert at the hours of slaughter, and 
 the great distance and inconvenience of access at the abattoirs from 
 the chambers of the Board of Health, ofiered serious impediments to 
 successsful study of the disease at the beginning and throughout the 
 entire season. These and other considerations led us to hope and 
 greatly to desire that the State commissioners of New York and New 
 Jersey who still had authority under their Commissions to guard 
 against rinderpest and contagious pi euro-pneumonia, might, as soon 
 as they could organize for the purpose, assume all the responsi- 
 bilities and expenses of the investigations which needed to be made. 
 
 Another fact ought also to be stated in this place in regard to 
 the cooperation of veterinary experts in these investigations. Such 
 cooperation was desired, but as there were no pecuniary means for 
 procuring or properly compensating such persons, and as it was 
 hoped that the entire responsibility in the matter would soon be 
 assumed by the State commissioners, as just mentioned, we early 
 endeavored to give to leading professors of the New York College 
 of Veterinary Science, information of the opportunities to inspect 
 infected cattle. Professors Liautard and Busteed of the New York 
 College, and Prof. Law of the Cornell University, did witness some 
 of the post mortem dissections. But as the fact was soon ascertained 
 that no funds were provided for the State commissioners to expend 
 upon such inquiries, or for any purpose whatsoever, those medical 
 officers whom the Board directed to begin the investigations, were 
 compelled by circumstances and their own sense of duty to continue 
 the work. Events succeeded each other so rapidly, that these 
 officers had to meet the exigencies day by day, and seek such 
 information, and do such acts as seemed most important for the 
 Board and the public, or, by neglecting these duties, let the golden 
 opportunity for investigating and restraining the malady be left 
 until some future outbreak of it, and to allow this opportunity 
 
State Agricultural Society. 997 
 
 for the hygienic inquiries conuectetl with the malady to pass by 
 unimproved. 
 
 The arrival of a badly infected herd of fat beeves by the Erie 
 railroad, on the morning of the 11th of August, while yet no other 
 organization for investigation was in existence, induced the Board 
 of Health to order that this matter should henceforth be placed 
 under the advice and direction of the Sanitary Committee, to do 
 whatever they should deem necessary to represent and discharge 
 all the duties which the public could reasonably expect from the 
 Board in regard to the control of the diseased cattle, and the inves- 
 tigation of the whole subject. Subjoined is a copy of the Board's 
 minutes relating to this duty of the Sanitary Committee and asso- 
 ciated medical officers: 
 
 THE BOARD'S ORDERS FOR ORGANIZING THE LABORS OF INQUIRY. 
 
 At a meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Health, held on the 
 11th of August, and at which reports in relation to the first two 
 infected herds were presented, the following action was taken: 
 
 Resolved, That the Sanitary Committee of the Board be and hereby is empowered 
 to detail expert officers, not exceediiig four in number, who are connected with the 
 Board, to act under the orders of said committee in the investigations of the facts 
 relating to the prevailing cattle disease. 
 
 The committee ordered the labors to be organized in accordance 
 with the following instructions: 
 
 Metkopolitax Board of Health, 1 
 jfugiist II, 1868. J 
 
 2b E. Harris, M. D., Registrar and Corresponding Secretary M. B. H.: 
 
 Dear Sir — At a meeting of the Board of Health, held August 11, the subject of 
 the prevailing cattle disease was referred to the Sanitary Committee for investiga- 
 tion and report. The committee was empowered to add, not to exceed four 
 members (who should be officers of the board), to their own number for such 
 investigation. In pursuance of this power the Sanitary Committee has selected 
 you as one of the additional members of the committee. 
 
 It is the desire of the committee that you proceed to organize the work of inves- 
 tigation, and so distribute its several subjects among other members, and control 
 their operations, as to secure the most perfect results. 
 
 Yours, &c., . 
 
 STEPHEN SMITH, M. D., 
 
 Chairman Sanitary Committee. 
 
998 Annual Report of New Yoek 
 
 Metropolitan Board or Health, ) 
 August 12, 1868. \ 
 
 To R. Cresson Stiles, M. D., Deputy Registrar M. B. H.: 
 
 Dear Sir — The subject of cattle disease as it has appeared in the markets in 
 and around New York, has been referred to the Sanitary Committee for study and 
 report. The committee was empowered to add to its number such officers as it 
 deemed necessary, and accordingly it has selected you for the special duty of 
 studying whatever pathological alterations you can discover in the tissues and 
 fluids of the infected animals, and that you will avail yourself of whatever aid the 
 microscope can give in these researches. 
 
 . You will devote all the time that is necessary for a thorough investigation of 
 the disease, and make full and accurate notes of your observations. 
 
 You will also keep in constant communication with Dr. Harris, and follow his 
 directions in your work, unless otherwise directed by the Sanitary Committee. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 STEPHEN SMITH, M. D., 
 
 Chairman Sanitary Committee. 
 
 Metropolitan Board op Health, ) 
 August 12, 1868. S 
 
 To Dr. Morbau Morris, Sanitary Inspector M. B. H.: 
 
 Dear Sir — The subject of cattle disease as it has appeared in the markets in 
 and around New York, has been referred to the Sanitary Committee for study and 
 report. The committee was empowered to add to its number such officers as it 
 deemed necessary, and accordingly it has selected you for the special duty of 
 studying the symptomatology or clinical history of the affection as it appears in the 
 herd yards. 
 
 You will devote all the time to this duty that is necessary for a thorough inveS' 
 tigation of the disease, and make full and accurate notes of your observations. 
 
 You will also keep in constant communication with Dr. Harris, and follow his 
 directions in your work, unless otherwise directed by the Sanitary Committee. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 STEPHEN SMITH, M. D., 
 
 Chairman Sanitary Committee. 
 
 A similar requisition was made upon Prof. Chandler, Chemist to 
 the Board, for his aid in the necessary chemical analysis; and, at a 
 later date, the duties of Dr. Morris being enlarged by his appoint- 
 ment as assistant commissioner for the State, it became necessary 
 for the committee to employ the aid of one of the assistant sanitary 
 inspectors, and Dr. Benjamin Howard was therefore selected to 
 render such temporary assistance, as was required in post mortem 
 examinations, etc. 
 
 In carrying this purpose of the Board into effect, Dr. Stiles gave 
 his attention to the special pathological investigations requiring 
 microscopical examinations. Dr. Moreau Morris continued his 
 
State Agricultural Society. 999 
 
 duties of inspection of the herds arriving at the New York market, 
 and was requested to have charge of the medical observations upon 
 all diseased cattle, and, with Dr. Stiles, to report to the central 
 office daily concerning the progress of the inquiries. To Prof. C. 
 r. Chandler, of the School of Mines, Columbia College, and 
 Chemist to the Board, was committed the chemical analysis of 
 morbid specimens from the diseased animals, and for which duty 
 he thoroughly prepared two of his assistants. The Registrar of 
 the Board, as the medical officer in charge of the researches, 
 organized and pushed forward the inquiries, visited the infected 
 cattle, and was present at the post mortem examinations when 
 possible, and had the general supervision and control of the work, 
 and was especially charged with the organization and maintenance 
 of the scientific investigations. 
 
 It was plainly necessary to have such organized labor in order 
 to centralize and givQ efficiency to whatever investigations might 
 be undertaken. The Board needed all the information which could 
 be brought to its central office daily, both for its own use and to 
 satisfy inquiries constantly made in regard to this disease. 
 
 THE AERIVAL OF AN INFECTED HERD FROM INDIANA. 
 
 On the evening of August 10th, the superintendent of the Bergea 
 cattle yards, Hudson city, N. J., applied to Gov. Ward and Dr. 
 Harris, who were then at Communipaw, asking their advice as to 
 the disposal of a herd of seventy or more infected cattle, then on 
 the way from Campville (Erie railroad herd yards) to his sales' yards 
 at Hudson cit}'-, to arrive next morning. Early next morning, 
 August 11th, Sanitary Commissioner Dr. Stephen Smith, Inspector 
 Morris and Dr. Harris visited the j^ards and herd train near the 
 Hackensack river, where this lot of infected cattle had been switched 
 off from the Erie railroad. Here were seen several fine fat bullocks 
 in a dying condition, and no less than fifteen out of this herd — now 
 consisting of sixty-six cattle — were evidently in a hopelessly diseased 
 state. 
 
 For a detailed account of the observations which were made 
 upon this herd, we would refer to Dr. Morris' report upon his 
 department of labor, in a subsequent section. But this group of 
 infected bullocks exliibited the symptoms and pathological efiects 
 of this .disease with such completeness, and the entire history of 
 the herd itself, the source Avhence they received the infection, the 
 period of incubation, and whatever else could be a matter of exact 
 
1000 Annual Report of New York 
 
 inquiry, were such that the Board's officers made great efforts to 
 have these dying cattle made the subject of the most thorough 
 investigation. Arrangements were made for the observation of 
 symptoms and post mortem evidences; and Governor Ward took 
 the preliminary steps for keeping the entire herd under close 
 observation. Correspondence was immediately opened with the 
 Governor of Indiana, for the purpose of tracing every step and 
 every day of the history of this herd, which belonged to a Mr. 
 Thomas, of Warren county, in that State. 
 
 In all that is essential in the history of this herd, these efforts were 
 entirely successful; but, in the absence of all official auth(mty in the 
 town where these cattle were, speculators shipped about fifty of them 
 to parts unknown, yet five of the worst diseased animals were left for 
 the careful examination of the officers of the Metropolitan Board. 
 This examination will justly be regarded hereafter as being, in 
 every important respect, among the most valuable of all that were 
 made during the whole series of inquiries of the board; for there 
 in the open field, and in the presence of the quivering flesh of 
 the bullocks, immediately upon slaughter, the microscope, under 
 the skillful hand of Dr. Stiles, revealed all the morbid phenomena 
 in the blood, bile and tissues, which finally we have come to regard 
 as being characteristic or pathognomonic of this strange disease. Dr. 
 Stiles, Dr. Morris and Dr. Harris spent the entire day, August 13th, 
 in these investigations, and Commissioner Dr. Stephen Smith was 
 present to witness the most important of the autopsies, and verify 
 with his experienced eye, as a professor of anatomy, the demonstra- 
 tions by Prof. Stiles. He witnessed the first demonstration of the. 
 reticular structure or arrangement of the ultimate bile-ducts, as 
 revealed under Dr. Stiles' microscopes. 
 
 To have preserved those morbid specimens in a fit condition for 
 perfect microscopical researches at a later hour, or away from the 
 field, would probably have defeated or long postponed the ends 
 which were achieved that day; for it was necessary to determine 
 what morbid changes in tissues, and what, if any, parasitical organ- 
 isms, or other morbid elements, could be found, actually pertaining 
 to the diseased cattle at the moment of their being killed. The 
 liver, the bile, the spleen, the kidneys and the blood, the stomachs, 
 the brain and the muscular tissues were each, in succession, examined 
 with great minuteness and care. The nature of the discoveries 
 that were made during that day will be fully explained in Dr. 
 Stiles' special reports, and the colored plates in subsequent sections. 
 
State Agricultural Societt. 1001 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THIS HERD AS AN INDEX TO THE FUTURE 
 
 INQUIRIES. 
 
 His Excellency, Governer Baker, of Indiana, through Captain 
 James Park, who served as the agent in the inquires in that State, 
 and Dr. J. G. Orton, Assistant State Commissioner of New York, 
 and subsequently in charge of affairs at Campville, on the Erie 
 railroad, as soon as the desired inquiries could be made, filled up 
 every link in the history of this herd, and early in September com- 
 municated the facts as follows: 
 
 Indianapolis, September 4, 1868. 
 E. Harris, M. D., Corresponding Secretary Metropolitan Board of Health: 
 
 Dear Sir — In reply to your communication of the 15th ult., making inquiry 
 and desiring information concerning the cattle disease, I have the honor, by direc- 
 tion of the Governor, to transmit herewith a copy of a report made to this 
 department by Captain James Park, of Warren county, Ind., upon the subject 
 Respectfully, 
 (Signed) JOHN M. COMMONS, Private Secretary. 
 
 {Copy.-] 
 
 WiLLiAMSPORT, Ind., ^ugust 31, 1868. 
 To His Excellency Governor Baker : 
 
 As requested by your letter of the 22d inst., I herewith transmit such a report 
 of the facts in regard to the cattle disease as I think will meet the inquiry of the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health. 
 
 On the 27th day of April, 1868, a herd of nine hundred and thirty Texan cattle 
 were purchased at Colorado county, Texas. They were driven to the mouth of 
 Red river, a distance of about six hundred miles, reaching that point May 31st, 
 1868. 
 
 They were at once shipped from that point on steamboats, and arrived at Cairo, 
 111.. June 4th, 1868. From thence they were shipped on the Illinois Central rail- 
 road, and reached Tolono, 111., June 7th, 1868. From this point they were driven 
 into Warren county, Ind., a distance of about sixty miles. They came into the 
 western boundary of Warren county on the 12th June, 1868. There was a loss 
 of forty-four head, only eight hundred and eighty-six of the nine hundred and 
 thirty head reaching Warren county. These cattle were from four to six years 
 old, all apparently in good condition, nothing indicating any disease whatever. 
 There were " ticks " on very many of them. This herd is still at the present date 
 in Warren county, Ind., all doing well, and no disease whatever having made its 
 appearance among them ; not one has died, notwithstanding more than five hun- 
 dred native cattle have died all around them. This herd of Texan cattle, on the 
 12th day of June, 1868, passed over a certain piece of prairie pasture on the 
 western boundary of this county (Warren). On the 19th day of June, 1868, a 
 lot of native cattle, numbering ninety-five head, averaging over thirteen hundred 
 pounds each, were permitted to graze upon the same pasture, and continued to 
 feed upon the same until the 4th of August, 1868. One of the herd was noticed 
 to be sick on the 28th of July, 1868, and up to the 4th of August, 1868, eleven 
 
1002 Annual Report of New York 
 
 ■were sick and three had died. On the 4th of August, 1868, eighty-four of this 
 lot of ninety-five were driven to the West Lebanon railroad station, on the Toledo 
 and Wabash railroad, and shipped for the New York market. This is, I presume, 
 the herd of sick cattle referred to in Dr. Harris' letter. There were eleven head 
 of another lot that had not been on this pasture, or in any way exposed to Texan 
 cattle, shipped with the eighty-four — none of the eleven head were taken sick on 
 the road to New York, but the sickness was confined to the eighty-four head 
 exposed to the Texan cattle ; at least had herded upon pasture passed over by 
 Texan cattle. 
 
 On the night of the 12th of June, 1868, this lot of Texan cattle herded on 
 another piece of prairie where a lot of one hundred head of native cattle were 
 feeding. On the morning of the 13th of June, the Texan cattle were driven to 
 the north of the county. Fifty-five of the one hundred head of native cattle 
 were three years old, the rest were one and two, all in good growing condition. 
 On the night of the 12th of June, 1868, there were twenty-six head of native fat cattle 
 in an adjoining enclosure to the ground occupied by the Texan cattle. About four 
 weeks after the 12th of June, these twenty-six fat cattle broke out of their 
 enclosure, and grazed upon the prairie where the Texan cattle had been on the 
 night of June 12th. On the 29th of July, one of these twenty-six was discovered 
 to be sick, and died on the night of July 31st. On the 1st day of August, two 
 of the one hundred had died, and some twenty-five more were siek. From that 
 time up to the present, the entire herd have been taken sick; eighty-eight head out 
 of the one hundred have died; twenty-two out of the twenty-six have also died; 
 total, one hundred and ten out of one hundred and twenty-six. The remaining 
 sixteen head have all been sick, and are now very poor and stupid, but have the 
 appearance of getting well. 
 
 As a fact, wherever native cattle have passed over ground where this Texan 
 herd have been, the native cattle have sickened and died. It is also a fact that 
 other Texan cattle have been brought into this county ; have been herded with 
 native cattle for two months, and as yet no disease has made its appearance. We 
 have had over four thousand head of Texan cattle in this county this summer. 
 * * * * * * * * «■* * 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JAMES PARE. 
 
 Concerning the lot of cattle which Captain Park mentioned as 
 having been shipped from the West Lebanon railroad station on 
 the evening of August 4th, the following note was received from 
 Assistant-Commissioner Dr. J. G. Orton, of Binghamton, N. Y., soon 
 after he assumed the duties of his office: 
 
 * * * On the 9th of August last, from a lot of :five (5) car loads of cattle 
 shipped from Buffalo, consigned to J. M. Thomas, and yarded off at Campville for 
 feed and rest, seven (7) had died, it is supposed, from the then prevalent cattle 
 plague. 
 
 Eleven others, exhibiting clearly developed symptoms of the disease, were 
 detained and enclosed in a yard by themselves. These all died in about three 
 days. The survivors went through to Bergen cattle market in the usual course. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1003 
 
 Tte eleven diseased cattle, I am informed, all manifested the usual symptoms of 
 the plague, namely, rapid pulse, loss of appetite, head turning or drooping to one 
 side (torticollis), discharging mucus from mouth and nose, urine bloody, and 
 finally, inability to walk or stand alone. As these cases occurred several days 
 previous to my appointment as assistant-commissioner, I had no opportunity, I 
 regret to say, of making any examination of the bodies. They were hurriedly 
 buried in trenches just outside of the cattle yards. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 (Signed) J. G. ORTON, M. D., 
 
 Assistant- Commissioner of the State. 
 BiNGHAMTON, Broome County, N. Y. 
 
 It will be noticed that iu the three separate accounts which we 
 have here given concerning the herd of farmer Thomas, of Warren 
 county, Ind., there is not only entire harmony in every particular 
 as regards the statistics and movements of this herd, but also as 
 respects the sickness . that befell the infected cattle. This herd 
 numbered eighty-four head, Captain Park informs us, when they 
 left Indiana; they filled five transport cars and part of a sixth (the 
 remaining space of the sixth car being occupied by eleven cattle 
 that had not before been exposed to the disease, says Captain Park). 
 At the Bergen cattle yards, near the Hackensack river, on the morn- 
 ing of August 11th, Commissioner Stephen Smith, Dr. Harris and 
 Dr. Morris found sixty-six cattle, just arrived, in the care of the 
 game Mr. Thomas, and no less than fifteen of this number were 
 then sick. The eleven cattle mentioned as uninfected by Captain 
 Park, and that occupied a part of the sixth transport car, were all 
 living, healthy, and were quiclily sold for sound and healthy beeves. 
 Finally, Commissioner Orton's letter shows that eighteen out of the 
 eighty-four cattle which the owner, Mr. Thomas and Governor 
 Baker's State agent. Captain Park, separately aver to have been 
 exposed to the infection of Texan cattle, died in the course of four 
 days at the Campville herd-yards, on the Erie railroad. Of course 
 but sixty-six survivors remained, and these were hurried onward to 
 the New York market on the 10th of August, and were the next 
 morning seen in the condition just mentionedv 
 
 In regard to any or all the points in a record so clear and well 
 stated as this is, no comment can add anything to the strength of 
 the argument which every intelligent person will discover in it. 
 We would simply call attention to the fact that the record given by 
 Captain Park concerning the herd shipped from West Lebanon, on 
 the Toledo railroad, the statement given by farmer Thomas, the 
 owner of the cattle, who came on with them, and who gave us 
 
1004 Annual Report of New York 
 
 the information personally in the yards where his cattle were dying, 
 near Hudson City; and the record of events connected with this 
 herd at Campville, and elsewhere on the Erie railroad, harmonize 
 with and verify each other in every particular. And it should here 
 be observed that in this instance as in others, to be noticed in Dr. 
 Morris' report, there is ample presumptive proof that owners of 
 infected herds, and particularly the speculators who dealt in such 
 stock, regarded a hurried transportation to the New York market 
 as the shortest and surest way to avoid the losses liable to be 
 incurred by keeping such cattle for a day longer than their circum- 
 stances compelled them to keep them. 
 
 FIRST CASES OF THE CATTLE DISEASE SEEN IN THE METRO- 
 POLITAN DISTRICT. 
 
 Two weeks subsequent to the occurrence of these events, it 
 became known to the Board of Health that a small herd, eighteen 
 in number, which had left West Albany, July 28th, in charge of 
 Mr. Stephen B. Reynolds, their owner, and which arrived at Peeks- 
 kill by the Hudson River railroad, July 29th, and at Sing Sing, 
 by overland driving, July 30th, proved to be infected with the 
 Texas cattle disease. They were Illinois cattle, and had been pur- 
 chased for immediate home consumption at Sing Sing and the 
 neighboring villages. Mr. Reynolds sold four to Mr. B. G. Tomp- 
 kins, a butcher at Sing Sing, and lEive others to Messrs. Raymond 
 & H. J. Sarles, also butchers at Sing Sing, and four to Mr. Wright 
 Tompkins, a butcher living east of Sing Sing, and the remaining 
 five of this herd Mr. Reynolds drove to his own farm in the town 
 of Somers, eight or ten miles east from Sing Sing. The circum- 
 stantial history of this herd is correctly and briefly given by Dr* 
 George J. Fisher, the Sanitary Inspector, of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Health for that section of the metropolitan district: , 
 
 {Copy.-] 
 Ellis Place, Sing Sing, August 27, 1868. 
 Dr. E* HareiSj Corresponding Secretary and Registrar, M. B. H. : 
 
 Sir — I deem it my duty to make a brief report of the facts concerning tlie intro- 
 duction of diseased cattle into Westchester county. On the 28th day yf July, 
 Stephen B. Reynolds, a cattle dealer living in the town of Somers, Westchester 
 county, purchased eighteen bullocks of a cattle dealer in Albany, N. Y., being a 
 portion of a lot of cattle said to have come from Illinois. These eighteen bullocks 
 were immediately sent to Peekskill, N. Y., on the cars of the Hudson River rail- 
 road, whence they were driven directly to Sing Sing, a distance of twelve miles. 
 On arriving at the latter place (July 30th), the owner, Mr. S. B. ReyncldSj soM 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1005 
 
 four of the cattle to B. G. Tompkins, a butcher in Sing Sing; five to Charles 
 Kajmond and H. J. Sarles, also Sing Sing butchers; and four to Wright Tomp- 
 kins, brother of B. G. Tompkins, who is a butcher living east from Sing Sing. 
 The remaining five Mr. S. B. Reynolds drove to his own farm in Somers. Within 
 two or three days after their arrival, Raymond & Sarles slaughtered three of their 
 five cattle and sold the meat in Sing Sing, as they allege, not suspecting the cattle 
 to be diseased, and still believing them to have been sound and healthy at the time 
 they were slaughtered. Mr. B. G. Tompkins also slaughtered one of his four cattle 
 about the same time, and sold the meat in his market ; his butcher says he did not 
 observe anything to be the matter with the bullock, and believes that he was 
 not diseased. 
 
 The first thing which aroused the suspicion of the butchers was, that on the 
 4th day of August, S. B. Reynolds brought to Sing Sing and offered for sale to 
 the butchers, the quarters of one of the bullocks which he had driven to his own 
 farm, and stated to the Sing Sing butchers that the bullock was found cast in, or 
 near a brook in his pasture, and supposing the animal had received some mechani- 
 cal injury, slaughtered it and brought the meat to Sing Sing for sale. He first 
 offered it to B. G. Tompkins, who refused to purchase it; next to H. J. Sarles, 
 who also declined buying it ; after which he took it to Croton (where a number of 
 laborers are engaged in bricklaying), but finding no purchasers he returned to Sing 
 Sing and asked Sarles to allow him to leave the hindquarters in his ice- room ; this 
 being granted he took the forequarters to the camp-meeting grounds, and offered 
 to sell them to Mr. George Worden, the only person authorized to sell meat to the 
 camp-meeting people, who also declined purchasing the meat. 
 
 While Reynolds was yet engaged in seeking a purchaser for his "injured beef," 
 Mr. William Dubois, a farmer, two miles northeast of Sing Sing, came to the vil- 
 lage and informed G. B. Tompkins that one of his cattle was dead, and the remain- 
 ing two were sick on his premises, where they had been driven after they were 
 purchased of Reynolds. This information at once convinced the butchers that 
 they had diseased cattle on their hands, and that Reynolds' beef, which he had 
 been hawking about, and fortunately had found no customer for, was " diseased 
 meat," and that this buUock had been cast by the plague and not by accident. 
 Sarles immediately took the responsibility of having the hindquarters of Reynolds' 
 beef taken from his ice-room and thrown into the mouth of the Croton river, and 
 immediately informed Reynolds of the course he had taken, whereupon Reynolds 
 bui'ied the remaining forequarters in the offal heap at Raymond's slaughter yards, 
 a mile east of Sing Sing, and thus the diseased meat was disposed of. 
 
 I have now accounted for five of the eighteen cattle; the remainder are accounted 
 for as follows : 
 
 August 3d. — One died at Dubois' farm, belonging to B. G. Tompkins (already 
 mentioned). 
 
 August 6th. — Wright Tompkins found two dead in his field, and S. B. Reynolds 
 found one nearly dead, and had it killed for post mortem examination by Mr. 
 Edward Underbill, a scientific farmer and an expert. 
 
 August 7th. — Another died at Dubois' farm, belonging to B. G. Tompkins. 
 
 August 8th. — S. B. Reynolds found another bullock dead in his field. B. G. 
 Tompkins killed the last of his four, for examination by Dr. Collins and myself. 
 The bullock was nearly dead before he was knocked in the head. 
 
 For the remaining six I cannot account. S. B. Reynolds and Wright Tompkins 
 had each two of them. Whether they are siek or well, dead or alive, I cannot tell. 
 
1006 Annual Report of New York 
 
 The two which were sick and remaining in possession of Raymond & Sarles, are 
 said to have been given (August 19th) to William Elliot, a cattle dealer at Putnam 
 
 county.* 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 (Signed) GEORGE J. FISHER, M. D., 
 
 Assistant Sanitary Inspector, M. B. H. 
 
 The extracts from evidence on file at the chambers of the Metro- 
 politan Board of Health, are introduced in this place to show the 
 actual state of affairs connected with the movements and handling 
 of infected beeves within the Metropolitan district. Prudential 
 considerations, and a due regard for the mental tranquility of the 
 people, made it expedient to say and do those things only, which 
 would restrain the movement of infected cattle and utterly prevent 
 the sale of the beef and viscera of the dying animals in the markets. 
 These two great objects, we have every reason to believe, were 
 accomplished very completely. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW YORK STATE CATTLE PLAGUE 
 COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 On the 18th of August, the State commissioners, Messrs. Patrick, 
 Gould and Allen, having assembled at Albany, organized a suitable 
 plan for the inspection and control of diseased herds, wherever 
 found within the State, and, as soon as their instructions had been 
 promulgated, viz: on the 19th of August, the committee in charge 
 of investigations for the Metropolitan Board of Health offered to 
 make over to that commission all results and resources then at its 
 command. But, as was ascertained by them in the course of a few 
 days, there were no funds at the command of the commissioners 
 that could be made available for carrying on such investigations. 
 Moreover, the commissioners expressed, in very decided terms, 
 their approval of the labors in progress tinder the Board of Health, 
 and of their preference and desire that the board should independ- 
 ently carry forward all the inquiries which its officers had begun. 
 Hence, the Board's committee saw no other course than that which 
 they had commenced upon. But they earnestly invited the coope- 
 ration and advice of the commissioners. From the organization of 
 the commissioners, until now, there has existed an entire and hearty 
 unity of efibrt between them and this committee of the Board. 
 
 * A citizen of Sing Sing has since reported to this committee that these two sick beevei 
 were sent down to our city markets. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1007 
 
 THE LABORS OF SANITARY INSPECTOR MORRIS, AS ASSISTANT 
 COMMISSIONER FOR THE STATE. 
 
 Durius: the first session of the State commissioners, Aiio^iist 18 Ih, 
 they appointed Dr. Moreau Morris as their assistant for the Metro- 
 politan district. As they had immediate occasion for expert inspec- 
 tion, by him, at Millerton and Copake, in Dutchess county, Dr. 
 Morris proceeded thither to make the desired observations and give 
 the necessary orders. The circumstances attending the appearance 
 of the Texas cattle fever, in Messrs, Smiths' herd of western bul- 
 locks en route overland from Albany, as detailed by Dr. Morris, 
 are full of instruction concerning the subtle course of the infec- 
 tion and the usefulness of restrictions against the movement of 
 infected cattle. The prompt action which was taken by Dr. Morris, 
 in regard to the isolation and restraint upon all movements of that 
 infected herd, had a very wholesome eflect upon the public mind, 
 in allaying anxiety, and upon the speculators and shippers of 
 damaged cattle, in restraining them from such traffic. 
 
 It is no part of the design of this report to enter upon an exami- 
 nation of those abuses and frauds of the cattle trade, by which our 
 meat-markets are continually exposed to the sale of diseased and 
 injured beef; but there are a few points in regard to this matter 
 which, as a sanitary inspector of the Metropolitan Board of Health, 
 Dr. Morris investigated in the course of his inspection of the herds 
 and butcheries, before he went up the railroad to Millerton, to 
 arrest the movement of the sickly herd which is here mentioned. 
 He had obtained evidence of the fact that sick cattle, when discov- 
 ered in the herd-yards, are sold, slaughtered, and pushed forward 
 to the meat-stalls of the markets as speedily as possible, and that 
 this perilous business was, last summer, and it usually has been, in 
 all probability, so adroitly managed, that, with the exception of 
 the infected cattle found near Sing Sing by Dr. Fisher, no inspector 
 of the Board of Health had succeeded in finding any animal affected 
 with the Texas cattle disease within the Metropolitan district, pre- 
 vious to August 17th. Ample proof has been obtained that several 
 cases of this disease had been witnessed by the herdmen in the 
 city of New York, during August, and previous to the date here 
 mentioned. Inspector Morris carried out, in the most admirable 
 manner, the views which the Board of Health had authorized and 
 directed its committee to publish on the 13th of August. And in 
 the telegraphic orders which he received from the president of the 
 State commission, he was " empowered and directed to carry out 
 
1008 Annual Report of New York 
 
 the suggestions of the Sanitary committee, as published in the New 
 York papers." 
 
 Combining in one competent and already thoroughly experienced 
 sanitary officer, the functions and authority of an assistant commis- 
 sioner for the State, and the duties of a sanitary inspector under 
 the Board, as was happily accomplished in the service of Dr. 
 Morris, the proper inspection and police of all herds and herd- 
 trains, and the timely care of all infected cattle, became certain. 
 To provide for the constant inspection and sanitary supervision of 
 the great herd-yards at One Hundredth street — the chief market 
 for beeves in New York — he appointed Mr. Dayton, and with him 
 he conferred daily at the yards; and, to meet the exigencies that 
 might continue, until frost, in regard to the sales' yards on the New 
 Jersey side, he appointed Mr. Taylor for Communipaw, and Mr. 
 Newkirk for Hudson City and Hoboken, who, as the commissioned 
 inspectors under authority of the State of New Jersey, and as com- 
 missioned agents for the State of New York, under Dr. Morris, 
 reported to him all their transactions daily. Other inspectors and 
 one expert detective were also employed by Assistant Commissioner 
 Morris, in New York. With this simple and readily-managed organi- 
 zation, that officer has continued to maintain a sufficiently rigid 
 and searching espionage upon the condition and movement of all 
 cattle in the two cities. The Board's officers have, of course, given 
 him whatever aid they could, and so, likewise, has the sanitary 
 company of the Metropolitan police; yet it is due to this faithful 
 and untiring assistant commissioner, that the fact should be stated 
 in this place, that to his hearty devotion to the interests which tlie 
 Board of Health required him to guard, and to his fearless and 
 prudent discharge of his functions as an officer for the State, is 
 largely due the successful execution of the plans of the board for 
 both controlling and investigating the disease. He made it an inva- 
 riable rule personally to inspect every infected herd, and firmly 
 to apply the sanitary regulations which were advised by the Board 
 and by the State commission. The methods and regulations which 
 were adopted in his service are set forth in his report. It can with 
 truth be stated that, in the administration of the duties of his posi- 
 tion, he convinced all classes of men of the justice and good judg- 
 ment of his acts. With habits of accurate medical observation, and 
 with the trusty self-registering thermometer in his hands, he avoided 
 error in his diagnosis and judgment concerning diseased cattle, and 
 in every way he proved how vastly superior is the exact knowledge 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1009 
 
 of the physician over the merely empirical kinds of knowledge and 
 judgment to which the diseases and sanitary control of herds are 
 usually committed. 
 
 THE DUTIES OF DR. R. CRESSON STILES AS PATHOLOGIST AND 
 MICROSCOPIST IN THIS INQUIRY. 
 
 The two papers that are submitted in this report by Dr. Stiles, 
 sufficiently explain the nature of his duties in connection with the 
 investigations. But the actual amount of toil and care, the expendi- 
 ture of time and study, the patient manipulations of specimens 
 mider his excellent microscopes, and the nice analysis of whatever 
 pathological or other physical conditions were essential or constant 
 in the diseased cattle, severely taxed the well sustained enthusiasm 
 which he has for years displayed in the cultivation of phj^siological 
 and pathological knowledge. He was present at the first series of 
 post mortem inspections with his microscopes and re-agents close 
 by the dying and freshly bleeding bullocks, for it was from the 
 first deemed vitally important to exclude all possibilities of studying 
 abnormal conditions of tissues and fluids that might after all be 
 merely post mortem changes. He, therefore, attended at the 
 slaughtering and post mortem inspections as often as he could; 
 and, when absent from them the specimens to be examined micro- 
 scopically and otherwise by him, were carefully inclosed in 
 stoppered glass vessels, the stopper being washed with cresylic ' 
 acid, and the specimens, thus guarded, being forthwith forwarded 
 to him. 
 
 The scientific investigations which the Board of Health has 
 encouraged the Registrar and Deputy Registrar to pursue during the 
 past three years, rendered it easy for these officers to undertake a 
 certain amount of inquiry in regard to this cattle disease, but had 
 it not been for the unusual qualification of T>\\ Stiles, the Deputy 
 Registrar, for the pathological researches which were required, all 
 the good purposes and desire for thorough investigation of the 
 essential nature, causes a morbid phenomena of the cattle plague 
 would have enabled the board and its medical officers to add but 
 very little to the stock of useful knowledge. The Registrar states 
 this fact with gratitude, and without in the least depreciating the 
 value of any labors performed by other officers of the board. 
 
 This labor of Dr. Stiles has been continued from the 9th day 
 of August to the 1st day of December, the first being the com- 
 mencement of examinations in Mr. J. T. Alexander's infected herd 
 [Ag.j 64 
 
1010 Annual Report of New York 
 
 at Coramunipaw: and the last being an examination of morbid 
 specimens from two diseased Texas cattle that were taken ofi' a 
 train at Buffalo, and carefully dissected by Assistant Commissioners 
 Morris and Mackey, in the presence of the State commissioners. 
 
 Bringing to these patient researches a well trained mind, with 
 excellent experience and skill in the analytical study of healthy 
 and morbid conditions of the animal organism, Dr. Stiles' aid in 
 our investigations has been of the most indispensable character. 
 And it must be regarded as particularly fortunate that in the 
 absence of means for employing a special corps of anatomists and 
 pathologists, the Board could obtain and use such skill as that of 
 the gentleman here mentioned. 
 
 THE AID OF CHEMISTRY IN THE INVESTIGATION OF THE DISEASE. 
 PROF. C. F. CHANDLER'S LABORS. 
 
 The excellent example of the Royal Commission in England for 
 investigating the rinderpest in 1865-6, warranted the hope that 
 analytical chemistry might bring out more definite results from the 
 Texas cattle disease than had been attained even in the English 
 researches. But as we were dealing with a blood disease, that had 
 a much longer period of incubation of its infectious cause than the 
 rinderpest has, and which also produces very decided alterations 
 in the proximate and elemental constitution of the liver and some 
 other viscera, it was thought best to submit the blood, bile and 
 urine to the most exact analysis, in accordance with plans somewhat 
 different from those which Dr. Marcet, the chemist to the rinderpest 
 commission, pursued. Prof. Chandler has sufficiently explained 
 the methods he pursued, in a note appended to the tabulated results 
 which we present in this report. 
 
 Very great care was exercised in the taking and sealing of 
 morbid specimens for chemical analysis, and the aid of chemistry 
 was especially invoked in the cases that most emphatically declared 
 the symptoms and uncomplicated phenomena of the disease. 
 Wherever it was practicable. Prof. Chandler attended in person at 
 the post mortem examinations, and with his own hand took the spe- 
 cimens and sealed them for his laboratory. In all cases the analyses 
 were made as soon as possible after the specimens were taken. 
 
 Out of the whole number of these analyses, Prof. Chandler has 
 selected for tabulation in this report only those in which his 
 success in the entire process of treatment was most thoroughly 
 perfect and unequivocal. By referring to the section in which 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1011 
 
 these results are tabulated, it will be seen that there are fourteen 
 (14) specimens of blood, nine (9) specimens of bile, four (4) of 
 serum from the abdominal cavity (cases in which ascites and copi- 
 ous effusion had occurred), four (4) analyses of urine (black water), 
 and four (4) analyses of the liver. 
 
 The exceeding nicety and skill which are required in the analysis 
 of blood and bile, were appreciated and provided for by Prof. 
 Chandler and his very skillful assistants in the laboratory. And, 
 notwithstanding we did not at first venture to hope for very posi- 
 tive results from chemistry to aid in the pathological investigation 
 which the Sanitary Committee of the Board of Health required to 
 be made, it now is found, in the final summing up, that almost 
 any other element in the pathological study could be spared or 
 omitted — microscopy alone excepted — rather than to now omit the 
 results that chemistry has independently contributed. We say 
 independently, because the chemist was requested to ascertain all 
 the essential constituents of the specimens submitted, to him, and 
 permit no errors or loss in his quantitative estimation, regardless of 
 any ideas he might entertain concerning the disease. 
 
 We have requested the Professor to append the results of the 
 analysis of healthy bullock's blood, as analyzed in his own laboratory, 
 and also to place at the foot of his table of analyses the mean of 
 all the results in the analysis of blood from fourteen healthy 
 bullocks, also the result obtained by Wm. Marcet, Esq., for the 
 English Commission in 1866. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to state to medical men, but it must be 
 remarked for non-medical readers of this report, that the chief 
 objects to be attained in all these analyses by the chemist to the 
 board were: 1. To ascertain what changes in the proximate 
 elements of the blood are found to characterize the disease, par- 
 ticularly as regards waste and deficiency in its solid constituents, 
 and to point out what elements are so afiected; 2. To ascertain the 
 state of the serum found in cavities of the diseased cattle; 3. To 
 ascertain in what respect the bile and the urine difiered from those 
 fluids in healthy animals; and 4. To ascertain the actual chemistry 
 of the liver, and particularly as regards the percentage of fat in it 
 in the chronic cases of the disease. In all this work chemistry is 
 the aid and verifier of deductions reached by the different methods 
 of microscopy and medical observation. Finally, in regard to the 
 merit of Prof Chandler's labors in this matter, we feel warranted 
 in stating that for accuracy and defiuiteness, we know of no other 
 
1012 Annual Report of New York 
 
 series of analyses of bullock's blood, and of the other elements of 
 the body in disease, that exceed the accuracy of the results which 
 the chemist to the Board now contributes to this report. 
 
 THE SKETCHES OF MORBID ANATOMY BY MR. KOEHLER. 
 
 This work was begun on the 10th of August, the artist being 
 conveyed to the place of slaughter, and, in all cases, when possi- 
 ble, completing his sketches in colors immediately upon slaughter 
 and dissection. With but one or two exceptions, the specimens 
 that are used to illustrate the chapters on pathology in this report, 
 were sketched in this manner when perfectly fresh and before any post 
 mortem change, even in appearance, could have occurred. The artist 
 was strictly ordered to permit no deviation from nature in his sketches 
 and colors. He has executed his task with exceeding faithfulness. 
 
 This artist, Mr. Robert Koehler, enjoys a just reputation for rare 
 excellence in regard to truthfulness in anatomical delineation and 
 coloring. His professional life having been spent in this kind of 
 work, and Prof. Karl Bock's celebrated Atlas of Human Anatomy 
 having been illustrated by his hand before he came to this country, 
 he has continued to receive in New York the same contidence and 
 patronage of the anatomists and pathologists that he enjoyed at 
 Leipzig, where he was the assistant to Prof. Bock. As the value 
 of these colored sketches of morbid anatomy of the Texas disease 
 in cattle must depend upon their truthfulness and the freshness of 
 the specimens they are made to illustrate, this introductory note is 
 due to the Committee's report, and to Mr. Koehler, the artist. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE EVENTS AND THE PROGRESS OF INVESTIGATIONS 
 IN REGARD TO THE DISEASE. 
 
 As the details of all that relates to the arrival, inspection an'd 
 care of infected cattle, are embodied iii Assistant Commissioner 
 Morris' report in the succeeding section, we need only state here, 
 that in the prosecution of the Committee's duties in regard to the 
 diseased cattle, it was necessary to give all possible aid to Dr. 
 Morris in providing for the slaughter and post mortem examina- 
 tion of the cattle he condemned and ordered to be killed, or that 
 were permitted to Ihiger in quarantine until they died. It has 
 also continued to be necessary, until December 1st, to maintain 
 extensive correspondence to ascertain the history of herds and 
 their movements connected with the manifestations of the disease; 
 and it has also daily been necessary to take counsel together upon 
 the results of these inquiries and the new events in the progress 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1013 
 
 of the disease. Happily the contagious principle upon which the 
 disease depends for its propagation in the North and "West, has 
 proved to be capable of repropagatiug itself only in a very limited 
 and subtle way; but the very circumstances of this subtlety of the 
 contagium has rendered it the more necessary to push on our inqui- 
 ries and experiments the more assiduously while opportunity has 
 been aflbrded. All of this labor may be briefly summed up as follows: 
 
 1. Every example of the disease within the reach of the com- 
 mittee of the Board of Health, or Assistant Commissioner Morris, 
 has been promptly investigated; and, if the bullock was not 
 recovering, the slaughter for post mortem examination of the 
 animal was provided for; or, if already dead, the proper expert 
 inspection was made by two or more officers of the board. Assistant 
 Commissioner Morris being one of them. The total number of 
 infected cattle and diseased carcasses so inspected and examined, 
 between the dates of August 9th and December 1st, being between 
 two hundred or three hundred. Upwards of forty (40) infected 
 bullocks have been slaughtered and very minutely examined by 
 this committee in a definite and scientific manner. 
 
 2. Unceasing effort has been made during a period of nearly 
 four months to discover and inspect every animal sufiering from 
 the Texas disease within the Metropolitan district. Assistant 
 Commissioner Morris during this period has inspected many thou- 
 sand cattle, and he sought the counsel and aid of this committee daily. 
 
 3. All cattle found dead or dying from unknown or suspected 
 causes in the city of New York, have been carefully inspected, and 
 their internal organs examined under the direction of this committee. 
 
 4. By an arrangement with the Superintendent of the New York 
 Rendering Company, a corporation that has the contract for gather- 
 ing and disposing of all dead animals from the city, the dying and 
 dead cattle that were daily conveyed to the rendering dock, were 
 reported and examined. In like manner all information received 
 by the superintendent there was at once communicated to this com- 
 mittee of the Board of Health. 
 
 5. Whenever a creature was found with this disease, the symp- 
 toms and progress of it were reported twice daily, and if brought 
 to slaughter, all necessary preparations were made beforehand for 
 taking and preserving specimens instantly upon killing the animal. 
 No specimens were deemed suitable for analysis and for the artist's 
 sketching unless obtained immediately at death, and brought under 
 such study without delay. 
 
1014 Annual Report of New York 
 
 6. A series of experiments to test the morbid effects of bile, 
 liver and muscular tissue, used with food, was made under the care 
 of Dr. F. J. Randall, an assistant sanitary inspector connected with 
 the Registrar's office. Dogs, rabbits and mice were the animals 
 experimentally fed in this way. Other experiments also were made 
 to ascertain the modes in which the infectious principle of the disease 
 might be made to produce its morbid effects in healthy animals. 
 
 7. A series of special inquiries was made to ascertain the exist- 
 ence and nature of this infectious disease in freshly arrived Texas 
 cattle; also preliminary inquiry upon this point, by extensive cor- 
 respondence, was made before any of the Texan stock came under 
 inspection of this committee and the Sanitary inspectors. The first 
 of our inquiries upon this subject were addressed to Dr. J. H. 
 Ranch, the sanitary superintendent of Chicago, and Prof. John 
 Gamgee. After the lapse of about ten daj^s, both these gentlemen 
 replied by letter, the former from the Chicago stock yards, under 
 date of August 22d, and the latter from Kansas City, under date 
 of August 23d, assuring us that the disease had been found by 
 them, respectively, in the Texas cattle at those places. Subsequent 
 opportunities in New York enabled the Sanitary inspectors to verify 
 the correctness of the conclusions that had been communicated to 
 us by Dr. Ranch and Prof. Gamgee. 
 
 8. Experimental culture (by " planting") of the spores of the 
 morbid bile and blood of the infected cattle was commenced in 
 September, and continued until December, for the purpose of 
 ascertaining the true nature of the fungus from which the spores 
 are derived, that is, to ascertain the botanical characteristics and 
 parasitical history of the cryptogam to which the spores that are 
 found in the blood and bile belong. The chief results of these 
 experimental researches are concisely presented by Dr. Stiles in 
 the second part of his report. 
 
 9. By correspondence and inquiry, effort was made to ascertain if 
 the contagium of the Texas disease is propagated, even occasionally, 
 by the native Northern cattle; and, quite unexpectedly, contrary at 
 least to very positive assertions as well as to the general rule, instances 
 were found in which the disease has been transmitted by native cattle. 
 
 10. Finally, the evidences of health and disease have been very 
 carefully studied by Dr. Morris ever since his labors commenced in 
 August, and by several Sanitary inspectors during the latter part 
 of Autumn, and, as far as time would permit, every week since the 
 Texas cattle disease appeared in the vicinity of New York. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1015 
 
 n. REPOET ON SANITARY INSPECTION, REGULATIONS 
 AND MEDICAL OBSERYATION. 
 
 BY MOREAU MORRIS, M. D., 
 Sanitary Inspector M. B. H., and Assistant-Commissioner of the State. 
 
 Records Concerning Herds of Diseased Cattle that have come 
 into the Metropolitan District, or under the Observation of 
 Sanitary Inspectors of the Metropolitan Board of Health. 
 
 To the Committee of the Metropolitan Board of Health, for investigating 
 the Texas cattle disease, and the State Commissioners for the prevention 
 and control of cattle plagues : 
 
 Gentlemen: For more than four months my time has been 
 exclcusively occupied with the observation, inquiries and sanitary 
 regulations relating to the Texas cattle disease within the Metro- 
 politan district, and wheresoever you directed my services. 
 
 My report to you consists mainly of records. They are records 
 of events so interwoven with matters of historical interest concern- 
 ing this disease, that it seems advisable to present this statement of 
 my labors so consecutively as to be both complete in itself, and 
 entirely convenient for reference from other branches of your 
 reports respectively. It seems impossible in reporting to you 
 the details and results of these labors so to discriminate the par- 
 ticular duties that were performed by me as an officer under the 
 Board of Health, from the duties which I daily performed under 
 the authority of the State commissioners and the special statutes 
 relating to the cattle plagues, that it would be difficult for me to 
 make a full and correct report, concerning either the former or the 
 latter class of my duties, without at the same time actually recount- 
 ing the entire history of events during this period of service; con- 
 sequently this report is respectfully addressed both to the Board 
 of Health and to the State commissioners. Were I to report to 
 your honorable boards separately, the two reports would be in 
 every respect identical in substance. 
 
 In making this report, the following order will be observed: 
 
 1. The date and leading events in the duties of each day. 
 
1016 Annual Report of New York 
 
 2. The record of whatever observations were made in the inspec- 
 tion of cattle, together with an account of whatever sickness occurred 
 among the herds from day to day. 
 
 3. Such arrangement and classification of particular portions of 
 these records as may be necessary for the convenient study of events 
 connected with the disease. 
 
 4. Observation upon other kinds of diseased cattle in the New 
 York beef market. 
 
 5. Remarks upon evils which were restrained and controlled 
 and upon sanitary measures concerning cattle and beef in the New 
 York market. 
 
 6. What is designed and what should be accomplished by sani- 
 tary inspection and control in regard to animals and meats offered 
 in the Metropolitan markets. 
 
 7. What conclusions and results have been reached in my obser- 
 vations and experience in this work. 
 
 So far as the legal authority and influence of the Board of Health 
 could be made available to meet the exigencies which occurred in 
 consequence of the Texas cattle disease, the Board promptly 
 exericsed that power and wielded that influence. The State com- 
 missioners for the suppression of cattle plagues have acted in the 
 same spirit as that displayed by the Board of Health. 
 
 But it is a fact which seems to demand the attention not only of 
 your commissions respectively, but also of the chief executive and 
 the legislators of the State, that all the powers and the methods 
 for procuring the needed sanitary inspection and control of market, 
 cattle and meats, have been only temporary expedients. Systematic 
 and skilled inspection, under adequate laws of the State, should be 
 established as an essential branch of sanitary government. 
 
 On the evening of the 8th day of Aug., 1868, 1 received the follow- 
 ing letter, directing immediate investigation and report upon the facts. 
 
 [Copy.'] 
 E. B. D ALTON, Sanitary Superintendent Metropolitan Board of Health: 
 
 Dear Sir — Dispatches from Chicago indicate the existence of a cattle disease in 
 the West, and intimate that some of the infected stock are on the way to this city, 
 if, indeed, they are not already here. In the absence of other commissioners, Mr. 
 Manniere and myself agree without delay one of your inspectors should be 
 directed to repair to the districts where Western cattle are received, and to ascer- 
 tain and report all the facts. It will require tact in the performance of this duty, 
 doubtless, to find out anything in relation to this matter, as the interests of the 
 butchers are all against any development of facts showing the presence of diseased 
 eattle. Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) GEO. B. LINCOLN, President. 
 
' State Agricultural Society. 1017 
 
 Upon this letter from the President of the Board of Health was 
 the following indorsement: 
 
 Office Sanitary Superintkndent, ) 
 
 Metropolitan Board op Health, Jlugust 8, 1868. ) 
 Respectfully referred to Sanitary Inspector Morris for immediate investigation, 
 and report in writing or by telegraph if any facts be discovered which require it. 
 (Signed) E. B. DALTON, Sanitary Superintendent 
 
 Metropolitan Sanitary District. 
 
 I immediately visited the National drove yards, located at One 
 Hundredth street, between Third and Fourth avenues. There 
 were but few cattle present, and found none sick. 
 
 The next morning visited the same yards again, and finding none 
 sick, I joined the president of the Board, Drs. Harris and Stiles, in 
 a visit to the abbattoir at Communipa w, where Mr. J. T. Alexander's 
 infected cattle, which Dr. Harris had examined the previous day, 
 were beino- slauo-htered and thrown into the renderinsr tanks. 
 
 Here we found that one hundred and forty-one of Mr. Alex- 
 ander's herd, which had left Homer, 111., on the evening of the last 
 day of July, were being sacrificed at the rendering tanks in ordei* 
 to avoid all risks and public injury that might result from keeping 
 them for sale in the market yards. 
 
 A large number of these cattle were evidently sick, as indicated 
 by the following symptoms: 
 
 Attitude: An arched or roached back; head carried low down; 
 ears drooping; ej^es staring, with a dull, glassy appearance; gait 
 tremulous, and staggering in the hind quarters; the foeces hard, 
 streaked with blood; urine copious, and bloody in appearance 
 {Jimmatuna)] pulse, in the most marked cases, was found to be at 
 about eighty, thready, and in some of the animals almost imper- 
 ceptible; the respiration, in one marked case, was found forty in 
 the minute — auscultation of the chest furnished no abnormal signs; 
 the temperature of the rectum, in some of the most diseased, was 
 found to be one hundred and seven degrees Fah. 
 
 A bullock in the last stage of the disease was slaughtered for 
 thorough dissection, which was made by the medical gentlemen 
 present. The following morbid appearances were noticed: The 
 gastro - intestinal mucous membrane was marked b}'- numerous 
 ecchymotic patches; bile in abundance was found in the small 
 intestines; the bladder was filled with bloody urine; the blood in 
 a fluid condition, and imperfectly drained from the larger vessels; 
 
1018 Annual Report of New York 
 
 the muscles of a dark mahogany color, and unlike that of any 
 normal and healthy flesh. Specimens of the morbidly a%cted 
 tissues and fluids were taken by Drs. Harris and Stiles for analysis 
 and microscopical examination. 
 
 Less than fifty of these cattle were slaughtered on this day 
 (Sunday, the 9th August), and, by appointment, the medical offi- 
 cers who were present agreed to meet on a subsequent day and 
 continue their dissection. 
 
 On Monday, August 10th, visited the slaughter houses located in 
 Forty-fifth and Forty-seventh streets, near East river, found no sick 
 cattle or diseased meat. Visited the Bergen cattle yards, in com- 
 pany with Assistant Inspectors Howard, Wadsworth and Winslow, 
 where we found several hundred cattle, but none of them exhibited 
 any signs of the disease; thence Ave went to Communipaw, where 
 the slaughtering of Mr. Alexander's infected herd was in progress. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, of the Board of Health, Gov. Marcus L. Ward 
 and Dr. Harris were there by appointment for consultation. 
 Several diseased cattle were inspected at slaughter; the tempera- 
 ture ranged from one hundred and seven degrees Fahrenheit down 
 to one hundred and two degrees.* Information was received that 
 evening that a herd of infected cattle belonging to a Mr. Thomas, 
 would arrive at the Bergen cattle yards. Early next morning (Aug. 
 11th), accompanied by the Sanitary Commissioner, Dr. Stephen 
 Smith, and the Eegistrar of the Board, I visited the Bergen cattle 
 yards just mentioned, and there saw some fifteen sick bullocks of 
 the herd of sixty-six that had arrived at that place from Warren 
 county, Indiana. A full history of this infected herd being embodied 
 in the committee's general report, I need not repeat any portion 
 of it here. 
 
 • I owe it to the State commissioners to remark here that I have occasion to refer to 
 the temperature records connected with my inspections of diseased cattle almost daily. 
 
 With much satisfaction and a justifiable pride, as regards the advanced and very practical 
 application of the exact science of medicine and hygiene, I beg leave here to state the fact 
 that soon after the organization of the Metropolitan Board of Health in 1866, Dr. Harris, 
 the Registrar, furnished its library with the latest and best treatises on those epizootics and 
 other diseases of animals used for food, and requiring the attention of sanitary officers, 
 and that his office which is a bureau of hygiene, as well as of vital statistics, has always 
 been kept supplied with self-registering thermometers to aid in the diagnosis and study 
 of disease when required. In all their inspections, the officers engaged in the study of the 
 cattle disease have never failed to have with them, their self-registering thermometers, 
 as trusty aids to ready diagnosis. To Dr. Harris, for his thorough knowledge of hygiene 
 and the collateral sciences, and to his habits of organization and thoroughness in the inves- 
 tigation of causes and results of disease, is mainly due the credit for the completeness of 
 all this investigation and study of the Texas Cattle Disease. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1019 
 
 Four of these Indiana cattle were carefully examined as to 
 symptoms. The following points were noticed: Genei'al external 
 appearance,' coats rough, heads hanging low down, eyes staring 
 and dull, ears drooping, gait staggering, with tremor of flank 
 muscles; foeces hard, small, covered with bloody mucous, urine 
 dark and bloody; pulse one hundred and ten per minute, soft and 
 feeble; respiration rapid, temperature at rectum one hundred and four 
 to one hundred and nine degrees Fahrenheit. From one of these 
 sick bullocks, bloody mucous was issuing from the nostrils. Three 
 of the cattle were suffering from delirium, and though apparently 
 frantic, were too feeble to do injury; they stood pressing their 
 heads firmly against each other, or against the fence, their nostrils 
 resting on or near the ground. The first figure seen on the right 
 of plate No. 1, shows the appearance presented by the feeblest one of 
 these delirious cases; the sketch was taken on the spot on the 13th 
 August.* The muscles of the neck in one of these animals were 
 exceedingly rigid on one side, and relaxed on the other, producing 
 a kind of torticollis. The top of the head and base of the horns 
 had an excessively high temperature. Professors Busteed, Liautard 
 and others of the Veterinary College of New York, having arrived 
 during this examination, and requested the privilege of selecting 
 one of the sick animals for their own experiments, they were cheer- 
 fully permitted to take their choice. 
 
 Mr. McPherson, the superintendent of the yards, volunteered 
 the information, that the residue of the infected herd were securely 
 isolated in a pasture near by, where they would be kept until the 
 authorities of New Jersey decided what should be done with them. 
 
 AiK/ust 12th. In company with Dr. Harris and Sanitary Com- 
 missioner Dr. Stephen Smith, visited the Bergen cattle yards. 
 Eleven head of sick cattle from Thomas' herd were selected and 
 placed in quarantine for observation. Three of these being very 
 ill, temperature records were taken as follows: 
 
 Fahrenheit scale. 
 
 No. 1. Mooley. At 2 p. m lOlh degrees. 
 
 No. 2. Brindle. do .- 105 do 
 
 No. 3. Speckled. do 107 do 
 
 *The signs by which the disease was characterized were deemed of sufBcient importance 
 to warrant the sketching and exact illustration of them by a good artist. This forethought 
 of the committee was certainly yery fortunate, for, notwithstanding the rory extensire 
 prevalence of this disease in the West, and elsewhere, these sketches which the Metro- 
 politan Board of Health has preserved, are believed to be the only series in existence that 
 is at all complete. 
 
1020 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Three others were in small yards, belonging to the same herd, 
 one of which had a temperature of one hundred and ten degrees. 
 
 The fifty head, balance of the drove, were said to be placed in 
 quarantine pasture near by, but were in fact, surreptitiously 
 removed, no positive trace of them having yet been discovered. 
 
 On August 13th, I received instruction from the Board of Health, 
 through the chairman of their committee on cattle disease, to 
 cooperate with that committee, and to give my time to the special 
 duty of studying the symptomatology and clinical history of this 
 affection as it appears in the herd yards. These instructions directed 
 me to devote all my time to this duty, to make accurate notes of 
 my observations, and to follow the directions of Dr. Harris, in my 
 work under the committee.* 
 
 On the same day visited Bergen cattle yards in company with 
 Dr. Stephen Smith, Sanitary Commissioner, and Drs. Harris and 
 Stiles, all of the Metropolitan Board of Health, and Prof. Liautard, 
 of the Veterinary College of New York, Gov. Ward, of New Jersey, 
 and Mr. Koehler, the artist. On arriving at the yards, discovered 
 that but four remained of the eleven placed therein the day pre- 
 vious. The other seven had either died or been slaughtered, and 
 removed, it was said, to the rendering tanks. 
 
 Those remaining, being in a dying condition, were immediately 
 slaughtered and post mortem examinations held. Dr. Harris, who 
 directed the scientific investigations, had the following observations 
 made: 
 
 No. 1. Mooley. Weight estimated 1,500 pounds gross. 
 
 Blood flowing from the carotids; temperature, lOSj" Fahrenheit. . 
 
 Fat, very yellow, jaundiced. 
 
 Muscles, dark mahogony color. 
 
 Liver very large, fatty; weight, 231 pounds,. softened. 
 
 Spleen very large, engorged with dark blood ; weight, 9 pounds 2 ounces. 
 
 Kidneys, dark color, congested ; weight, 4 pounds 6 ounces. 
 
 Heart, muscular tissue softened; weight, 51 pounds. 
 
 Gall bladder, distended, filled with dark, thick, flakey bile ; weight, 3 pounds 10 
 ounces; bile, sp. g. 1.030; temperature, 86° F. 
 
 Urine, dark, bloody, about 1 qt.; sp. g. 1.035. 
 
 . • This promptitude of action by the Board of Health in meeting whaterer exigencies 
 arise has proved the surest means of preventing popular anxiety as well as protecting the 
 public health. It has justly been remarked by one of the officers of the Board that 
 "experience in the Metropolitan district has abundantly proved that the best way to pre- 
 vent both pestilence and panic, is to know and prepare for the danger." (Notes on Cholera 
 Prevention; addressed to Jackson S. Shultz, President Metropolitan Board of Health. 
 By Dr. E. Harris.) 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1021 
 
 Colon, inner mucous coat, highly congested, with blood along the longitudinal 
 rugae. 
 
 Small intestines the same as colon. 
 
 Rectum, intensely congested, rugae. 
 
 Bladder, inner coat covered with bright red puncta. 
 
 Lungs healthy; right weighed 7 pounds; left, 4 pounds. 
 
 No. 2. JBrindle* In a dying condition ; slaughtered. , 
 
 Temperature of rectum, 106° ; mouth, 1061° F. 
 
 Nostrils hot, moist ; tongue pointed and retracted. 
 
 Blood of aorta at slaughter, 106°; sp. g. 1.039. 
 
 Fat very yellow, or greenish yellow color. 
 
 Muscles, dark red, mahogany color. 
 
 Liver enlarged, softened, fatty; weight, 273 pounds. 
 
 Spleen engorged, softened to a pulpy mass; weight, 9| pounds. 
 
 Kidneys very dark ; weight, 4^ pounds . 
 
 Heart, muscular tissue softened ; 6 pounds. 
 
 Gall bladder, distended, with thick, dark, flakey bile. 
 
 Bladder, distended, with about two quarts of a dark, bloody urine; sp. g. 1020 j 
 inner coat of bladder covered with bright red puncta. 
 
 Small intestines injected with bloody puncta. 
 
 Kectum, highly congested in longitudinal strige along the rugae. 
 
 Coecum, inner surface covered with large ecchymotic spots. 
 
 Omasum, its leaves inflamed; dry, and contents hard. 
 
 Abomasum, highly inflamed, ulcerated in its pyloric extremity. 
 
 Posterior nares, slightly injected with bloody extravasation. 
 
 Brain, slightly congested. 
 
 Lungs, healthy; right,-5l pounds; left, 4| pounds. 
 
 No. 3. Speckled. Gross weight, 1,150 pounds; temperature of rectum, 107° F.; 
 in a dying condition ; slaughtered. 
 
 Blood of aorta, temperature 1074° Fahrenheit. 
 
 Liver, enlarged, engorged with blood, and softened. 
 
 Gall bladder, distended, with thick, dark bile. 
 
 Rectum, coecum and small intestines highly injected with blood, forming striaa 
 and ecchymoses along the margins of the rugae. 
 
 Abomasum, highly congested, inflamed, and the pyloric extremity presenting 
 large dark ulcers. 
 
 Kidneys, dark color, congested. 
 
 Bladder, filled with dark, bloody lu-ine. 
 
 Aitgust 14:th. Visited Communipaw. The five cattle that were 
 reserved for observation and treatment, through the kindness of 
 Mr. Fitch and the superintendent, Mr. Payson, were this day placed 
 in a lot where they had access to salt meadow-grass, and were com- 
 
 * The appearance presented by the carcass of this animal is shown in plate 2, which was 
 sketched by the artist as soon as the viscera were removed after killing the buUoclc See 
 plate 2. 
 
102'^ Amnual Report of New York 
 
 pelled to driDk of the following mixture, which Dr. Harris had 
 prescribed as an experimental remedy: 
 
 Carbolic acid, 12 ounces in crystals; glycerine, 4 ounces; bicarbs. soda, 12 
 ounces. Mix. Directions — Dissolve or mix one ounce in 3 or 4 gallons of water. 
 
 This was readily drunk by the steers. 
 
 The surface of the ground was liberally sprinkled with heavy 
 oil of coal tar, mixed with sawdust. 
 
 Aitffust 15th. At Communipaw. The five cattle under treat- 
 ment appeared evidently improving; they drank about two gallons 
 of the medicated water during the past twenty-four hours. 
 
 An ox, which had been in the same yard with the infected herd, 
 was found dead in another yard. He was examined by the State 
 inspector, Mr. Henry Taylor, of New Jersey, and presented the 
 same lesions as had been observed in the cattle dying of the cattle 
 disease in Mr. Alexander's herd, viz: "dark yellow-brownish fat, 
 muscles very dark red, bloody dark urine, enlarged liver, gall blad- 
 der filled with thick dark bile." 
 
 August \Qth. This day, at Communipaw, one of the five under 
 treatment was slaughtered for scientific investigation. The balance 
 (4) appeared to be convalescent: 
 
 Temperature 102°. 
 
 Post mortem : urine clear, normal; sp. g. 1.020, acid- 
 Spleen somewhat enlarged and engorged. 
 Liver 11 lbs., somewhat softened, fat very yellow. 
 Kidneys slightly engorged, paler than normal. 
 Abomasum, mucous coat slight spots of congestion. 
 Rectum, congested along the rugae. 
 
 August nth. Visited National drove yards. One Hundredth 
 street and Third avenue. Found an ox lying sick, unable to rise. 
 Temperature 106°, breathing very rapidly, panting, pulse too soft 
 and rapid to count. No owner or claimant. Sent him to render- 
 ing dock. A post mortem examination was made. Post mortem 
 chano;es had so obliterated evidences of disease as to make the 
 examination useless, except that there was abundant evidence wit- 
 nessed to show that this animal had died of a putrid blood poison: 
 
 Liver, enlarged, softened; weight 16 2 lbs. 
 
 Gall very thick, dark. 
 
 Bladder, 1 quart of urine, dark, bloodj 
 
 Kidneys, perfectly disorganized. 
 
 Rectum gangrenous. 
 
 Spleen, an enlarged, engorged, pulpy mass. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1023 
 
 Abomasum gangrenous. 
 
 Fat greenish-yellow. 
 
 Muscles darkened mahogany color. 
 
 Found an abaiidoued cow on First avenue, between Second and 
 Third streets, in a dying condition. On examination at the render- 
 ing dock, disclosed pleuro-pneumonia. 
 
 August 19th. Examined 720 head which arrived this morning 
 at Bull's Head, in which lot were Mr. Pile's drove of 85 head, two 
 of which were afterwards taken sick. 
 
 Eeceived this day the following telegram from Albany: 
 
 \_Copy.'] 
 
 Albany, Augml 18, 1868. 
 To Hon. Geo. B. Lincoln, President Metropolitan Board of Health: 
 
 Sir — Be pleased to send to Millerton on the Harlem railroad, Dr. M. Morris, to 
 act as assistant commissioner under and pursuant to appointment, under chapter 
 740, Laws 1866. There are diseased cattle at Millerton, and Dr. Morris is 
 empowered and directed to carry out the suggestions of the Sanitary Committee 
 of the Metropolitan Board of Health, as published in Saturday New York papers 
 in relation thereto. 
 
 (Signed) M. R. PATRICK, 
 
 Chairman of State Commissioners. 
 
 August 19th. I immediately, upon the receipt of the foregoing 
 order, proceeded to Millerton, Dutchess county, N. Y., arriving at 
 about 6 o'clock p. m. on the same day. 
 
 On the morning of the 20th inst., having learned that a part of 
 the sick herd had been sent to New York the day previous, number- 
 ing seventeen head, sent telegram to head-quarters to have them 
 seized, but it proved too late, as they had been disposed of and 
 could not be traced. 
 
 At Millerton, found a portion of a drove of cattle belonging to 
 A. W. and Nathaniel Smith, of 73 Washington avenue, Albany, 
 N. Y. This drove originally numbered sixty-five head, and left 
 Albany on the 9th August, traveling overland towards New York 
 city. They appeared to be a mixed lot of cattle — Illinois, Indiana 
 and others. On the 12th of August, twenty head of this drove 
 were left at Copake, Columbia county; one of these died on the 
 17th August, after an illness apparently of about forty-eight hours. 
 The symptoms, as described by eye witnesses, were the same as 
 those I had observed at Bergen cattle yards and Communipaw, viz: 
 head low down, ears drooping, arched back, great debility, stagger- 
 mg gait; would not feed, finally lying down, unable to rise until 
 death supervened. He was deeply buried. On the 13th August, 
 
1024 Annual Report of New York 
 
 forty-five head of this drove arrived at Millerton, Dutchess county, 
 N. Y., twelve miles from Copake. Of these on the 14th, two died; 
 17th, one, and 19th, one. Making the record of this drove thus 
 far as follows: Five deaths — 14th, two died at Millerton; 17th, 
 two died, one at Millerton and one at Copake; 19th, one died at 
 Millerton. 
 
 On the morning of 19th August, the owner fearing still greater 
 loss, shipped seventeen head of the infected herd for New York 
 by the New York and Harlem railroad, leaving twenty-four head 
 at Millerton, and nineteen head at Copake. 
 
 Two of those at Millerton are looking ill, the remainder appear 
 to be well, but all being a suspected herd, were quarantined to be 
 retained until all danger had passed. The dead animals had been 
 buried in a lot adjoining the pasture where the cattle were found. 
 These two lots of land were therefore set apart as quarantine 
 ground, and the following order issued to Mr. William H. Barton, 
 of Millerton, who was placed in charge: 
 
 Millerton-, Dutchess Co., N. Y., j^ugust 20, 1868. 
 TbMn. W. H. Barton: 
 
 Sir — You will please retain under your personal supervision, the twenty-four 
 head of cattle belonging to A. W. and Nathaniel Smith, of Albany, in the two 
 lots adjoining and belonging to the estate of Mr. John Campbell, where the cattle 
 now are and have been pasturing. You will retain them for one month from this 
 date, or until further order from the State commissioners or their assistants. You 
 will not allow any cattle to come within one thousand feet of the quarantine 
 ground. Provide them with plenty of salt and feed if necessary. If any are 
 taken sick, confine them in a separate enclosure from those that are well. All 
 animals of this herd that may die, are to be buried at least four feet under the ,» 
 surface of the ground, covered with lime or carbolic acid for disinfection. The lots 
 where the cattle are, or have been, to be disinfected with carbolic acid. 
 
 By order of the State Cattle Commissioners. 
 
 (Signed) MOREAU MORRIS, 
 
 Assistant Commissioner. 
 
 Proceeding to Copake, Dutchess county, the same day, the 
 balance of the drove were found, numbering nineteen head, upon 
 the farm of Mr. E Van Benschoten. None of these presented any 
 evidences of the cattle disease, but as they were a part of the 
 infected herd, they were placed in quarantine. The same order 
 (in substance) was issued to Mr. E. Van Benschoten as to Mr. 
 Barton, at Millerton. 
 
 August '2,1st. Learning that there were sick cattle at Ameiiia, 
 Dutchess county, I proceeded thither, and found upon the dairy farm 5/ 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1025 
 
 of Mr. Abiah P. Baylis, that out of a herd of thirty, nine had died 
 during the four previous weeks. This herd consisted of twenty- 
 seven cows, one bull and one pair of oxen; of these, seven cows, 
 the bull and one ox had died. Three cows and the remaining 
 ox were found sick with pleuro-pneunionia, and the symptoms, 
 as described by Mr. Baylis and the attendants, led me to conclude 
 that those that had died, were all victims of the same disease. 
 During the illness of these cows, their milk had been regularly 
 sent to New York city for consumption. Orders were imme- 
 diately given, under the authority of the Board of Health, as its 
 inspector, that no more milk from the infected herd should be 
 sent to New York city. The remainder of the herd were placed in 
 quarantine, upon Mr. Baylis' farm, under the supervision of Dc. 
 Desault Guernsey, of Amenia, for observation and report, and a 
 copy of the same quarantine order left with him ixs, was given to 
 Mr. Barton. Five more of this dairy herd were subsequently taken 
 sick, making nine head which were put under treatment; all these 
 finally recovered.* 
 
 August 21st. Returning to New York city, I immediately insti- 
 tuted a thorough inspection of all cattle in the yards of the National 
 drove yard, at One Hundredth street and Third Avenue, and con- 
 tinued such inspection daily as they arrived from any source. 
 
 August 24:th. Two sick cattle were found at Bull's Head, in a 
 drove belonging to Mr. S. D. Pile. These left Arrow Rock, Selene 
 county, Missouri, on the 3d day of August, 1868, numbering 83 head, 
 and crossed the Mississippi river at St. Louis ; here the two sick 
 ones were said to have been added to the drove, making 85 head 
 in all. From St. Louis they were shipped by railroad to Buffalo, 
 Albany and New York city, and arrived at Bull's Head on the 
 19th instant. On the 22d, these two were observed to be ailing, 
 refusing food, and continued getting worse; but all knowledge of 
 their illness was carefully kept from me until the 24th inst., when 
 they were seized and placed in quarantine hospital, under obser- 
 
 * The treatment of these cases showed a remarkable result, viz : out of a herd of thirtj 
 head, eighteen were diseased; nine of these died before any treatment was instituted; the 
 other nine all recovered under treatment. 
 
 The medical and hygienic treatment was as follows : The sick animals were placed in a 
 small enclosure by themselves. Pure carbolic acid was placed in a large open-mouthed 
 bottle, dissolved in water. This was held to the nostriis, and given by inhalation at short 
 and repeated intervals. The heavy oil of coal tar, containing 70 p. c. of carbolic-acid, was 
 liberally sprinkled upon the j'ard where they were kept, thus presenting the fumes of the 
 carbolic acid constantly. The feeding was low diet, plenty of water, salt, and out-door air. 
 
 [Ag.] 65 
 
1026 Annual Report of New York 
 
 vation. Fifty head of this drove had been sold for slaughter, 
 and I have no doubt, from subsequent information, that diseased 
 ones were among them. Thirty-three head now remained. Of 
 these, there were 17 head of Cherokee cattle, which did not 
 exhibit any evidence of disease; they were allowed to be sold for 
 slaughter. The balance of the herd, 16 native cattle, were placed 
 in quarantine pasture, near King's Bridge, on the 25th August, 
 where they were retained for four weeks, when, no further evidence 
 of disease appearing among them, they were released. 
 
 August Ihth. This day a post mortem examination of one of 
 the diseased steers from Mr. Pile's herd was held. Present, Drs. 
 E. Harris, R. C. Stiles, and B. Howard, Assistant Inspector, — all of 
 the Metropolitan Board of Health. A valuation of $30 having 
 been fixed upon, he was slaughtered:* 
 
 White steer, killed August 25th, 2 p. m., at One Hundredth street. 
 Been obviously sick thirty-two hours: 
 
 Temperature rectum, 1071'^ F. ; respiration, 36; pulse, 76; nostrils, profuse 
 mucous discharge, streaked with blood ; anus appears dry and contracted ; faeces 
 almost natural ; urine bloody ; animal balances himself by strongly twisting its 
 head and neck to the left. 
 
 Post Mortem Observations. — Temperature of blood, 107'' F., reaction neutral; 
 temperature of liver, 17 minutes after death, 106°, and in the middle of this organ, 
 ,19 minutes after death, 1071'*; appearance of subcutaneous surface, healthy; peri- 
 toneal cavity, its fat intensely yellow, cavity contained a large amount of bloody 
 looking serum ; gall bladder, distended; bile, sp. gravity, 1.025, reaction neutral ; 
 urine, sp. gravity 1 009 1, neutral; liver, healthy in color and consistence; weight, 
 18 pounds ; kidneys, apparently healthy ; weight of one, 1 pound 6 ounces ; of 
 other, 1 pound 7 ounces; spleen, 6 pounds 2s ounces, dashed with large chemoses 
 upon anterior surface, the entire tissue being much engorged and easily broken 
 down ; bladder, especially at the bas fond, covered with ecchymotic spots ; small 
 intestines congested, presenting a general dark blush, no spots; lymphatic glands, 
 in cellular tissue liver-colored, intensely yellow in center, with dark green towards 
 surface. 
 
 * Regarding the history of the two bullocks of Mr. Pile's drove, -vyhich brought his 16 
 other native cattle under the suspicion that took them into quarantine, it was ascertained 
 that Mr. Pile had purchased them three weeks prior to my quarantine order concerning 
 the herd. He had purchased these cattle at East St. Louis, for the purpose of filling a 
 oar, as before mentioned, and they exhibited no sign of sickness until two days before I 
 saw them. As they appeared to him ailing, he endeavored to dispose of them surrepti- 
 tiously, but fortunately they were discovered during inspection, and at once placed under 
 quarantine restrictions. The presence of these siek cattle had already depreciated the 
 value and interfered with the sale of the whole herd. 
 
 Facts which have since been communicated to the Board of Health, warrant the conclu- 
 sion that these two sick bullocks of Mr. Pile's herd received their infection at or near the 
 yards at East St. Louis, where he purchased them; hence, the period of incubation in them 
 could not have been less than twenty days to the first appearance of obvious symptoms at 
 the National drove yards. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1027 
 
 The temperature record of the second steer, belonging to Piles' 
 drove, is as follows: 
 
 August 24th, 105i« F.; August 25th, 105°; August 26th, 104«'; August 27th, 
 104° ; August 28th, 103° (chewing cud) ; August 29th, 103^° (appeared dull, does 
 not chew cud) ; August 30th, 103° (was bled this day one-half pint from the cer- 
 vical vein); August 31st, 101° ; September 1st, 101°; September 3d, 100|°. 
 
 August 2bth. This day made report to the president and sanitary 
 
 committee of the Board of Health, and to the State commissioners, 
 
 through Gov. Feuton, as follows: 
 
 New York, Jugust 25th, 1868. 
 To His Excellency Gov. R. E. Fbnton, 
 
 and the State Commissioners on diseased cattle: 
 
 Sirs — I have the honor to report that two cattle were found sick with the cattle 
 plague at the National drove yards. New York city, on the 24th inst., belonging to 
 a drove of eighty-five head, which left Arrow Rock, Selene county, Missouri, on 
 the 3d of August inst., owned by Mr. S. D. Pile, of the aforesaid place. 
 
 The two steers, now sick, were bought in St. Louis ("to fill a car") and came 
 through with the drove by railroad by way of Buffalo and Albany. They arrived 
 in the National drove yards 19th inst. 
 
 Fifty head were sold immediately upon arrival,- leaving thirty-three head ; of 
 these, seventeen head were Cherokees ; they were selected out and allowed to be 
 sold. Sixteen head of native cattle were removed from the yard to quarantine 
 pasture, which I selected, near King's bridge, on the "Dyckman estate." 
 
 The yards have been thoroughly disinfected. 
 
 August 25th. To-day held a post mortem examination upon one of the two 
 sick from Mr. Piles' drove, at which were present Assistant Commissioner Orton, 
 Drs. E. Harris, R. 0. Stiles, B. Howard, all of the Board of Health. The evi- 
 dences of the disease were well marked. 
 
 In order to prevent the surreptitious movement of suspected and diseased cattle 
 from the National drove yards, I have this day quarantined the whole of the yards, 
 and ordered that no cattle be allowed to leave them without a proper inspection 
 and permit, signed by the Assistant Commissioner. 
 
 The paramount necessity of protecting the public health, as far as possible, with 
 the advice of the president of the Board of Health and its officers, have induced 
 me to take this decided action with reference to this point. 
 
 Hoping it may meet your approval, I remain, respectfully. 
 
 Your ob't serv't, 
 
 MOREAU MORRIS, 
 Assistant Commissioner. 
 
 The followmg quarantine order was issued this day upon Messrs. 
 Allerton, Dutcher & Moore, of the National drove yards, New York 
 city: 
 
 New York, Angust 25th, 1868. 
 Messrs. Dutcher, Moore & Co., National drove yards : 
 
 Gentlemen — By virtue of the powers conferred upon me as Assistant Commis- 
 sioner of the State of New York, in the act passed April 20th, 1866, chap. 740, and 
 
1028 Annual Report of New York 
 
 amended April 19th, 1867, with reference to infectious diseases of cattle, I hereby- 
 designate the whole of your yards and enclosures, located between Ninety-seventh 
 and One Hundredth streets, and Third and Fourth avenues. New York city, as 
 quarantine grounds. 
 
 You are hereby enjoined from allowing any cattle to leave said quarantine 
 grounds, without special permit signed by the Assistant Commissioner. 
 
 KespectfuIIy, 
 
 MOREAU MORRIS, 
 Assistant Commissioner for the State of New York. 
 
 Aitffust 2Qth. Inspected this day, 1,486 head of cattle at Bull's 
 Head, and made report to President Lincoln and Sanitary commit- 
 tee of Metropolitan Board of Health, as follows: 
 
 New York, August 26th, 1868 
 Geo. B. Lincoln, Esq., President Metropolitan Board of Health, 
 
 and Committee on diseased cattle : 
 
 For your information, with reference to the progress, control and investigation 
 of diseased cattle, I have the honor to present the following statement : 
 
 Learning the fact that a large number of cattle were expected to arrive at the 
 National drove yards, by way of the Hudson River railroad, at two o'clock this 
 morning, and fearing that some might escape the proper inspection before being 
 slaughtered, a request was made of your president for a suflBcient force from the 
 Sletropolitan police to aid me in securing the inspection. This aid was kindly 
 afforded by that department, and proved of great value, as no cattle arriving either 
 at Hudson River railroad depot, or by Harlem River railroad, or any other inlet, 
 have left the drove yards without a careful inspection. Measures had been taken 
 previous to their arrival, under the authority conferred upon the Assistant State 
 Commissioner, so that no cattle could leave the yards without such inspection and 
 permit. Under this arrangement, I am happy to be able to say, that I believe no 
 diseased cattle have escaped observation. 
 
 All that arrived at the drove yards underwent a personal inspection, and were 
 found apparently in a sound, healthy condition. These numbered 1,101, and, 
 with 393 which were yet in the yards from last market day, made a total of 1,494 
 head of cattle inspected this day. These cattle are from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, 
 Ohio, Kentucky, and this State ; some of them from the Cherokee country. 
 
 One, which I have reasons for believing had been turned out of a slaughter-house 
 near by, was found on the Third avenue, near One Hundred and Sixth street, very 
 sick. He was placed in the hospital lot attached to quarantine, where he will be 
 retained for observation. 
 
 The effect of this decided action, in the thorough inspection of all cattle arriving 
 at this large depot for distribution, will be, that more care in the selection of 
 droves, and the exclusion of any suspected of having disease, will be exercised at 
 distant points. It will be very difficult to forward diseased cattle to this market 
 by any of the usual routes from this time forth, as I learn by recent advices that 
 at all the prominent stopping and feeding places competent commissioners and 
 inspectors are constantly on duty. 
 
 Nevertheless, New York city presents so many exposed points at which cattle 
 may enter and pass to the numerous slaughter houses scattered throughout the 
 Metropolitan district, where unscrupulous persons are ever ready to seize oppor- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1029 
 
 tunities, and where it is almost impossible to maintain a thorough system of 
 inspection either of cattle or meats, that I would respectfully and earnestly beg to 
 offer the following suggestion : In order to be able thoroughly and efficiently to 
 certify that no diseased meat either be slaughtered or offered for sale, the business 
 of slaughtering must be confined to fewer points, and at such places as afford the 
 largest facilities for thorough observation ; that no meat be allowed to be sold 
 without proper certificate of inspection. 
 
 In pursuing investigations with reference to this important subject, as respects 
 the health of the people of this city and Brooklyn, most startling facts appear, 
 and to my own mind afford a reasonable conclusion as to the variations in the 
 death-rates, as furnished by your registrar from time to time. 
 
 Not only diseased beef, but other meats, as well as vegetables and fruits, must 
 share the responsibility. 
 
 In order to secure the inhabitants of the ^letropolitan district from the danger 
 of purchasing diseased meats, it is absolutely necessary not only that animals should 
 he inspected upon the hoof, but that a more careful and thorough examination of 
 internal organs, while being dressed for market, should take place* It is a well 
 known fact that a large proportion of the meat slaughtered and inspected under 
 Levitical law for the the use of our Israelitish population, is condemned as respects 
 its use by them, but sold at equally high prices for use by Gentiles. 
 
 Up to the present moment no new cases have been discovered. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 MOREAU MORRIS, 
 Sanitary Inspector M. B. H. 
 
 To-day a red ox was found abandoned on Third avenue, near One 
 Hundred and Third street, evidently dropped out of some drove 
 going to Bull's Head, from the landing place on Hudson River 
 railroad, at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street. He was placed 
 in quarantine hospital. 
 
 Temperature 106° F. Very feeble; feverish, with staggering 
 gait; all the white of the eyeballs deeply jaundiced; tongue dry, 
 nostrils dry, horns hot; is uneasy; lies down often. 
 
 August 21tJi. Temperature 105° F. The animal evidently sink- 
 ing; unable to stand, dying, and at 8:30 he was dead; sent to 
 rendering dock; examined within six hours, and found to present 
 the well defined lesions belono-ing- to the Texas cattle disease. 
 
 Another ox was taken to the rendering dock this day in a sur- 
 reptitious manner, with the hope of not being discovered. This 
 ox came from a slaughter house in Stanton street. An examination 
 revealed the same cause of death as in the former case. This 
 animal was purchased at Bull's Head on the 20th inst., during my 
 
 * Such inspection is now pursued at the Communipaw abattoir, under the authority of 
 the State of New Jersey, by a competent and careful inspector, and it will at once tran- 
 quilize the public fear of diseased meat from that point, and secure a healthy supply. 
 
1030 Annual Report of New York 
 
 absence from the city, and had been kept in a dark shed near the 
 slausjhter house in Stanton street durino^ the interval. 
 
 To return to the daily record of duties, I need to present in this 
 place the results of post mortem examinations which were made 
 upon the four remaining bullocks of Mr. J. T. Alexander's herd, 
 which had become convalescent at Communipaw. One of the five 
 sick bullocks which had generously been set aside by Mr. Fitch 
 (the agent of Mr. Alexander), for the uses of the Metropolitan 
 Board of Health in studying the disease, was slaughtered on the 
 17th, and results were observed which have been described in 
 the general report by Dr. Harris. It remains to present in this 
 place the post mortem inspection of the remaining four. They had 
 been about fifteen days apparently convalescent, and had been 
 three or four days very sick, with all the symptoms of the disease. 
 Efforts were made to obtain temperature observations daily, but 
 such observations were made with great difficulty, owing to their 
 restless and wild state; yet on the 9th, 10th and 11th, the tempe- 
 rature was taken once or more daily in the rectum of each one, and 
 was found to average about 105° F.; but in no one did it reach 
 107° F. The post mortem dissections of these four bullocks com- 
 menced at 2 p. M. 
 
 These four bullocks were seen to exhibit the usual symptoms of 
 the Texas disease at the first and second visits which the medical 
 officers made to the yards at Communipaw, viz: on the 8th and 
 9th of August. The lopped-horn steer, which was slaughtered on 
 the 16th, was, at the former dates, believed to be rapidly approach- 
 ing a fatal result, but these four others were only then beginning 
 to exhibit symptoms. They had been carefully fed, and in their 
 drink each of the bullocks had taken a little more than half a 
 drachm of carbolic acid (Calvert's best chrystalized) in two thou- 
 sand pai-ts of water, as before mentioned. 
 
 Record of Post Mortem Examinations. 
 
 Steer No. 1. Temperature of blood, 103® ; thirty-two ounces coagulated firmly 
 in twelve minutes. 
 
 Temperature of liver, 102" in center of right lobe, fifteen minutes after death. 
 
 Urine, specific gravity 1.009, clear, slightly alkaline; no albumen. 
 
 Faeces thin, but natural. 
 
 Lungs healthy. 
 
 Liver healthy; weight 12| pounds. 
 
 Gall bladder healthy. 
 
 Abomasum, over a large space, signs of recent great congestion. All this part 
 had a whitish appearance, as if the congested membrane had been recently acted 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1031 
 
 apon by carbolic acid. There were two or three superficial ulcers scattered about, 
 having the same appearance, as if almost healed. This whitish appearance was 
 not attributed by the gentlemen present to the action of the carbolic acid which 
 the animal had swallowed while under treatment ; it was considered, rather, to 
 consist of epithelium scales cast off during the progress of the reparajtive process 
 which seemed to be rapidly advancing. 
 
 Steer No. 2. Temperature of blood, 1031'' F. 
 
 Temperature of liver, 15 minutes after death, lOl^". 
 
 Urine, specific gravity, 1.022; alkaline; contained a good deal of albumen. 
 
 Kidneys remarkably healthy. 
 
 Heart healthy. 
 
 Liver weighed 15 5 pounds. 
 
 Abomasum suffused with a moderate blush, and sprinkled with miliary white 
 patches. 
 
 Mucous membrane darkly eroded in small patches, but evidently healings iu 
 pyloric extremity . 
 
 Rectum shows signs of recent congestion, but seems now very nearly natural. 
 
 Steer No. 3. (A tall, lean animal.) 
 Temperature of the blood at death, 103 5". 
 
 Temperature of middle of liver, 15 minutes after death, 103 75-100°. 
 Urine, specific gravity 1.025 ; neutral, inclined to alkaline. 
 Kidneys healthy. 
 Liver weighed 13 pounds. 
 
 Spleen weighed 4 pounds, being engorged and enlarged. 
 Stomach and contents in good condition. 
 
 Rectum gives evidence of recent congestion of great extent, which now is quite 
 limited. 
 
 Steer No. 4. Temperature of blood 103 i° ; coagulated in 15 minutes. 
 Temperature of right lobe of liver, 15 minutes after death, 1035°. 
 Urine, specific gravity 1005; neutral, or slightly alkaUne; no albumen. 
 Liver weighed 11 5 pounds. 
 
 Spleen weighed 31 pounds ; much engorged and slightly softened. 
 . Abomasum shows evidence of recent disease ; the papUae much enlarged at val- 
 vular portion. 
 About three inches from pylorus are seen recent and deep erosions cicatrizing. 
 
 August 28th, 29th and 30th. Inspected cattle at Bull's Head, as 
 usual. None found sick. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 30th, Dr. Harris, and Prof. Cope- 
 man, a veterinary surgeon, joined me at the National drove yards, 
 for. the purpose of taking specimens of blood from the cervical 
 veins of the remaining sick ox of Mr. Pile's herd. The temperar 
 ture that morning was 103° Fahr. Four vials, containing two 
 ounces each, were taken. Tjie result of the analyses, as given by 
 Prof Chandler, can be seen in the general report. This animal 
 seemed to improve temporarily after the loss of this small amount 
 
1032 Annual Report of New York 
 
 of blood, for his temperature on the subsequent mornmg was found 
 to be 2^° lower. 
 
 Aiigusl ^Ist. The following notice was issued in the morning 
 papers of New York city: 
 
 To Drovers and Butchers. 
 Under the authority conferred by the laws of the State of New York, enacted 
 April 20th, 1868, chapter 740, section 9, I hereby order and direct, that all beef 
 cattle and cows landing or arriving within the limits of the city of New Yorl^, be 
 yarded at the quarantine yards. One Hundredth street and Third avenue. Eleventh 
 avenue between Fortieth and Forty-first streets, city of New York, there to be 
 properly inspected. All cattle found traversing the streets of this city, without a 
 permit signed by the Assistant Commissioner, will be seized and taken to the 
 quarantine yards for inspection, unless so far diseased as to require other disposi- 
 tion. This order to take effect on and after Wednesday the 3d day of September, 
 
 1868. 
 
 (Signed) MOREAU MORRIS, 
 
 Assistant Commissioner. 
 
 The following supplemental order was issued on the 3d Sep- 
 tember, 1868: 
 
 Notice to Owners op Milch Cows. 
 A temporary quarantine yard is hereby established for milch cows at Chamber- 
 lin's yards, Nos. 70, 72 Robinson street, where they will be inspected daily, and 
 permits given. 
 
 Blank permits were provided, of which the following is a copy: 
 
 No New York, 186 . 
 
 I hereby certify that I have inspected head of cattle belonging 
 
 to and allow them to leave quarantine yard. 
 
 jtssistant Commissioner. 
 
 These were furnished whenever cattle left the quarantine enclo- 
 sures, and proved to have been of the utmost value as time 
 progressed. 
 
 Finding that cattle were surreptitiously taken to slaughter 
 houses without the proper inspection upon the hoof, on the 31st 
 August, 1868, the following communication was addressed to the 
 President of the Metropolitan Board of Police through the Presi- 
 dent of the Metropolitan Board of Health: 
 
 Hon. Thomas C. Acton, President Metropolitan Board of Police: f 
 
 Sir — Deeming it essential to secure the support and cooperation of your police 
 force in order to enforce the provisions of the order herewith enclosed (notice to 
 drovers and butchers), which I find necessary to issue to secure a proper inspec- 
 tion of all cattle entering this city, that the spread of infectious disease among 
 cattle, and the sale of diseased meat for food, may, as far as possible, be prevented, 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1033 
 
 I would respectfully solicit of your honorable board that an order be issued to its 
 officers, that all cattle found traversing the streets of New York city, without a 
 permit, signed by the assistant commissioner, be seized and brought to the quaran- 
 tine yards for proper inspection. 
 
 Having found by actual experience during the past week that it is impossible to 
 secure a proper inspection of cattle, arriving at the market, under present circum- 
 stances, and from the well ascertained fact that many diseased animals are taken 
 to slaughter houses without proper inspection, I am compelled, by the great 
 responsibility which is imposed upon me under the law of the State Commission, 
 and by the requirements of the Board of Health, as its oflBcer, to take such mea- 
 sures as will secure, as far as possible, a proper guarantee that no infectious 
 disease shall spread among cattle, and that diseased animals shall not be slaugh- 
 tered for food in this city. 
 
 Your cooperation to this end is therefore earnestly and respectfully solicited. 
 An early reply is desired, that prompt and decisive measures may be taken. 
 Very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 MOREAU MORRIS, 
 Assistant Commissioner for New York State. 
 
 The Metropolitan Board of Health, on the 2d September, 1868, 
 at a regular meeting, adopted the following: 
 
 Whereas, Assistant Commissioner Dr. Moreau Morris has found it necessary to 
 establish two quarantine yards in the city of New York, for the purpose of 
 securing the needed sanitary inspection of all cattle arriving within the city limits : 
 
 Resolved, That the Metropolitan Board of Health hereby expresses its unani- 
 mous approbation of this official action of Assistant Commissioner Morris, and 
 requests the Metropolitan Police Commissioners to enforce strict obedience to the 
 orders and regulations which Dr. Morris has established concerning such quaran- 
 tine inspection. 
 
 September 1st. At Bull's Head inspected 511 head of cattle. 
 In one drove of 27 head, belonging to Mr. Wm. Thompson, from 
 Illinois, there was a sick ox; he was removed to hospital, and kept 
 under observation for several days, until he recovered and was 
 discharged. 
 
 September ?>d. Commissioners Gen. M. R. Patrick and J. Stan- 
 ton Gould, and Assistant Commissioner Dr. Manlius Smith, their 
 secretary, met Dr. Harris and myself for conference, and on the 
 4th visited Communipaw (New Jersey), and the New York Rend- 
 ering Company's dock, and terminated the day at National drove 
 yards. One Hundredth street, where we slaughtered and dissected 
 the remaining ox of Pile's herd. Present at the post mortem exami- 
 nation: Drs. Harris, Stiles, Chandler, Howard, and Mr. Kohler 
 the artist, besides the Commissioners and Assistant Commissioner 
 before mentioned. 
 
1034 Annual Report of New York 
 
 This animal had. seemed to be but lightly attacked. The bloody' 
 urine, staggering gait, and increased temperature being the main 
 evidences of disease during life, while the chief evidence of dis- 
 ease, as discovered at post mortem examination in this case, con- 
 sisted in the deep discoloration of the muscles and the fat; the 
 presence of extensive erosion and sloughing in the pyloric portion 
 of the fourth stomach, and in the usual conditions which have 
 attended this disease in the lesions of the liver and spleen; and 
 most of all, in the microscopical evidence which had been obtained 
 on the 30th of August, from blood drawn from the cervical vein 
 and examined by Dr. Stiles; also, the blood taken at the time of 
 slaughter. 
 
 Sejptembet' Wi. There arrived at Bull's Head, a car-load of 19 
 head of cattle, from Illinois, bought by Baker, at Albany, and 
 shipped to care of Bright & Fagan. The whole lot not appeai"ing 
 well, were placed in quarantine hospital. The temperatures of 
 all were taken. 
 
 At 3:30 found an ox from this car-load unable to rise, presenting 
 the prominent symptoms of the cattle fever: head drooping near 
 the ground; eyes staring, dull; horns cold, body hot, breathing 
 rapid; pulse very feeble, unable to count it; coat rough, flies adhe- 
 rent, temperature of rectum 106^° F. Killed at 6:30 p. m. same 
 day at rendering dock. 
 
 Temperature, 105 1°. 
 
 Temperature of blood at slaughter, 103°. 
 
 Temperature of liver, 15 minutes after death, 106°. 
 
 Bladder contained 30 ounces of " black water ;" much distended ; mucous sur- 
 face of neck of bladder odematous ; inflamed. 
 
 Rectum contained small quantity of hard, rolled dung; the mucous membrane 
 engorged with black blood; rugae striated with blood. 
 
 Abomasum, whole inner surface a dark purplish color ; pyloric extremity deeply 
 eroded over about one-twentieth part of the surface ; the erosions also found on 
 the larger folds ; the upper part of the intestine in a like condition. 
 
 Kidneys enlarged ; color very dark ; engorged with dark blood throughout. 
 
 Gall bladder distended, with thick, dark, ropy bile. 
 
 Liver weighed 23 1 pounds, without fat or gallbladder; fatty, engorged with 
 blood. 
 
 Heart large, flabby ; blood extravasated between muscular and mucous surfaces 
 
 Fat a dark greenish-yellow color, without consistence. 
 
 Muscular tissue very dark mahogany color ; soft and flabby. 
 
 On this date (September 9th), temperature observations were 
 commenced upon this herd of Bright & Fagan's. (Mr. Baker, of 
 Albany, is said to be the owner and shipper.) 
 
State Agricultural Society. 
 
 1035 
 
 TEMPERATURE RECORD of nineteen head of Cattle shipped to care 
 Bright Sf Fagan, 5ih September, 1868, by Baker, of Albany, from Buffalo. 
 Arrived at Bull's Head, N. Y., September 9th. 
 
 No. 
 
 Sept. 10. 
 
 Sept. 11. 
 
 Sept. 12. 
 
 Sept. 14. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 1 
 2 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 9 
 
 10 
 11 
 12 
 13 
 14 
 15 
 16 
 17 
 18 
 19 
 
 102 » 
 
 1021 
 
 1021 
 
 lou 
 
 102 
 
 1021 
 
 102^ 
 
 102i 
 
 103 
 
 103 
 
 lOli 
 
 102^ 
 
 1021 
 
 102^ 
 
 104 
 
 102^ 
 
 1021 
 
 102 e 
 
 102 
 
 101 
 
 1021 
 
 1021 
 
 102 
 
 103 
 
 102^ 
 
 104 
 
 1031 
 
 102^ 
 
 102 
 
 102 
 
 I02h 
 
 1021 
 
 102 
 
 102 
 
 101 " 
 
 102 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 100 
 
 102 
 
 102i 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 ion 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 lOU 
 
 101^ 
 
 lOU 
 
 104 
 
 1011" 
 
 1011 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 lOU 
 
 lOU 
 
 101^ 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 lOU 
 
 101 
 
 1001 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 
 lOU 
 
 This lot of 19 head, losing 
 one, were discharged from 
 hospital on the 18th Sep- 
 tember, well. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lOlh 
 
 slaughter. 
 
 
 
 September 11th. Mr. Dayton, the inspector, and myself, found 
 at One Hundredth street, a bullock of the Bright & Fagan herd, 
 with symptoms of the disease, bloody urine, &c. He was slaughtered 
 at 4 p. M. 
 
 Record of Post Mortem. — Temperature of rectum before slaughter, 107° F. 
 (Temperature at 9 A. M., 1071".) Temperature of blood flowing from aorta, 107*^ ; 
 temperature of liver, nine minutes after death, immediately upon opening the abdo- 
 minal cavity, and plunging the thermometer in the center of the liver, 108" ; weight 
 of liver, 18 1 pounds ; color of this organ, a mottled and ochrey coffee au lait color. 
 Specific gravity of blood, 1.021 ; gall bladder excessively distended, and containing 
 S pounds, 10 ounces of thick flaky bile; specific gravity of this fluid, 1.018. The 
 spleen weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and was ecchymotic in appearance, and almost 
 diffluent in its substance. The kidneys weighed 1 pound, 8 ounces each. 
 
 Septembe)' 12th. Early in the morning, police officers of the First 
 precinct, telegraphed to Dr. Harris' residence, and to the office of 
 the Board of Health, that twelve cattle had died during the night 
 at Pier 12, East river. 
 
 Taking Capt. Lord, of the Sanitary squad, Dr. Harris proceeded 
 to that pier, and to the steamer "Fah Kee," which lay on the north 
 side of that pier, and on its outer end, and they there ascertained 
 that fourteen bullocks had died on board or upon the dock, aft&r 
 being taken off the ship, during the night and morning. There 
 were twenty-six remaining alive; these were being disembarked. It 
 
1036 Annual Report of New York 
 
 was immediately ascertained that this herd of forty fat bullocks had 
 been purchased and driven down from One Hundredth street during 
 the previous day (September 11th), and that they had been care- 
 fully put on board the " Fah Kee" before dark; that the portion 
 of the ship in which they were placed was the main deck, forward 
 of the engine; that they had been purchased by a Mr. Harvey, the 
 contractor who supplies the Bermuda market, for use of the troops, 
 «fec., but that they had undoubtedly come from one or two droves 
 recently arrived from some point west of Toledo via Buffalo. 
 
 The twenty-six surviving bullocks were ordered to be carefully 
 driven to the Battery to remain until sunset, as the day was exces- 
 sively hot. 
 
 I inspected these cattle at the Battery, and ordered them to be 
 removed to Bull's Head during the cool hours of Saturday night 
 and Sunday morning, and took steps immediately to discover what- 
 ever could be ascertained concerning the origin of the herd. Found 
 that they came from Illinois in a drove of one hundred and eight 
 head, brought by "Farlow," and the whole lot were bought by 
 Joseph Williams and William Thompson, in Albany. 
 
 Before night of the 12th, fourteen head were dead, and during 
 the following two days, three more died, making seventeen in all, 
 dead out of the lot of forty head. The remaining twenty-three 
 head were placed in hospital at Bull's Head until the 17th, when 
 they were removed to quarantine pasture near King's Bridge, 
 where they remained until 8th October (three weeks), when they 
 were released, being entirely convalescent, and appearing to b» 
 well. On the 12th October following, they were sent to Bermuda, 
 and arrived in good condition. 
 
 Post mortem examination revealed the cause of death unmis- 
 takably as being of the Texas cattle disease. 
 
 The following is a concise abstract of notes made in ten of the 
 post mortem examinations which were held September 12th, 13th 
 and 14th, upon the "Fah Kee" cattle: 
 
 No. 1. Dissected at 5 p.m., six hours after death. Died at 11 a.m., soon after 
 being taken out of the vessel. 
 
 The temperature at IO5 a.m., as examined in the presence of Dr. Harris, half 
 an hour before death, at pier 14, was 110° Fahr. 
 
 On post mortem examination, the spleen was found normal in appearance; 
 weight, 1 pound 7 ounces. Urine, specific gravity 1.019. Weight of hver, with 
 gall bladder, 141 pounds. 
 
 No. 2. Weight of liver, without gall, 14 lbs. The spleen and kidneys were dis- 
 organized. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1037 
 
 No. 3. The paunch and diverticulum moderately filled with undigested materials. 
 The omasum and abomasura nearly empty. The maniplies of omasum have per- 
 fect papulae, but their blood-vessels are deeplj^ injected throughout with extrava- 
 sation of disorganized blood-vessels beneath the mucous membrane in several of 
 these maniplies. The abomasum shows throughout the whole pyloric portion 
 cicatrized ulcerations, but the membranes are so much altered since death that the 
 full extent of these changes are not easily described. 
 
 No. 4. Exhibits more extensive erosions and recent cicatrices than No. 3. The 
 abomasum was distended with black blood and some of the ordinary contents. 
 
 No. 5. Resembles No. 4 in every particular. Recent cicatrices covering the 
 tubular portion of the abomasum from the pylorus back to the folds. 
 
 The kidneys of the whole three were in a state of diffluent decomposition . Two 
 patches of the folding or omasal portion of the abomasum appear to have been 
 gangrenous before death; deep ecchymosed if not gangrenous. 
 
 No. C. Was like No. 3, in every respect. 
 
 No. 7. Is the red bullock seen alive by Dr. Harris at the vessel, and whose tem- 
 perature at rectum was 108° in the moribund state, at 101 A. m., yesterday. 
 
 Post mortem at 11 A. M., 25 hours after death. Stomachs in a fair state of pre- 
 servation. The abomasum contained a small amount of ordinary material, and 
 about a pint of thick, tarry blood. There were recent and partial cicatrizations 
 and extensive erosions throughout the tubular portions of this stomach. The 
 liver and kidneys were of a chocolate color, containing a little blood. 
 
 No. 8. Is the bullock Dr. Harris saw rescued from the water [into which it fell 
 while being lifted off from the deck of the " Fah Kee "]. This bullock was slaugh- 
 tered at the rendering dock, when in the moribund state. The temperature 
 (immediately upon opening the abdomen), in the fat of the kidney, was lOS'', 
 and in liver, lOSj''; the stomachs were moderately filled. The omasum showed 
 no extravasated blood, but the epithelium peeled oif readily at every point. The 
 abomasum contained but a small amount of its ordinary material, and this was 
 mixed with extravasated blood, or the coloring matter of the blood. The fimbri- 
 ated or folding portion presented upon several of its margins and folds long patches, 
 erosions, and sloughs, and throughout the entire circumference of the upper por- 
 tion of the pyloric, or tubular section, old erosions partially healed or recently 
 cicatrized, studded the surface. Specimens were saved. 
 
 September \4ih. Slaughter and dissection of two that survived to this date. 
 
 No. 9. Steer from vessel (that had fallen out of drove at 14th st. at 11 p. m., Sept. 
 12th), killed at 4:45 p. m. Temperature of rectum just before slaughter IQOhp. 
 Temperature of blood at slaughter, 101|°. Temperature of liver, 15 minutes after 
 death, 101 5*^. The rectum, commencing two inches from the anus, on its inter- 
 nal aspect, presents two deep ulcers; one extending five inches in the direction of 
 the longitudinal rugae ; another extending about an inch. Weight of liver, 223 
 pounds. Spleen eiigorged and enlarged, weighing 3 pounds. 
 
 No. 10. The steer from Robinson street (fell out of the drove when being driven 
 up from the Battery, and was allowed to remain until this hour for slaughter). 
 Liver, 223 pounds. The abomasum contained patches of the characteristic ero- 
 sions, some recent, and some nearly healed. 
 
 The tubular rugae of rectum engorged throughout their whole extent. 
 
1038 Annual Report of New York 
 
 8e]ptemher 15th. During the inspection at Bull's Head this day, 
 a sick steer was discovered in the drove belonging to Mr. P. F. 
 Carey. Temperature of rectum, one hundred and seven degrees 
 Fahrenheit. A valuation of eighty dollars, contingent upon condi- 
 tions to be discovered, having been made, he was ordered to be 
 slaughtered. The temperature record of this steer this day, was as 
 follows: i 
 
 8 o'clock A. M., 104* Fahr., at 1 p. m., lOS*^, and at 1:30 o'clock p. m., he was 
 slaughtered in presence of several inspectors of the Board of Health, who had 
 been detailed this day to make investigations in the slaughter houses, with reference 
 to diseased animals and meats. Temperature of blood flowing from carotids, 106 1° 
 F. ; of liver, fifteen minutes after death, 1055° F. 
 
 Post Mortem Appearances : Omental fat, brownish yellow ; other fat, lightet 
 yellow; muscular tissue, dark red. 
 
 Liver weighed 16 j pounds, and presented excessive fatty degeneration, engorged 
 with blood, softened. 
 
 Gall bladder distended, with thick, dark flaky bile. 
 
 Urine normal. 
 
 Abomasum : upon mucous surfaces, dark, irregular shaped, elongated erosions, 
 some in process of cicatrization, and upon the pyloric portion, several large cicatrices 
 were se«n, where the eroded surface had healed ; spleen enlarged ; weight 21 pounds, 
 congested. 
 
 Kidneys engorged with blood, color dark; weight of both, 5 pounds. 
 
 Rectum presented a few points of inflamed rugas. 
 
 Omasum, papilae contracted; surfaces dry, filled with hard cakes of food. 
 
 September 11th, ISf.h, 19th, 20lh. Inspected cattle at Bull's Head, 
 and also made examinations at slaughter houses with reference to 
 diseased animals, with the detail of inspectors of the Metropolitan 
 Board of Health. The results of those inspections were reported 
 to the Board of Health on the 22d day of September in detail.* 
 
 September 2Uh. A dead steer was sent to rendering dock from 
 Bull's Head, that was found dead in the yard, having arrived from 
 Albany the day previous. He was examined on the 25th at the 
 dock. 
 
 September 2Qth. Quarantined sixty-nine head of Texas cattle at 
 Bull's Head, owned by Henry Livingston, looking badly; some 
 suspicion of disease among them. They were released on the 28th, 
 finding none sick. * 
 
 This day removed to hospital three steers, one white, owned by 
 Westheimer & Myers; released on the 28th. 
 
 * An abstract of the report here referred to, is published in the report of the Metropolis 
 tan Board of Health for 1868. See Appendix. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1039 
 
 Same day, two more, red and white, belonging to Mr. D. Adler; 
 white, released on the 28th. 
 
 Slaughtered a red steer at Bull's Head, owned by Mr. V. Samuels, 
 valued at forty dollars. Also slaughtered another steer at same 
 place, owned by David Adler. 
 
 The first steer had been sick in hospital for several days, and his 
 temperature taken as follows (he had a persistent cough, dullness 
 on percussion over the lungs with submucous rate): 
 
 Temperature Observations. 
 
 Morn. Noon. Evening. 
 
 23d 105 o 104 o 
 
 24th 103|O 104 o I04^o 
 
 25th 102|O 104F 103 o 
 
 26th 103F Slaughtered. 
 
 Temperature of blood at slaughter, 105° F. 
 
 Lungs adherent to pleura; pneumonia in both lungs; pleuro-pneumonia, old 
 phthisis, and also the peculiar lesions of convalescents from Texas disease in liver, 
 spleen, abomasum and rectum. 
 
 The second case examined was slaughtered in the dying state, 
 and presented typical conditions in all the internal organs. Prof. 
 Law, of Cornell University; Dr. Harris and Dr. E. H. Janes, of 
 the Metropolitan Board of Health; the artist, Mr. Kohler, and 
 many others were present. 
 
 Bullock No. 1. Killed at Bull's Head, September 26th, at 2:10 p. m. 
 
 Temperature of liver, eighteen minutes after death, lOSj^; weight, 23^ pounds. 
 Spleen very large, "weighing 8 pounds 14 ounces, and its length 2 feet 6| inches and 
 8 inches wide. 
 
 The duodenum inflamed and oedematous through its whole extent, and its 
 mucous membrane soft — so soft that it was scraped off by lightly passing the nail 
 over it. 
 
 The ductus communis choledicus, on opening, was found to be inflamed through- 
 out, and having longitudinal bloody streaks like fresh ecchymoses of blood ; at one 
 point was found what seemed to be a little ulcer recently sloughed. One kidney 
 weighed 2 pounds 13 ounces; the other, 2 pounds 14 1 ounces. 
 
 These viscera were sketched, on the spot, by Mr. Kohler. The blood and bile 
 were subjected to chemical analysis. 
 
 No. 2. Temperature of blood of aorta, at death, 1051°. Temperature of livei, 
 "fifteen minutes after death, 106° ; the liver was but little above the normal size. 
 The spleen weighed 2 pounds and three-quarters. The bile presented only slight 
 characteristics of the disease. The conclusion was that this bullock was conva- 
 lescent when attacked with pleuro-pneumonia. The disease in the chest was very 
 extensive, and would necessarily have proved fatal in the course of a few days, 
 owing to the great effusion in the pleuritic cavity. 
 
 JSeptember 27th. Visited Communipaw with Professor E. Law, 
 
1040 AnnujLL Report of New York 
 
 Drs. E, Harris, E. H. Janes, and others, and witnessed the slaughter 
 of several Texan cattle. 
 
 Dissections of ordinary Texas cattle, at Communipaw, September 
 27th, that presented an unhealthy appearance while living: 
 
 Bullock No. 1. Estimated gross weight of bullock, 1,500 pounds. Temperature 
 of blood at slaughter, 100°. Abomasum : folds normal in appearance, presenting 
 a few slight recent abrasions in the lower section of the folds, and a few old cica- 
 trices. The pyloric portion, like the folds, normal in color, soft, marked exten- 
 sively over the whole tubular section with cicatrices and old sloughs, most of them 
 extending longitudinally upon the rugaae. The length of the cicatrices varies from 
 an inch and a half to a quarter of an inch, a few not yet covered with epithelium. 
 The spleen normal. The rectum perfectly healthy. 
 
 No. 2. Spleen large, but natural in appearance. 
 
 No. 3. Spleen rather large, though healthy in appearance. The abomasum — 
 color of mucous membrane normal. 
 
 No. 4. Spleen rather large, and darker than natural. Extensive old cicatrices 
 of the abomasum, about one-sixth of the whole tubular portion marked with these 
 cicatrices. 
 
 No. 5. The abomasum — the color of the mucous membrane over the folds rather 
 darker than natural ; mucous membrane soft, but untouched by any disease, so 
 fer as its present appearances are concerned. The tubular portion, covered over 
 about one-fifth part of its surface with cicatrices ; only a few of these have yet 
 received an investment of epithelium. 
 
 No. 6. The abomasum : very similar to that of the others, with congestion of the 
 folds, presenting cicatrices and a few sloughs near the pylorus, one of which had 
 extended down to the muscular structure, much contracted in circumference, heal- 
 ing not yet completed. 
 
 No. 7. Shows no evidence of having suffered from the disease. The abomasum 
 showing venous engorgement. Spleen smaller than in actual disease. 
 
 No. 8. Abomasum shows the common erosions with black surface. The pyloric 
 portion exhibits the erosions, but somewhat more convalescent than the others. 
 
 No. 9. Temperature of blood at slaughter, 102°. 
 
 No. 10. Temperature of blood at slaughter 99°. The ductus communis chole- 
 dochus was examined and found thickened. The abomasum contained some 
 extensive erosions; some in the pylorus. The spleen vvas contracted in shape and 
 very dark colored. 
 
 No. 11. Abomasum exhibits highly congested venous engorgement, with exten-~ 
 sive old erosions; extensive cicatrices of the pyloric portion. 
 
 These eleven post morteras were made for the purpose of wit- 
 nessing the condition of the viscera, etc., in a herd that had arrived 
 by way of Abelene, Kansas, and which had been pastured for two 
 months in Illinois without any discoverable signs of infection of 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1041 
 
 disease, except that a few of the steers had a sickly and emaciated 
 appearance. 
 
 September 28th. Inspected cattle at Bull's Head; released 69 
 bead of Texans, belonging to Henry Livingston, in quarantine for 
 two days. 
 
 October Qth. In examining cattle at Bull's Head, found a white 
 ox in yard, belonging to S. B. Richardson. He came from near 
 Lafayette, Indiana, in a drove of 174 head bought of Clafner, 
 at Buffalo; 57 head came to New York, and 117 went to Bergen, 
 New Jersey. When found, this ox lay groaning in distress; rectum 
 protruding, very red; making constant and painful efforts to defa- 
 cate, without being able to pass anything; restless, lying down and 
 rising frequently, going to the trough for water every few minutes. 
 Removed to hospital; temperature 1041*^. He was kept under 
 observation; recorded the following temperature, Fahrenheit scale: 
 
 October 6th 1041° 
 
 do 7th 104|O 
 
 do 8th 104|C 
 
 do 9th 1041° 
 
 do 10th 103F 
 
 do 11th 1030 
 
 The owner supposing him to be suffering from constipation (he 
 did not chew any cud during the six days), was allowed to treat 
 him as he desired. Injections per rectum of various kinds were 
 resorted to, but without relief. On the 11th October, showing 
 evident signs of collapse, he was valued at $40, and slaughtered, 
 in presence of Drs. S. Smith, E. Harris, E. H. Janes, F. J. Randall, 
 and myself, together with Mr. Kohler, the artist, and many others. 
 
 The notes upon this case, taken at the time of slaughter, are as 
 follows: 
 
 Respiration 26 per minute. Temperature of rectum, 1031°. Slaughtered at 
 eight minutes pastil, a.m. Temperature of blood flowing from aorta, 101°; 
 temperature of rectum, 1001°; temperature of liver, 100°. Specific gravity of 
 blood, 1.055. 
 
 For fifteen minutes after death, the blood from the aorta remained fluid ; began 
 to coagulate twenty minutes after flowing from the aorta. Spleen, 2 pounds 11| 
 ounces. Liver, 18 pounds 4 ounces, divested of the bile and gall bladder. It 
 appeared fatty throughout. (Subsequent examination proved that, like the liver 
 of the bullock that was slaughtered on the 26th September, the inorbid alteration 
 consisted as much in a "waxy" degeneration, as in the fatty deposit.) Minute 
 biliary vessels visible everywhere, the color resembling "cafe au lait" of an ochre 
 hue. 
 
 This is one of the few chronically diseased cattle that, after ineffectual attempts 
 [Ag.] - JoQ 
 
1042 
 
 Annual Report of New York 
 
 at convalescence, became deeply jaundiced and angemic. The spleen, the liver, the 
 blood, the bile and the fatty and cellular tissues bear unmistakable marks of the 
 disease. Dr. Harris had the artist sketch the morbid appearances. (See plate 
 23 in General Report.) 
 
 This was a typical case of the Texas disease, and revealed a 
 large mass of cellular tissue around the rectum, and in which the 
 kidneys were imbedded, which upon microscopic examination 
 revealed an abundance of hfematoidine crystals. 
 
 October 11th. Three steers found sick; two of Bright and Fagan's, 
 and one of Williams and Richardson's; removed to hospital. 
 TEMPERATURE RECORDS as follows : 
 
 Date. 
 
 Lop Horn. —B.&F. 
 
 Spotted. — B. 
 
 &F. 
 
 Crumple Hor^t. 
 W. & R. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 A. M. 
 
 M. 
 
 p. M. 
 
 A. M. 
 
 M. 
 
 p. m. 
 
 A. M. 
 
 M. 
 
 p. M. 
 
 17th 
 
 18th 
 
 19th 
 
 20th 
 
 21st 
 
 22d 
 
 23d 
 
 24th 
 
 1011° 
 1001 
 100 
 100 
 
 101 ° 
 101 
 
 lOOi 
 
 100 ° 
 
 100 
 
 1001 
 
 1011° 
 
 101 
 
 101 
 100 
 100 
 100 
 100 
 99 
 
 101 ° 
 101^ 
 101 i 
 101^ 
 101 
 101 
 991 
 100 
 
 102° 
 
 101 
 
 102 
 
 "99" 
 
 100 
 
 98 
 
 released. 
 
 1041° 
 1041 
 104 
 103 
 
 1031° 
 103i 
 1031 
 1001 
 
 102 ° 
 
 102 
 
 103^ 
 
 released. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 On the morning of October 17th, a fine fat bullock was abandoned 
 near the National drove yards, and was carried to* the rendering 
 dock, and slaughtered during the afternoon. Tlie animal was 
 slaughtered when in a moribund condition. Temperature of rectum, 
 blood, and of the liver was one hundred and one and a half degrees; 
 weight of liver, twenty-four pounds; gall bladder filled with thick 
 flaky bile; weight of spleen, five and three-quarter pounds, dis- 
 organized; bladder filled with bloody urine; rectum contained a 
 thick, black fluid, resembling black vomit; the fourth stomach was 
 eroded and ulcerated; the kidneys were engorged to seventy-five 
 per cent more than their natural size, and were beginning to be 
 disorganized; lungs were healthy; no coagulated blood was found 
 in the heart or great vessels. 
 
 From October 17th to- 22d, daily inspections of all cattle arriving 
 were continued; no new eases found. 22d. Commissioner Gould 
 having learned some facts with reference to a dairy herd that had 
 become infected at Hamptonburgh, Orange county, desired me to 
 go with him and prosecute an investigation into the circumstances.* 
 
 * Dr. Montfort, the liealth oflacer of Newburgh, who had been vigilantly watching the 
 movement of suspected cattle arriving at that city. from Albany, unexpectedly discovered 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1043 
 
 "We, therefore, proceeded to Newburgh, and were joined by Dr. R. 
 V. K. Montfort, the Assistant Commissioner for Orange county. 
 We then visited Goshen, and from thence went to Hamptonburgh, 
 where the following facts were elicited: 
 
 On the 25th day of August, there arrived at Hamptonburgh, 
 Orange county, N- Y., forty-four head of native cows and heifers 
 directly from Paiuesville, Lake county, Ohio, on the line of the 
 Lake Shore road, over which Texas cattle frequently travel. They 
 were purchased in BuiFaio for a Mr. Hodge,- a cattle dealer at 
 Goshen, Orange county, N. Y. On the morning of arrival one 
 of the cows was observed to be unwell, and died in a few hours. 
 The symptoms observed were as follows: "The head hanging low 
 down, gait staggering; appeared very weak, and finally fell down, 
 death supervening soon afterward." August 29th (four days after), 
 two cows were purchased of the same lot by Wm. Moul, apparently 
 well. They were driven about six miles, and were turned into the 
 pasture among the dairy cows of Mr. John Moul. Here they 
 remained from ^Saturday, the evening of the 29th, until Tuesday 
 morning, the 1st of September (three nights and two days), when 
 they were removed some miles distant. September 8th, one of 
 these cows died. The other was then taken back to Hamptonburgh, 
 the place of purchase, as under suspicion, and on the 10th of Sep- 
 
 that the Texas cattle disease had made its appearance on the southwestern margin of that 
 county, near Hamptonburgh. The following is his first account of that outbreak : 
 
 ''Newbtjegh, September 11th, 1868. 
 •*' E. Harris, M. D., Metropolitan Board of Health: 
 
 " Dear Doctor — Two ear-loads of cattle (forty in number), said to be from Ohio, were 
 purchased at Montgomery, in this county, on the 28th day of August, and were driven 
 some five or six miles, to Hamptonburgh, the same morning, arriving about 9 or 10 o'clock. 
 Soon after, one of the finest cows in the herd was taken sick, and died before night. 
 Two of ttie herd wer-e ijought by William Moul, a neighboring farmer, and were left three 
 «r four days upon the farm of John Moul, grazing with his dairy cows. They were then 
 removed. Ten days after their purchase, one of these cows sickened, and died in a few 
 hours. Thre« days iater, the second cow also sickened and died in a few hours. Satur- 
 day, September 12th, one of the cows of John Moul was taken sick. She died on Sunday. 
 Monday night another cow of John Moul sickened, and died Tuesday afternoon. Both of 
 these had grazed with the two left for a few days by William Moul. The remainder of 
 John Moul's cattle are still healthy. Fifteen bullocks, out of two car-loads, are yet ia 
 the neighborhood — aU well. Two were purchased by a Mr. Carroll; one is well, the other 
 sick; appears very weak, pants heavily on the least exertion, gives milk, but in small 
 quantities; feeds poorly; had a calf two weeks ago. The owner says she never cleared, 
 and ascribes her illness to that cause. Eleven of the same load were sold to a farmer near 
 Montgomery, and when last heard from were all well. I know nothing of the balance (9). 
 Hamptonburgh is an old cattle stand, where a large part of the farmers of that portion of 
 Orange county purchase their stock. Yours, truly, 
 
 (Signed) "E. V. K. MONTFORT." 
 
1044 Annual Report of Nmv York 
 
 tember also died. The symptoms of disease of this cow were 
 recognized as the same as those that had been seen among cattle 
 at Buffalo that had died with the " Texas fever," and were as fol- 
 lows: "Drooping of head and ears; staggering gait; eyes dull and 
 staring; great debility; rough coat, and generally such appearances 
 as are not observed in the ordinary diseases of cattle " with which 
 they had been familiar for years. Upon tracing what had happened 
 from the exposure of the dairy cows upon John Moul's farm, where 
 these two cows had been pastured for a short time, we found that 
 upon the 12th of September (thirteen days after exposure), one of 
 the milch cows was found to be ailing. Her milk had been falling 
 off in quantity for three or four days; she appeared uneasy, fre- 
 quently lying down; very thirsty; would not feed; head drooping 
 near the ground; standing braced with the hind legs; coat rough, 
 dung natural, urine not noticed; no cough, and on the night of the 
 13th died. On the 14th (fifteen days after exposure), another cow 
 •was observed to be sick, presenting symptoms the same as the 
 former, with the addition that she seemed indifferent to passing 
 objects, remaining alone by herself, and passed bloody discbarges 
 from the bowels, and dark, bloody urine; milk entirely suppressed, 
 although she gave the usual quantity the night before. She had 
 been suffering with hoof distemper three weeks previously, but 
 had entirely recovered from it. She died on the 15th (the follow- 
 ing day). The 18th of September (nineteen days after exposure), 
 the third cow was sick, aiid during that day was found dead in the 
 pasture. Pier milk had been diminishing in quantity three or four 
 days previous to death, and she had presented much the same 
 symptoms as those previously affected. These cows unfortunately 
 were not examined after death, but were deeply buried. 
 
 The two cows that had died of the original herd were not buried 
 sufficiently deep, as during the process of decomposition after death, 
 the thin covering of earth was thrown off, leaving the carcass of one 
 of them exposed. Two pairs of oxen and two young heifers were 
 allowed to pasture in this field where the dead cows were buried, 
 and one of the pairs of oxen was used in "hauling the dead cow. 
 About two weeks after, one of the oxen was found to be sick, and 
 presented the same symptoms before described, from which, how- 
 ever, he finally recovered. Another ox belonging to the second 
 pair was found dead, on the 21st of September,^ in the field, being 
 twenty-eight days from the burial of the first cow. 
 
 October 24:th. The two heifers, one a yearling, the other two 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1045 
 
 years old, which had been pasturing in the same field where Iny 
 the dead cows, and where the oxen were sick also, were found 
 dead. They had not been discovered to be suffering with any 
 illness. A post mortem examination of these revealed the livers 
 enlarged; spleens enlarged more than twice their natural size, 
 engorged with blood, in a state of decomposition; kidneys engorged 
 with blood, softened almost to decomposition; bladders containing 
 a very small quantity of urine of a healthy consistence. All the 
 other organs were found in a healthy condition, except the aboma- 
 sums, or fourth stomachs, which presented several superficial ulcers 
 upon the thick or pyloric extremity, as well as some lines of ulcer- 
 ation among the folds of the thinner portions. The carcases, after 
 examination, were thoroughly burned up. 
 
 From these investigations, which were carefnlly and thoroughly 
 made by the State Commissioner, J. Stanton Gould, and Assistant 
 State Commissioner, Drs. R. V. K. Montfort and Moreau Morris, 
 there can be no doubt that the drove originally from Painesville, 
 Ohio, had been infected with the malignant poison, either before 
 starting or during their journey, and that they had communicated 
 the disease to the dairy cows and oxen at Hamptonburgh. These 
 dairy cows had not been off from the farm of Mr. John Moul for 
 the past two years, and had not been exposed to any strange cattle 
 at any other time. The oxen had been in the town and county for 
 several years, and had not been exposed in any other manner. 
 That these cattle had the "Texas fever," all the testimony of per- 
 sons who had observed them, and by one who was familiar with 
 the symptoms, having frequently seen cattle suffering with the dis- 
 ease at Bufialo, must convince any candid mind. The remarks of 
 several persons (old dealers in cattle) that these sick ones did not 
 appear to have any disease with which they had been familiar, 
 afforded another proof, that this was an importation of some new 
 and malignant disease among them. Two more milch cows died, 
 one on the 26th and the other on the 28th October. 
 
 The subjoined letter from Dr. Montfort, gives the history of 
 these cases: ' 
 
 Newburgh, November 9, 1868. 
 Moreau Morris, M. D. : 
 
 Dear Doctor — We have had two new cases of Texas fever since I saw you. 
 The first case after you were here occurred on Monday, the 26th of October. She 
 was observed to be sick on Monday, with the usual premonitory symptoms, 
 although they were so slight as readily to escape the observation of a casual 
 observer. She gave a fair quantity of milk at night. She died about 7g A. jr., 
 
1046 Annual Report of New Yojrk 
 
 Tuesday. A post mortem made about eight hours after death gave the following 
 results: Flesh very dark; fat of reddish yellow color ; lungs perfectly healthy; 
 heart healthy ; spleen enlarged to three times its natural size, engorged with blood 
 and disorganized; liver slightly enlarged and fatty; gall bladder very full, con- 
 tents but little changed ; kidneys natural ; fourth stomach reddened and inflamed, 
 particularly at pyloric extremity, with ulcers ; mucous coat softened, peeling off . 
 readily ; bladder entirely empty and contracted, feeling almost like a ball ; rectum 
 very much inflamed; mucous membrane softened. The period of incubation could 
 not have been less than thirty-five days. Another cow died on Wednesday night, 
 October 28th. She was first seen to be sick in the morning. Nothing particular 
 was observed, excepting the arching of the back, and great restlessness. No post 
 
 mortem. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 (Signed) R. V. K. MONTFORT. 
 
 REMARKS UPON THE CASES IN ORANGE COUNTY. 
 
 This remarkable group of cases in Orange county justly awakened 
 a profound interest, and induced the most searching inquiries con- 
 nected with the history and exposure of the herd in which these 
 deaths occurred. The exceptional characteristics presented by the 
 sickness in those herds, called for the most exact diagnosis of the 
 nature of the disease. First — Cattle that were supposed to be 
 natives of the Western States, and that had arrived from Paines- 
 ville, Ohio, in the ordinary course of traffic and transportation, 
 began to show symptoms of disease within a week from the time of 
 their shipment from Painesville, Ohio. The true Texas cattle dis- 
 ease, as has been shown in Dr. Harris' correspondence, was at the 
 time prevailing in Summit county, Ohio. That these cattle, which 
 w^ere at least reputed to be native stock, and communicated the 
 disease to the healthy herds of the district with which they were 
 pastured in common, did communicate the same kind of fatal dis- 
 ease that killed several of their own number, does not admit of 
 the shadow of a doubt. In the absence of those exact methods 
 of investigation which the medical anatomists pursued in our cities, 
 we do not hesitate to take the straightforward testimony of expe- 
 rienced herdmen who saw the disease and described it to us. 
 
 In the two post mortem examinations which Health Officer Dr. 
 Montfort and I made at Hamptonburgh, in the month of October, 
 we were able to recognize the disease by the usual post mortem 
 evidences, and better still, by the particularity and completeness 
 with which the entire history of events and symptoms of these 
 cattle were related to us. Here was the history of eight fatal 
 cases of the Texas cattle disease in three diffisrent herds, in which 
 no ground of doubt existed, that exposure to the Western cattle con- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1047 
 
 stituted the starting point and source of the disease; and viewing 
 these eight cases purely upon medical evidence alone, we might 
 safely conclude, reasoning by exclusion, that the Western cattle 
 l)rouo;ht the disease into these herds. 
 
 The points we would notice specially in these cases occurring in 
 Orange county are: 
 
 1st. The evidence concerning the period of incubation, gives an 
 interval from fourteen to twenty-eight days. 
 
 2d. From careless and imperfect burial of dead diseased cows, 
 the infection was communicated to other healthy native stock; and 
 
 3d. That the evidence of the contagion of the Texas cattle dis- 
 ease being communicated from native to other native cattle in this 
 group, is beyond a doubt. 
 
 THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE HYGIENIC CONDITION OP BEEF 
 CATTLE OFFERED TO THE METROPOLITAN MARKETS, AS FOUND 
 IN THE SLAUGHTER HOUSES AT A PARTICULAR TIME. 
 
 Numerous facts having come to the knowledo;e of the Board of 
 Health, concerning diseased meat being oftered for sale in the public 
 markets, a simultaneous inspection at a large number of slaughter 
 houses during the slaughter of cattle, for a limited period, was 
 deemed necessary. 
 
 On the 15th day of September, the following order was issued 
 to eleven sanitary and assistant sanitary inspectors of the Board: 
 
 ICopy.-] 
 Metropolitan Board of Health, 1 
 
 New York, September 15, 1868. ) 
 To Dr. Moreatj Morris, Sanitary Inspector M. B. H. : 
 
 Sir — I have called upon the acting Superintendent of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Health, Dr. Horatio Paine, to call together a force of inspectors, twelve in 
 number, viz : Strang, Howard, "Wadsworth, Demainville, Randall, W. V. White, 
 Lee, Janes, Thayer, Fisk and Colton, and Deputy Registrar Stiles, to meet at this 
 office at 11 o'clock to-morrow, September 16th, for special duty of inspection, 
 subject to your special direction, upon the matter of diseased cattle and diseased 
 meat in our midst. You will proceed with this inspection at once, and report. 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 (Signed) GEO. B. LINCOLN, 
 
 President Metropolitan Board of Health. 
 
 The following named gentlemen were thus detailed: Inspectors 
 Drs. Janes and Lee, of New York; Dr. Fisk, Thayer and Colton, 
 of Brooklyn ; assistant-inspectors Drs. Howard, Strang, White, 
 Wadsworth, Demainville and Randall, of New York; and were 
 directed under specific instructions and uniform methods, to make 
 
1048 Annual Report of New York 
 
 examinations at the different butcheries in their respective districts. 
 All proceeded at once to the dock of the New York Rendering 
 Company, foot of Thirty-eighth street, North river, where an animal 
 sick with the Texas cattle disease was slaughtered in their presence, 
 and carefully dissected. Illustrations of the specific lesions of the 
 disease, which had been made from previous dissections of slaugh- 
 tered animals, were also exhibited to them, with explanations, so 
 that their examinations could be made understandingly. 
 
 The investigation was continued for three days consecutively, 
 with the following results: 
 
 Two hundred and ninety cattle were slaughtered in their presence, 
 and of these, two hundred and thirty-six presented evidences of dis- 
 eased conditions. The viscera of many others which had been 
 slaughtered upon the same days, but at whose slaughter they were 
 not present, were also examined carefully, and found to present 
 evidences of the same conditions. With two exceptions, all reported 
 findins^ abundant evidences of different conditions of <?astric dis- 
 ease, v/hile but two were able to identify the lesions found as 
 belonging to the Texas cattle disease. (See plate 3.) These were 
 observed by Dr. E. H. Janes and B. Howard, in a lot of ninety- 
 four Texan cattle that had recently arrived from the West, and 
 were amona; those that had introduced the disease among; native 
 cattle in Illinois, and had not been wintered during one season at the 
 North. Dr. Janes reports: " From the foregoing facts, a thorough 
 examination of their internal organs became a subject of more than 
 ordinary interest. The abomasums, without exception, revealed 
 evidences of having been extensively diseased, as shown by numer- 
 ous cicatrices and erosions in the process of healing, as well as a 
 general hyperasmic condition of the mucous membrane, showing 
 that the animal was suffering, to a greater or less extent, with 
 chronic gastritis at the time of slaughter. The spleens were inva- 
 riably enlarged to at least twice the size of those from healthy 
 Northern stock, as was found by testing the weight of each. Photo- 
 graphic views illustrating the comparative size of the spleens of 
 the Texan with that of the Northern stock, have been prepared." 
 (See plate 4.) 
 
 Dr. Howard being present also at the slaughter of a portion of 
 this herd, remarks that " the lesions observed in these Texas cattle 
 were the same as those we had found in those of our native herds 
 affected with this disease, and that as nearly as possible the disease 
 in each case is identically the same." Having been present myself 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1049 
 
 during the slaughtering of a portion of this herd, I can fully cor- 
 roborate the truth of the foregoing statement. 
 
 As a result of these investigations, the following conclusions are 
 unavoidable: 
 
 That our Metropolitan markets are supplied with large quantities 
 of unwholesome beef, the cause of which is wholly preventable. 
 
 That cupidity and self-interest, among a large class of dealers, 
 will regard neither health nor life in the pursuit of gain; conse- 
 quently it is the imperative duty of legislators and health authorities 
 to authorize such sanitary regulations and restrictions as shall at 
 all times guard and protect the public health. 
 
 Skilled inspection, and regulation in the transportation of our 
 animal food supply from the great producing sources to the final 
 slaughter, with proper authority to compel compliance, would be, 
 and is, the only safeguard necessary to secure a healthful animal 
 food. Our State and the Metropolitan district being the great 
 consumers, must place such restrictions as will secure this end. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS UPON POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS OF DISEASED 
 TEXAS CATTLE SLAUGHTERED AT BUFFALO, N. Y., LAFAYETTE, 
 IND., AND SPRINGFIELD, ILL., AT WHICH WERE PRESENT COM- 
 MISSIONERS PATRICK AND GOULD, AND ASSISTANT COMMIS- 
 SIONERS MACK AY AND MORRIS. 
 
 At Buffalo, on the 24th November, 1868, we found in the cattle 
 yards of the New York Central railroad two Texan steers; arrived 
 on the 23d inst. directly from Abelene, Kansas; owned by George 
 Toffey; sick with the Texan cattle disease, and evidently in its last 
 stages, presenting the following obvious symptoms: 
 
 No. 1. A dun-colored, four year old steer, standing with head low down ; saliva 
 running from the mouth ; ears drooping ; eyes staring, glassy and dull ; coat roiigh ; 
 arched spine ; hind feet drawn under the body ; voiding bloody urine ; fgeces fluid 
 and dark ; gait staggering ; subsultus tendinum of portion of flank muscles ; great 
 debility ; unable to walk any distance without falling down ; rising with great diffi- 
 culty; temperatiu'e of rectum, 1051° Fah. 
 
 Pathological jfppearances at Slaughter, 1 P. M., Same Day, 
 
 Temperature of blood flowing from carotids, 1064° Fah. 
 
 Liver enlarged, much congested, fatty degeneration, and weight 17 pounds 8 
 ounces. 
 
 Spleen enlarged ; engorged with dark blood ; a pulpy mass ; size, 2 feet 5 inches 
 long, 61 inches wide, and at the thickest part 3| inches through ; weight, 5 pounds 
 13 ounces. 
 
 Omasum or manifold stomach, the maniples impacted with firm, dried, partially 
 digested food, resembling gun wads in form. The epithelial coat peeled off" when- 
 ever the food was removed, and was easily detached by the finger. 
 
3050 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Abomasum (4th or rennet stomach) presented deep excavated ulcers through to 
 the muscular coat, particularly in the pyloric portion. The larger folds of this 
 stomach very slightly inflamed, and having small longitudinal ulcerations along the 
 margins of the folds, filled with coagulated blood. 
 
 Bladder distended, with about a quart of dark, bloody-colored urine. The 
 mucous coat of its neck very cedematous ; that of the fundus thickened and cov- 
 ered with fine red puncta. 
 
 Kidnej's enlarged, much congested with blood ; mottled, of a very dark brownish 
 color; softened. 
 
 Rectum ; longitudinal folds highly injected and inflamed ; eight in number. 
 
 Coecum deeply injected at its extremity. 
 
 Ileum ; large red points arranged in longitudinal lines ; epithelial coat softened 
 and easily removed by the nail. 
 
 Brain somewhat softened in its cortical substance. 
 
 Bile thick, tarry, somewhat flaky, though less so than in many cases previously 
 observed. 
 
 No. 2. Was of a dun brown color ; Texan ; aged about five years. 
 
 External or Obvious Symptoms. 
 
 Head hanging down ; ears drooping ; eyes dull; conjunctiva jaundiced; listless; 
 gait staggering, feeble ; flanks very much tucked in ; urine clear ; faeces thin, dark 
 fluid; pulse 120 per minute, soft and easily compressed; temperature 104|° Fah. 
 Slaughtered at 2p m. same day: temperature of blood, lOSi'-*; temperature of 
 liver, 15 minutes after death, 1041'-' — fatty, larger size than average normal — not 
 weighed. 
 
 Spleen enlarged and engorged with dark blood ; pulpy mass ; weighed 3 pounds 
 15 ounces. 
 
 Brain : superficial vessels much congested ; cortical tissue softened. 
 
 Bladder : small quantity of urine of healthy appearance, 
 
 Abomasum, or fourth stomach, presented over its pyloric surface several cica- 
 trices in different stages of reparation, and one large, deep-excavated ulcer with 
 edges everted; size of ulcer, 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and h inch deep, sur- 
 rounded with dense, hardened tissue; some marks of gastritis, consisting of 
 erosions of the thin mucous coat of the large folds along their free margins. 
 
 Omasum, or maniply stomach, appeared healthy. The intestines appeared in a 
 healthy, normal condition, except rectum, which was somewhat congested. 
 
 Kidneys normal. 
 
 Specimens of the blood, bile and tissues of the animals were 
 secm-ed, and a portion of each forwarded to Dr. Stiles, of Brooklyn, 
 for microscopical examination. He reported, a few days after, that 
 these specimens presented indubitable evidences of the Texas 
 cattle disease. The same evidences were observed by an exami- 
 nation under the microscope of Prof. Hadley, of the Buflklo Medical 
 College, upon the day of slaughter. 
 
 At Lafa^'ette, on the 27th November, we examined the stomachs 
 and other viscera of over twenty Texas animals of a herd of eleven 
 hundred that had not been wintered over, but arrived in Indiana 
 
State Agricultural Society. 105! 
 
 early in spring. These animals were said to have communicated 
 the disease to various other herds of native stock during the past 
 summer^ and two hundred and forty of them were now being 
 slaughtered for packing at the establishment of Sample & Sons, 
 at Lafayette, Indiana. 
 
 The stomachs, livers and spleens afforded in every instance exam- 
 ined, evidences of former disease. 
 
 At Springfield, on December 1st, two healthy animals were 
 examined at slaughter, one a Texas steer, the other a native heifer. 
 The Texas steer presented cicatrices of former ulcerations in the 
 pyloric portion of the fourth stomach, although all other internal 
 organs were perfectly healthy, while the fourth stomach and all 
 other viscera of the heifer were in a sound and healthy condition. 
 
 EVILS THAT HAVE BEEN RESTRAINED AND CONTROLLED, AND 
 SANITARY MEASURES CONCERNING CATTLE AND BEEF IN THE 
 CITIES OF NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN. 
 
 Observation has revealed the fact that large quantities of 
 unwholesome beef and other meats are constantly thrown upon the 
 supply markets for consumption, so prepared and disguised that 
 detection is almost impossible. Unscrupulous dealers, having no 
 fear of authority to control them, unhesitatingly sell whatever can 
 be obtained, regardless of life and health The laboring classes, 
 those who really need the most wholesome and nutritious of meats, 
 are, therefore, the greatest sufferers, for, by reason of low prices, 
 they are induced to purchase inferior qualities. Hence the impera- 
 tive necessity for sanitary regulations and control, that all danger 
 of diseased and unwholesome meat consumption must and shall be 
 avoided. 
 
 The results of the control and regulation of meat supply as 
 carried out during the past few months, are that a better qualit}'", 
 at reduced prices, were secured. Thus protecting the lives and 
 health of all, and establishing the necessity for a continued and sys- 
 tematic inspection, not only at the great sale yards, but also at the 
 butcheries. 
 
 The alarm of the public by rumors of diseased meat being 
 offered in the markets, and the fact of being unable to discriminate 
 betAveen wholesome and unhealthy meats, caused the consumption 
 and sale of beef to be very largely diminished. Supplies of 
 market cattle at the herd yards were seriously threatened, until 
 the prompt and efficient measures adopted by the Board of Health 
 
1052 Annual Report of New York 
 
 and State Commissioners in the sanitary control and inspection of 
 all herds arriving at our herd yards re-assured the public, and at 
 once established confidence, both in its sale and consumption. 
 The danger to life and health by its consumption Avas great, and, 
 on the other hand, the deprivation of good animal food, was not 
 without evil, therefore, to secure both, was a paramount duty of 
 the Board. The sanitary regulations established by the control, 
 inspection, seizure and destruction of diseased animals and beef 
 was, therefore, at once determined upon and effected; all beef cattle 
 arriving within the Metropolitan district were subjected to a critical 
 inspection as regards their physical condition; if any were found 
 either sick or under suspicion of being infected with disease, they 
 were at once seized, and either slaughtered and sent to the render- 
 ing tanks, or held under observation until all danger from diseased 
 conditions had passed. These regulations secured effectually the 
 j)ublic health, and prevented, in a very large degree, the forward- 
 ing of diseased animals to the herd yards. The supply became 
 of a better quality and at lower rates. Increased watchfulness on 
 the part of the sanitary police at the slaughter houses and retail 
 stands, prevented the sale not only of unhealthy beef, but also of 
 large quantities of other unwholesome meats. 
 
 WHAT IS DESIGNED AND WHAT SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED BY 
 SANITARY INSPECTION AND CONTROL, AS REGARDS ANIMALS 
 AND MEAT IN THE CITIES OF THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT. 
 
 When cattle dying of this new disease were found in the herd 
 trains and market yards that supply the metropolis, the fact at 
 once was painfully obvious that no regulations or officers then exist- 
 ing could discover and prevent the sale of any or all of the flesh 
 of those dying and dead animals in the meat markets of New York 
 and Brooklyn. 
 
 (1.) A regards the sales' yards and butcheries, there existed no 
 system of inspection and no means of control with reference to the 
 prevention of the selling and slaughtering of diseased animals. 
 
 (2.) There was a lack of any adequate means for officially inspect- 
 ing and sanctioning meats after they are dressed for the market. 
 
 (3.) Except in connection with the statutes against rinderpest, 
 there was nothing worth the name against any kind of exposure 
 of diseased animals, and against all sorts of cruelties and abuses in 
 their transportation, yarding and sanitary care. 
 
 Expert and careful inspection at herd and sale j^ards, of all 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1053 
 
 animals used for human food, is absolutely required at all times, 
 as some form of disease exists at every season of the year in the 
 various kinds of animals so used. Authorized sanitary control and 
 regulation should be permanently established, and carefully and effi- 
 ciently executed, not only as regards the herd yards and butcheries, 
 but State authority, with power to enforce regulations, should con- 
 trol and so regulate the transportation of animals as to present 
 them to the markets in the most healthy condition. 
 
 WHAT CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS HAVE BEEN REACHED. ' 
 
 The conclusions deduced from the experience of the past summer 
 indicate the necessity for 
 
 First. Regulation and police control under a uniform law, appli- 
 cable to all the States through which pass the great transportation 
 routes for market cattle, in order that the first evidences of any 
 contagious disease may be arrested. 
 
 Second. Such control to have sufficient State authority to compel 
 transporting agents, owners or their aids, to take proper care of 
 their stock in regard to rest, feeding and watering at stated regular 
 intervals of time during transportation, and up to the time of 
 slaughter. 
 
 Third. Skilled medical inspection at stated points; all diseased 
 animals to be at once slaughtered or held under observation until 
 all danger has passed. This inspection to be continued during the 
 whole year. 
 
 Fourth. All animals at the slaughter houses to be critically 
 examined at the time of slaughter, and the beef to be so marked 
 that any consumer may be assured of its having been properly 
 inspected. 
 
 Fifth. Such authority to be given that all diseased meat may be 
 seized and disposed of in such manner as to prevent its being eaten. 
 The results of such control and inspection will be the public 
 assurance that danger to health and life from this source will be 
 reduced to the least possible degree, that fraud and deceit will 
 be under control, and that the aim and eflbrts of enlightened sanitary 
 laws shall be supported and enforced. 
 
 CONCERNING SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS OF THE DISEASE. 
 DIAGNOSIS. 
 
 In studying the history of this disease, the following points 
 present themselves by which professional and non-professional 
 observers can be guided in pronouncing the diagnosis: 
 
1054 Annual Report of New York 
 
 1st. The symptoms by which the disease is characterized in 
 
 the infected cattle while living; and 
 2d. The signs by which it is recognized in them when dead, or 
 at their slaughter. 
 
 1st. Animals suffering with this disease present the following 
 obvious symptoms. (See plate No. 1.)* Generally standing apart 
 from their fellows, listless, indifferent to surrounding objects, rest- 
 less, evidently desiring to lay down but fearing to do so, until com- 
 pelled to yield by rapidly waning strength; the head hanging low 
 down, frequently within an inch of the ground, or occasionally 
 pressed firmly against some unyielding object; the base of horns 
 hot, the ears drooping, the eyes dull and staring; the spine, or back, 
 peculiarly arched, the hinder feet being drawn under the body and 
 placed in a bracing attitude; a tremulous creeping over the flank 
 muscles, with frequent efforts at voiding fasces, which are generally 
 small, hard and rounded, and covered with bloody mucous, though 
 there is sometimes considerable looseness of the bowels, daring 
 some stages of the disease; frequently passing urine of a dark, 
 bloody appearance. The pulse is rapid, very soft and feeble, respi- 
 rations frequent, and during hot weather, panting, without exertion. 
 The temperature both externally and internally increased. Flies 
 are also observed to adhere to the animals who seem either uncon- 
 scious of their presence or too feeble to drive them off. 
 
 2d. The signs or pathological appearances presented upon post 
 mortem examinations. 
 
 When dead animals of this disease are examined, even three or 
 four hours after death has naturally taken place, it is found that 
 there has been such rapid decomposition that the special pathogno- 
 monic signs have become almost entirely obliterated, so rapidly 
 does the peculiar activity of this poison destroy vital tissues. It is 
 only in the previous history of symptoms in connection with cer- 
 tain marks of destruction upon the dense, firm membrane lining 
 the tubular and pyloric portion of the abomasum, or fourth stomach 
 or " reed," as it is called in common parlance, that a positive diag- 
 nosis can be given. 
 
 But the signs as presented upon an examination at slaughter are 
 so uncomplicated with post mortem changes, that the disease is 
 pronounced unequivocally throughout the fluids and tissues. 
 
 • Dr. Harris has kindly directed that the lithographed plates which he caused to be 
 prepared for the general Report, shall be distributed in the several sections which require 
 iilustration. 
 
State Agricultural Society. '1055 
 
 1. A greatly increased temperature of the body and the blood is 
 an induliitable and most trustworthy symptom of this disease, for 
 it is the first symptom discoverable; it is excessive and extraordi- 
 nary in degree, and it marks this disease as a pestilential fever. 
 
 2. Upon opening the animal the muscular tissue is seen of a dark 
 red color; the fat is of a deep brown yellow, having in intense 
 cases a green bronzed tinge. (See plate No. 2.) 
 
 3. The spleen is found enlarged, more or less engorged with 
 dark colored blood, softened, frequently to a pulpy mass. 
 
 4. The abomasum, or fourth stomach, upon its inner tubular 
 pyloric portion invariably presents sloughs, erosions and deep exca- 
 vated ulcers of various forms and extent. (See plate .) There is 
 usually accompanying these, more or less inflammatory appearances 
 of the larger and more vascular portion of this stomach (gastritis). 
 The ulcerations, or rather the peculiarities, that were found in the 
 tubular portion of the rennet or fourth stomach, and at the base of 
 the longitudinal folds in that stomach, finally appeared to be a surer 
 guide to a recognition of the disease than was the mere appearance 
 and size of the spleen or the liver; the absolute tests by the minute 
 examination of the liver, bile and spleen-pulp by the microscopist, 
 and the historical and symptomatic history of the animal before 
 death, being of course preferred to all other kinds of evidence. 
 Yet to the practiced eye, these ulcerations, sloughs and erosions 
 served as trustworthy guides in deciding the nature of any case in 
 which, for the moment, the other kinds of evidence were not 
 accessible. 
 
 5. Kidneys generally enlarged, darker in color than normal, con- 
 gested with blood, and the cortical substance usually softened. 
 
 6. The liver enlarged, increased in weight, generally fatty or 
 waxy, its bile ducts and radicals fully injected with bile, its color 
 changed to a yellowish brown. 
 
 7. The gall bladder filled with a dark, thick, tarry or flaky 
 bile. 
 
 8. The bladder distended with dark, bloody urine. 
 
 9. The intestinal canal in its various portions, the ileum ccscum, 
 and rectum, frequently presenting congested vessels under its 
 mucous coat, its epithelium softened and easily scraped ofi" with the 
 finger. 
 
 10. The heart: muscular tissue sometimes found softened. 
 
 11. The lungs generally in a healthy condition; in some intense 
 cases, interlobular emphysema. 
 
1056 Annual Report of New York 
 
 12. The brain, in some cases, congested and softened. 
 
 In pronouncing the diagnosis of this disease beyond all dispute, 
 the revelations of the microscope places the final seal upon all this 
 group of symptoms and pathological changes. 
 
 The blood, and bile, and liver, under this (microscopic) test, give 
 us a view of that factor which is the poison, which has produced 
 these changes and death. 
 
 MOREAU MORRIS, M. D. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1057 
 
 III. OBJECTS ATTAINED BY CORRESPONDENCE WITH 
 OTHER OBSERVERS OF THE DISEASE 
 
 The correspondence upon this subject was opened on the 10th 
 of August, and upwards of one hundred letters of inquiry during 
 the ensuing two weeks were dispatched to those gentlemen along 
 the great routes of cattle transportation, from Kansas City and 
 Cairo to Toledo, Pittsburg, Buffalo and Providence. From that 
 period to December 1st the correspondence has been maintained to 
 such an extent as seemed essential to the end in view. 
 
 We sought for precise and circumstantial records concerning the 
 arrival of cattle at any period sick and dying with the disease; 
 secondl}^, circumstantial accounts of each outbreak of its infection 
 in native herds; thirdly, dates which would establish in each case 
 the length of the period of incubation of the infection in herdg 
 which became its victim; fourthly, descriptions of the phenomena 
 and the results of the disease; fifthly, to trace the disease back to 
 sources whence it came. 
 
 As neither the limits nor the objects of this report permit the 
 introduction of our correspondence in bulk, we Avill here present 
 such extracts from it as seem best adapted to throw light upon the 
 history and progress of the infection. 
 
 Under date of August 10th, Dr. Edwin M. Snow, the Superin- 
 tendent of Health in Providence, Rhode Island, communicated the 
 following facts: 
 
 On Tuesday last (August 4tli) thirty-three head of Illinois cattle were purchased 
 in Albany by Messrs. Moore & Perkins, of this city. These steers were sent by 
 railroad, and arrived at Providence at three p. u. on Wednesday, the 5th. They 
 were driven to a pasture, and were supposed to be entirely well. On Friday, one 
 of the animals was found to be sick and was killed, and on Saturday and Sunday 
 (August 8th and 9th) six died in the pasture. All the animals that have died 
 have been boiled up for their fat. All these cattle were raised in the State of 
 Illinois. There were no Texas cattle in this lot. 
 
 Two days subsequently (August 13th), Dr. Snow writes: 
 [Ag.] 67 
 
1058 Annual Report of New York 
 
 The owners have voluntarily given them into my control, to do what T please 
 with them. Eight of the ten now living were very low with the disease, but an 
 astonishingly rapid change has taken place, and it now looks as if they would 
 recover. 
 
 Under date of August 14th, Dr. J. H. Eauch, the Sanitary Super- 
 mtendent of Chicago, began to forward to us daily accounts of the 
 progress of the disease at the herd yards of that city. On the 17th 
 of August he wrote as follows: 
 
 We have had the disease in our Fifth ward since August 1st, and for the last two 
 weeks Dr. Manheimer, one of the Sanitary inspectors, has been making observa- 
 tions upon it. * * * I have disinfected the yards where the Texas cattle have 
 been. In Dr. Manheimer's inspection district (Fifth ward) sixty-two cows have 
 died, and I have learned of several new cases this morning. 
 
 On the 16th of August, Dr. J. T. Hodgen, President of the 
 Board of Health, in St. Louis, wrote as follows: 
 
 * * * The day before your letter was received, our Health Officer called the 
 attention of the Board to the fact that a very malignant disease was prevailing 
 amongst native cattle brought to our city. The disease has manifested itself at but 
 ene stock yard, and that at which most Texas and Cherokee cattle have been 
 received, and in pens in which these southern cattle had been kept. 
 
 Yesterday a post mortem was made of one that had died of the Texas disease. 
 The Health Officer found the liver engorged, also lungs ; the spleen enlarged and 
 softened, and the kidneys disorganized masses, not showing a trace of original 
 structure. The symptom was an uneasiness for a few days; this increased to 
 almost a fury, the animal moving rapidly for a short distance and then standing, 
 then a tremor and marked debility; it finally fell, and in a few hours expired. 
 
 Other examinations are being made to-day, and will be continued until we are 
 satisfied of the pathology of the disease. 
 
 We have ordered the use of carbolic acid in pens in Avhich Texas and Cherokee 
 cattle have been kept, and have appointed inspectors of all cattle. We shall allow 
 none to be killed without the inspector's brand and certificate. 
 
 Under date of August 19th, Dr. E. E. Mackey, the Health Officer 
 of Bufialo, wrote: 
 
 Mt Dear Doctor — I fully concur with you in the expression of your fears that 
 the many important and much desired facts pertainii^g to the cattle plague now 
 
 raging, will never be studied out to our satisfaction and enlightenment. 
 
 ********* 
 
 On the 10th of August, there were received at our yards, fifty head of Illinois 
 cattle, thirteen of which showed unmistakable symptoms of infection, and these 
 symptoms were striking and peculiar in their nature. The animals appear to be 
 very dejected, head drooping, eyes watery and wild in their expression, pulse very 
 frequent and full, respiration increased in frequency, and the breathing labored. 
 The secretions from the mouth and nose in three of the cases, were of green, 
 frothy or slimy appearance. The unsteady gait of the animals is mostly confined 
 
State Agricultural Society. "1059 
 
 to the hind extremities arising from what appears to me paralysis, or partial para- 
 lysis of the muscles and a deficiency in the power of co-ordination ; indeed, so 
 marked was this symptom in three cases as to preclude the possibility of the 
 animal's rising. The temperature increased, and emaciation verjr marked. I can 
 not say how long they would have lived, as I deemed it safer to have them imme- 
 diately slaughtered. Post mortem examinations showed the respiratory organs 
 and the heart to be healthy, no structural change having taken place. The gastro- 
 intestinal canal very much inflamed, and found to be in many places softened. The 
 liver normal, the spleen very much enlarged, softer and more easily broken down 
 than in health. ** * * * * * * 
 
 The urine coagulated on the addition of nitric acid, or on the application of heat. 
 It may be of interest for you to know that so far the disease, as it has made its 
 appearance here, has been confined to Illinois cattle, not one Texan animal, out of 
 the large number that has been received here, has shown any discoverable or obvi- 
 ous symptoms of infection. In answer to your several points, I will say, first, 
 that all my endeavors to obtain any reliable information beyond the mere fact of 
 these cattle being of an Illinois stock, have proved fruitless, and I am, therefore, 
 without any data by which to judge; second, of the cattle in quarantine, four 
 showed obvious symptoms of being diseased two days after their arrival, and on 
 the third day showed unmistakable signs of the presence of hsematuria ; three 
 others that have since been attacked with the disease were immediately k.Ued, and 
 no observation was made upon the state of the urine and the bladder ; third, out 
 of the seven head killed while in quarantine, four were discovered to be infected 
 two days, and the other three, four days previous to any obvious symptoms show- 
 ing themselves ; fourth, two dogs were fed upon the diseased flesh, and no other 
 effect noticed than the ejectment of the same shortly afterwards ; in neither case 
 would their stomachs retain or digest it. I am of the opinion from the testimony 
 I have been able to collect, and the little experience I have had with this infection, 
 that there would be much danger incurred from eating the flesh and drinking the 
 milk from these animals. It seems very improbable to me that so much gastro- 
 intestinal disease as I have seen in all these cases can be due to any other cause 
 than the presence of some violent irritant. I will communicate further on this 
 subject. Eespectfully, 
 
 E. E. MACKEY. . 
 
 Dr. Raucli, the Sanitary Superiuteudeiit of Chicago, wrote on 
 the 19th of August, a full account of the proceedures that were 
 being taken by the Board of Health in that city. He inclosed the 
 following account of Dr. Manheimer's investigations in the " infected 
 district " (Fifth ward): 
 
 The increased mortality among the cows is found in a limited district of from 
 two or three miles square, well defined on the south by Egan avenue and the 
 stock yards ; north, by Archer avenue ; east, by Wallace street ; and west-south, 
 by the south branch of the Chicago river. Outside of these limits until this time 
 no sickness or deaths have occurred. The region, then, where the disease makes 
 its appearance, is the immediate vicinity of the cattle yards. 
 
 • The first cases were noticed on Deering street, near Egan avenue, and from 
 thence it extended, in a short time, to the above described limits ; the largest 
 number having died on Egan avenue, Douglas place, Main street and Hamburg, 
 
1060 Annual Repobt of New York 
 
 near the cattle yard, so, that from the 2d to the 15th of August, sixty-three cows 
 and one steer died. The cause of the sudden spread of the disease is, so far, not 
 yet satisfactorily explained by the investigations made. 
 
 It seems that native cattle do not communicate the disease to each other ; as 
 in many instances cows were housed in the same stable with sick cows, without 
 being infected. With but few exceptions, all those cows became infected and died, 
 that grazed near the cattle yards and in localities formerly occupied by Texan 
 cattle, drinking of the same water used by the latter, and which may have become 
 impregnated by their urine and excrements. (This water runs from the cattle 
 yards to Egan avenue.) In a circuit of about two miles, only one cow escaped the 
 disease, and that one was kept in the stable for the last three weeks. 
 
 All taken together, tends to prove that the origin of the disease, or the cause 
 of the same, is to be found in the Texan cattle that had been in the cattle yards 
 and grazed in their immediate vicinity. 
 
 The symptoms of this disease, in the outset, are varied, as many of the cattle, 
 from the beginning of the attack to the time of death, are quiet and in a lethargic 
 state, evincing no signs of pain ; while others are very uneasy, constantly moving 
 about and lowing, until they drop down exhausted, where they remain until dead. 
 
 The following symptoms are noticed in all cases that have fallen under my obser- 
 vation : 
 
 In the beginning of the disease there is an uncertainty of step, and trembling, 
 showing an inability to remain firmlj'^ standing on the feet, and with a disincli- 
 nation to move ; the head drooping. The appetite does not seem to be impaired, 
 nor is there any unusual thirst ; the skin is alternately hot and cold ; the secre- 
 tion of milk is diminished, and about the fourth or fifth day a marked change in 
 the appearance of the animal takes place. The abdominal walls are shrunken, the 
 animals becoming lean, breathing quick and short, and do not have strength enough 
 to raise themselves, and when raised cannot remain in that position for any length 
 of time. The secretion of milk decreases daily, the secretion continuing until death, 
 and is of a thick creamy character. The secretion of urine is also changed, the 
 animal having a constant desire to urinate, succeeding, however, in ejecting only 
 a small quantity of bloody urine. The faeces are discharged with great eiFort, and 
 are dry and hard. 
 
 In this state the diseased animal lingers for a shorter or longer time, until it 
 finally expires under appearances of exhaustion. The duration of the disease is 
 fi-om two to seven days. 
 
 Up to this time I have not been able to make hs many post mortem examina- 
 tions as I desired, owing to the great anxiety of the owners to remove the carcass 
 of the animal as soon as possible ; and owing to the few dissections I have made, 
 cannot as yet arrive at any satisfactory conclusions with regard to the character 
 of the disease. The following is the result of post mortem examinations made: 
 An unusually early rigor mortis takes place (from one to two hours) ; abdomen 
 much distended by gas ; brain anaemic and soft ; respiratory organs, found mucous 
 membrane lining them, in anasmic state ; in the trachea I found, upon opening, a 
 quantity of mucous. Lungs pale, and at the base small hypostatic deposits ; found 
 no coagula in the heart, but from one to two ounces of thin blood, presenting an 
 anomalous condition, as when the animal is for a long time dying, coagula are nearly 
 always found. The muscles and valves of the heart were in a normal state. The 
 stomachs filled with dry, solid, and half-digested food; want of secretion of the 
 stomach ; small intestines filled with bloody serum. The large intestine filled with 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1061 
 
 a dry, solid, and half digested mass. The capillaries of the mucous membrane are 
 injected, and small ecchymosed patches were found in the intestines. The annular 
 veins of the muscular coat of the intestines engorged and enlarged. Spleen increased 
 in length to twice its natural size ; its peritoneal covering smooth, and stretched 
 tightly over it ; color darker than usual (a blackish brown) ; texture friable. The 
 microscope revealed that the structure of the spleen had been totallj^ destroyed, so 
 that the normal elements of the spleen, viz., the corpora malpeghii blood corpuscles, 
 and its peculiar networks, were no longer to be distinguished. Liver slightly 
 enlarged. The liver cells contain a small grained substance similar to the com- 
 mencement of fatty degeneration. Gall bladder much enlarged and filled with 
 light green, fatty-feeling gall. Bladder much enlarged (nearly twice its natural 
 state) and filled with a large quantity of bloody urine. Blood very thin, and seems 
 to contain less red corpuscles than usual. 
 
 This valuable and instructive record by Sanitary Inspector Mau- 
 lieimer was accompanied by the following statement from Dr. Ranch: 
 That he had that day examined a number of cattle at slaughter, 
 which in the yards while living, did not present, to his eye, any 
 positive symptoms of sickness, ."but after examining the spleen, 
 liver, and contents of the bladder, he found in many of them decided 
 evidences of disease," and he further states: " I accordingly con- 
 demned the herds, so far as slaughter and sale is concerned, and 
 shall allow no cattle to be sold as food unless inspected both before 
 and after death." This important and judicious decision of Dr. 
 Rauch was sustained by the Chicago Board of Health, and after 
 consultation with Professor Gamgee, a plan for inspection was 
 adopted which we shall mention elsewhere. In his letter of the 
 19th, Dr. Ranch informed us that the Chicago authorities had 
 decided not to allow Texan or infected cattle to be brought to that 
 city, and that such cattle, when found at Chicago, would not be 
 allowed to be sent elsewhere. This action was fully in accordance 
 with the desires of the Metropolitan Board of Health as regards 
 the course which it was hoped the authorities of the State of Illinois, 
 especially those of Chicago, would take. 
 
 In a communication received from Fort Wayne, Ind., and dated 
 August 19th, the following information was forwarded to the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health for its information. The action 
 referred to is dated August 10th: 
 
 Upon information that some forty head of cattle had arrived here in a sickly 
 condition, so that they had to be killed, we find, upon investigation, that there 
 arrived here about the abovenamed number of cattle, in so bad a condition that 
 they had to be killed, but that they did not suffer from the so-called cattle disease, 
 and that the carcases were delivered over to the soap factory, and none of their 
 meat exposed for sale. At a special meeting of the Board of Health, held to-day, 
 it was 
 
! 
 
 1062 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Resolved, To notify Mr. Benton, the stock yard keeper, that the Board wishes 
 to be informed if any more sick arrive, that they may personally inspect the same. 
 
 Resolved, Further, that it be the duty of the individual members of the Board 
 to occasionally inspect the cattle yard during the hot season. 
 
 Dr. Eosenthal, the Secretary of the Board of Health at Fort 
 Wayne, wrote to us on the 19th inst., and stated that the testimony 
 upon which the abovementioned conchisions of their Board had 
 been based, was "taken from persons who may not be able or will- 
 ing to give the real facts, the carcases having been removed before 
 we could inspect them. You will see that in the future we shall 
 be very strict, and inspect all cattle arriving here that are reported 
 sick. We will also publish that part of your communication relat- 
 ing to the care and transportation of cattle, as well as the suggestions 
 in regard to disinfectants." 
 
 The mayor of Pittsburgh wrote as follows: 
 
 • Mayor's Office, 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa., August 22, 1868. 
 E. Harris, M. D., Cor. Sec'y M. B. H., New York .- 
 
 Dear Sir — In answer to yours of the 18th inst., I would state that our cattle 
 yards at East Liberty, and elsewhere in this neighborhood, are free from aU infec- 
 tious disease, and no further alarm here exists on this subject. Our cattle inspector, 
 Mr. Hosack, is very vigilant, and has taken every precaution against the spread 
 of the cattle disease here. I have advised him of the tenor of your letter, and he 
 informs me that he has received a communication from you, which he will answer 
 in detail as soon as possible. 
 
 Mr. Hosack, the inspector referred to by Mayor Blackmore, 
 wrote as follows: 
 
 g,„ ** * * * **** 
 
 The only cattle that were affected were the two droves from Illinois. I cannot 
 iijform you when or where the disease first showed itself. I discovered it on the 
 arrival of the train. All the cattle on that train were more or less affected. After 
 their arrival they were placed in the stock yards, nfear other cattle ; in fact, I can 
 say they were surrounded by other stock, but in no one instance did the disease 
 show itself, save in the two herds above spoken of. 
 
 Out of two herds from Illinois (that arrived the first days of August, one of 
 which was Mr. Alexander's, that you saw at Communipaw), forty-six died betweea 
 Cresthne, Ohio, and this city, and ninety-four died or were killed after their arrival. 
 
 There were two hundred and sixty-four in the two herds when they reached this 
 
 city. The balance was shipped over the Pennsylvania Central railroad, as dis- 
 
 ' eased cattle. The railroad company telegraphed to all points along the line of the 
 
 railroad, that they were en route. They were shipped on one train, no other 
 
 cattle being allowed on that train. Yours, respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) WM. HOSACK, 
 
 Cattle Inspector. 
 
 [Note. The second herd was switched off at Harrisburg, Pa., and sent southward.] 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1063 
 
 The subjoined extract from a letter received from the mayor of 
 Altoona, Pa., the headquarters of the Superintendent of the Penn- 
 sylvania Central railroad, correctly illustrates the same hearty cor- 
 diality that is shown by the letters just quoted. It was deemed 
 important to have all needed sources of information on the great 
 railway lines of transportation readily within our reach, and to 
 know the truth by frankly asking such questions as we desired. 
 It is now known that many thousand head of cattle from the 
 infected districts were kept back from transportation at the time 
 when it was perilous to move them, and that this silent action in 
 New York prevented both losses and panic, by eliciting, as it did, 
 the kind of inquiry and sanitary supervision which were then 
 greatly needed: 
 
 To the Registrar 3Ietropolitan Board of Health : 
 
 Dear Sir — Your communication, dated August lOth, came duly to hand, and. 
 upon its receipt I called a meeting of the city council, to give advice in the pre- 
 mises; and they, by unanimous vote, directed the mayor to reply. 
 
 Your communication relates to two points upon which you ask for information : 
 First : The condition of native and of Texas cattle which arrive here. In answer, 
 we reply, that until the present time our cattle were entirely free from this infection, 
 and we doubt not this will continue to be the case, from the fact that our city 
 butchers are all men of character. They would not be guilty of so foul a crime as 
 to slaughter diseased cattle and impose it upon the public for food. Second : 
 Touching the course pursued by the Pennsylvania Central Eailroad Company, in 
 transporting beef cattle over their line of railroad, from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, 
 it gives us pleasure to state that our meeting was honored with the presence and 
 counsel of Edward II. Williams, M. D., the present efficient superintendent of the 
 road ; and he assured us, and authorized us to assure you, that the company have 
 not, nor will they receive for transportation eastward, any beef cattle which have 
 not undergone a strict examination by a commission of health officers, and also 
 competent men of their own appointment, at their drove yards at Pittsburg ; and 
 for fear any taint of disease might break out on the way, they are re-examined 
 again at Harrisburg, the capital of this State, by a similar commission. From 
 that point, the Pennsylvania Central railroad to Washington via Baltimore, and 
 the New York road via AllentoM'^n, diverges from the Pennsylvania railroad, and 
 if any diseased cattle are here found, they are disembarked and dealt with accord- 
 ing to State and municipal laws. Yours, respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) GEORGE POTTS. 
 
 Mayor's Office, Altoona City, Pa., August 22d, 1868. 
 
 Town authorities likewise gave information of the existence and 
 progress of the disease at various points in the West. The town 
 of Onarga, Illinois, for example, sends the following: 
 
 There has not been a case of disease, to my knowledge (and I think I am posted), 
 within sixteen miles of our place. At Loda, a railroad station about sixteen miles 
 south from here, there was a load of Texas cattle unloaded from the cars and 
 
10G4 Annual Report of New York 
 
 driven east aci'oss the country to Indiana, which, I beheve, is the northern limit 
 where the disease has been. The native cattle there, having communication with 
 the Texan cattle, or herded upon their track or herding grounds, have become dis- 
 eased, and it has been very fatal, sweeping olF nearly whole herds. The cattle 
 in pastures along the track have not been affected. One farmer who had his stock, 
 a part in pasture and a part on herding grounds (open prairie) — those herded, 
 many of them died ; he then put the two herds together in pasture, and not a case 
 occurred among those that had been pastured. 
 
 The manner in which the Texas cattle communicate the disease to the native 
 cattle, is a question not yet settled ; the facts are, that the native stock do not seem 
 to give native stock the disease, but that Texas cattle do give the disease to native 
 stock while in apparent health. And native cattle herding on the herding ground 
 of the Texas cattle, or herding on land where the Texas cattle have been driven 
 over, do take the disease, and it has been fatal in most cases. 
 
 The largest estimate of the number of cattle having died from this disease in 
 this vicinity, is about eighteen hundred, and the disease has shown itself only 
 where the Texas cattle have been. 
 
 The authorities have taken every precaution to stop the spread of disease. The 
 diseased herds, and also the Texas cattle are confined to their present localities, 
 and heavy fines and imprisonment have been imposed for bringing into or driving 
 through the territory not already infected. The people are determined that the 
 disease shall be confined to its present limits, and I think the disease has nearly 
 spent itself, and aa soon as we have frosts it will entirely disappear. 
 
 By the approval of the president of the board of trustees of the town of Onarga. 
 Respectfully yours, 
 (Signed) E. C. HALL, 
 
 Clerk Board of Trustees. 
 
 The following letter proves how intelligently the leading agri- 
 culturists in the West have communicated the results of their 
 
 observations: 
 
 Odell, III., September 11, 1868. 
 E. Harris, M. D. : 
 
 Dear Sir — I had the honor to receive your communication a few days ago. It 
 is certainly gratifying to know that science has been called in to assist in solving 
 the problem presented by the appearance of the plague ; and although I make no 
 pretensions to scientific ability, yet I may possibly assist you by giving in answer 
 to your questions, the results of my experience and bbservation. 
 
 In answer to your first question, as to whether I have seen anything which 
 would warrant me in believing that native cattle have propagated the cause of this 
 disease, I would say that I have not. During fifteen years experience in stock 
 raising, I have never, until this summer, witnessed any malady bearing the slightest 
 resemblance to the disease in question. In fact, I have never before seen any kind 
 of infectious disease among Western stock.- 
 
 2. I have seen no indication of this disease among cattle arrived this year from 
 Texas, and though numbers of them die when brought here, yet, as far as my obser- 
 vation goes, I consider their death the result of fatigue, and the want of proper care. 
 
 3. No case of the kind has come to my knowledge.* 
 
 * Question 3, in my letter to Mr. Atkins, was: "Has any case of this diacase occurred 
 in Texas stook that has wintered over in your State?" — E. H. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1065 
 
 4. The general effect upon milch cows is the same as upon other stock. Tn most 
 cases the flow of milk is almost instantly stopped. In two cases which came 
 under my observation of " cows with calf," the disease culminated in abortion, 
 which was followed by immediate convalesence of both animals. Allow me to add 
 here, in reply to an inference drawn from questions four and five, that in propor- 
 tion to the number of all kinds of stock exposed to infection, more milch cows 
 and beef cattle died than of other kinds. May we not presume that animals, in 
 which the secretions of fat or milk predominate, are more subject to attack than 
 others .? 
 
 5. Milch cows seem to be very susceptible. Calves are not so. Not in a single 
 instance have I known of a calf dying of the disease. Stock of a year old and 
 over, are not exempt from its ravages, neither does the breed make any difference. 
 
 6. The only evidence I have that cars may become infected is that every spot in 
 this vicinity whei'eon Texas cattle have been, has teemed with death to our native 
 stock. Permit me to use the common expression, "/ would not give a postage 
 stamp for a car-load of cattle shipped from here to your city in a car, if a single 
 Texas beef had been iiv^ the car for only one hour at any time from the first day of 
 May until the first of November." So slight a contact is necessary to contract the 
 disease that I have known cattle to die of it that had only been driven across a 
 road along which Texas cattle had passed. Can any reason be given why cars 
 may not become infected .? Knowing what I do know of the nature of the disease, 
 I do not hesitate to say that cars in which Texas cattle have been transported 
 during the summer months are reeking with invisible death to our native cattle. 
 
 7. The length of time from exposure to attack varies from fifteen daj's to three 
 months. My experience leads me to believe that hot weather will accelerate the 
 progress of the disease, while cool weather will retard it ; and an extended season 
 of low temperature will effect a cure. The time from attack till death is from thre« 
 to seven days, as near as can be ascertained. 
 
 8. To the best of my knowledge the first appearance of the disease in our county 
 "was on or about the 10th of August; and in the State about a month earlier. In 
 our county the deaths number, as near as I can ascertain, ninety-eight ; of the 
 number in the State I cannot at present tell, though it must amount to thousands, 
 for the scourge in our county has been light compared to what some of the neigh- 
 boring counties have experienced. The number of recoveries, known to me, is ten, 
 in our county. The proportion that sickened to the whole number exposed, has 
 been as one to two and a half; or as two out of five. 
 
 9. In our county (I might say in our township, for it is the only place in the 
 county where the disease appeared), we estimate the loss at about five thousand 
 dollars ; but I have no data from which to determine the loss in the State. 
 
 10. All that died were exposed to infection from Texas stock ; so were all that 
 are now living ; which, with the exception of the ten mentioned in answer 8, escaped 
 attack. 
 
 The route by which Texas cattle are brought into our State during the earlier 
 part of the season was by Cairo, and thence they were shipped on the Illinois Cen- 
 tral railroad to Chicago. Later, they entered the State at Alton, and were 
 transported on the Chicago and St. Louis road to Chicago. Formerly, Missouri 
 and Kansas suffered from the disease, occasioned by the introduction of those 
 cattle. Within a year, however, mob law has kept them out of those States, and 
 as there had to be an outlet for the stream of cattle from Texas, the tide was turned 
 through Louisiana to the Mississippi, up which stream the animals were trans- 
 
10G6 Annual Report of New York 
 
 ported until they reached our borders, then turned inland to spread a contagion 
 which has baffled the skill of the most experienced men. 
 
 In conclusion, I would say that I have vo reason to believe that native cattle, 
 even under circumstances the most favorable for infection, will infect other native 
 cattle. Not one of the many I have seen die of this disease but that was exposed 
 to infection from Texas stock ; and not one of those in this vicinity, now living, 
 but that was exposed to sick native cattle. I have seen a calf, which is now living 
 and in good health, that was suckled in succession by three different cows, which 
 died of this disease in its most aggravated form j the little animal drew its food 
 from them, while they were sick, and when the first died it was given to another, 
 and so on, and the process had no deleterious effect upon its health. It had never 
 been exposed to infection from Texas cattle. 
 
 Hoping what I have written may be of some service to you in your endeavors to 
 ascertain the nature and laws of this terrible disease, and prevent further damage, 
 I subscribe myself, Eespectfully yours, 
 
 FRED. A. ATKINS 
 ♦ 
 
 The subjoined note, from the pen of this very intelligent farmer, 
 
 shows what very ample grounds he had for the opinions expressed 
 in the foregoing letter. This note was published in The Neio York 
 Evening Post: 
 
 Odell, LiviNGSToif Co., III., ) 
 Jlugust 31, 1868. i 
 
 ****** In the vicinity of my residence is a parcel of 
 vacant prairie, containing about twelve hundred acres, which is used in common 
 for pasturing stock by those farmers who live near by it. For several years past 
 this has been the custom, and during the time there has not been the slightest 
 indication of any epidemic disease; but on the contrary, the cattle have been 
 remarkably healthy, and the land has been peculiarly adapted to grazing, it being 
 well supplied with water, and an abundance of nutritious grass. 
 
 On the 25th of June last, about four hundred head of Texas cattle were unloaded 
 from the cars at Odell, and driven to the prairie above mentioned, and they were 
 there herded until the 28th, when they were reshipped for Chicago. 
 
 At the time those Texas cattle were here, there were one hundred and forty- 
 seven head of native cattle being herded upon the same ground. This number was 
 divided into three herds. In one of these, containing twenty-seven head, the 
 disease appeared on the 10th inst., and it did its work so rapidly, that in just two 
 weeks fronj its first appearance twenty-four out of the twenty-seven were dead. 
 Of nineteen head of blooded stock owned by the writer, only nine are now living, 
 ten having died in one week. Such has been the rate of mortality among the 
 remainder, that of the one hundred and forty-seven head above mentioned, sixty- 
 six have died in three weeks ; and, as near as can be ascertained, about one-fourth 
 of the remainder are sick, beyond hope of recovery. 
 
 - The figures I have given will serve to show the terrible malignity of the disease, 
 and the certainty with which it accomplishes its work. Not only in this locality 
 has the truth of my statements been manifested, but at Bloomington, below here, 
 and Gardner above, the result of the contagion has been the same. At both these 
 places Texas cattle were unloaded from the trains ; and at intermediate stations, 
 where no disembarkation occurred, the native cattle are free from disease. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1067 
 
 No better observations upon the cattle disease could be made 
 than those b}'' the intelligent gentleman whose letters we have just 
 quoted. The experience of the intelligent agriculturists who, like 
 Mr. Atkins, necessarily have had every incentive to seek for the 
 true sources of the poisonous infection by which their herds were 
 imperiled, and in some instances, swiftly destroyed, impelled them 
 to ascertain the truth upon this subject. 
 
 The subjoined extracts from letters received from Dr. Thomas 
 L. Neal, the efficient health officer of Dayton, Ohio, contain 
 important testimony upon the subject of these inquiries. Under 
 date of August 25th, he wrote: 
 
 Dear Doctok — I received your letter relating to cattle disease in due time. Up 
 to that time we had no indications of trouble in our midst, but, there being a 
 herd of Texas cattle left a few miles from us, in due time we were doomed to 
 suffer the same penalty which seems to follow these same pestiferous " long 
 horns." 
 
 There are over a hundred Texas cattle grazing in a large field (over two hundred 
 and seventy-five acres), where they have been since the last of June. Up to about 
 15th of August, no natives were infected ; since that time eleven natives have died, 
 and several others are sick. Yours very truly, 
 
 (Signed) THOMAS L. NEAL. 
 
 In a subsequent letter he gives the history of this infection, as 
 follows: 
 
 The farm on which it occurred is nine miles from the city. The first native to 
 fall sick was a steer, three years old. This occurred on the 16th day of August, 
 and precisely forty-seven days after any possible exposure to pasture or paths 
 trodden by tlie Texas cattle. The owner of the Texas stock, in order to make a 
 short cut, drove his Texans through the field where this steer then was grazing. 
 This foreign stock was less than one and a half hours upon and passing over that 
 field. In the field thus exposed, there were one bull, eight steers, six milch cows, 
 four heifers and two yearlings (one a steer, and the other heifer). Among those 
 to sicken (and die, as all did), there were the yearling (steer), the yearling (heifer), 
 two steers (two and three years old), and five cows (three, four, two, six and 
 seven years old), nine out of twenty-one. There were six other cows in the same 
 field with the Texans, all of which died, save one, and by the way, the only 
 one to sicken and not die within five days. It has not yet fully recovered. 
 
 No instance occurred where a native contracted the disease which had not been 
 exposed directly to the ground where the "long horns " had grazed. No ages or 
 conditions (except the bull) seemed to possess immunity, as far as these observations . 
 extended. All of those dead were well-bred. The bull, however, was a thorough- 
 bred Durham. 
 
 The first symptoms observed here were the drooping head and arched spine, and 
 the tucked-up appearance of the flanks ; the hair is lifeless ; slavering, and from 
 the first, with the cows, drying up of the milk. The droppings hard and dry, and 
 covered with mucous; almost from the first, and a constant symptom, bloody 
 
1068 Annual Report of New York 
 
 urine. An early increase of animal heat ; I did not take it, but there can be no 
 doubt it is much above the normal standard. The gait was tottering, and a want of 
 co-ordination occurred with all the cases I saw. Twitchings of the muscles, and a 
 tremulous movement affecting the entire animal, but particularly the hinder parts. 
 The animal " falls away " from the very commencement. As you ask for the " ear- 
 liest symptoms," I shall not further particularize. There may have been some pre- 
 monitory symptoms I failed to become possessed of, but from the first indications 
 of illness observed, the duration of the disease was from three to five days. 
 " The death-rate in total exposed," as nearly as I can ascertain, is about fifty per 
 cent. As before stated, fifteen sickened and fourteen died. The post mortem 
 examinations were not made under my immediate supervision, and as they are not 
 Batisfactory to myself, I will not trouble you with them. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 (Signed) THOMAS L. NEAL. 
 
 From Cincinnati, Ohio, the last Aveek in August, the following 
 facts were received: On the 19th of that month the health officer 
 received information that the cattle disease was prevailing in herds 
 of cows near Cuminsville. A Mr. Hogan had pastured eight of 
 his milch cows at Jones' wood, where a herd of sickly-looking 
 Texas cattle had been pastured during the latter part of June. Mr. 
 Hogan's cows began to pasture there sometime in July. Seven of 
 these eight cows died within three weeks after beginning to pasture 
 there. A Mr. McCracken also pastured twenty-nine of his milch 
 cows on the infected grounds near Jones' Wood, and in about ten 
 days from the time they commenced to feed there the sickness 
 appeared, and in the course of a few days thereafter nearly all the 
 cows had died. 
 
 An abstract from the official report of this outbreak near Cincinnati, 
 by Dr. Clendenin, the health officer of that city, is here subjoined: 
 
 On the 3d of June the last herd of Texas cattle were brought to Cincinnati, 
 over the Ohio and Cincinnati road, and were put into stock pens. They remained 
 there ovei- night only, and, on being inspected by our meat inspectors at that place, 
 they were found to be very poor, and covered with ticks. They were ordered to 
 be taken out of the pen and out of the city, as they were unfit for food, simply 
 because they were so poor. They were taken to Jones' wood pasture, eight miles 
 from the city, where they were kept two days, and then brought back to the city. 
 In the meantime there was a drenching rain, and the cattle were pretty well washed. 
 They were put into pens at the Brighton stock yards, where they remained, per- 
 haps, twenty-four hours, when they were removed for the second time to Jones' 
 wood pasture, where they remained some three weeks, and were fattened up. 
 
 On one occasion some of those animals stampeded when going to water, and 
 broke into the grounds and gardens of the village through which they passed. The 
 animals with which they came in contact, or that were kept on the grounds over 
 which they passed, took the disease and died. These facts I know, for I followed 
 up every single case myself. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1069 
 
 These animals were finally spirited away and killed, I presume, for the Cincin- 
 nati market. As they were outside of the city limits, our inspectors claimed that 
 they had no control over them. 
 
 Within ten days after the herd was removed from Jones' wood, twenty-nine 
 cows were put into the same pasture, where they remained, I think, about a month, 
 when the owner observed that the animals were ailing, and the symptoms described 
 by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gould) were precisely those presented by 
 these animals ; that is to say, the first manifestations were drooping of the head 
 and ears, and that marked stare which he so well described. In the early stages 
 of the disease, the animal sought the water, lying down in it, and plunging in the 
 nose and face up to the eyes, holding the head in that position as long as was 
 possible without taking breath. This was only during the early stages of the 
 disease. During this time the temperature of the body was increased, as proved 
 by actual observations made by the thermometer. They would then leave the 
 water, and within four days from the time of the attack every single one of them 
 died. I have examined twenty-four of those twenty-nine cows, every one of which 
 died within ten days. I did not find any disease of the rectum, as Mr. Gould has 
 described ; that I found perfectly healthy. If there was any change, it was per- 
 haps a little paler than natural. 
 
 I found one symptom to which the gentleman did not refer — interlobular 
 emphysema — infiltration of air between the lobes of the lungs. That existed in 
 every case, and in some cases was very marked. 
 
 There were two cows that were particular favorites of one gentleman who desired 
 to save them. They were but slightly affected, and his own opinion was that they 
 were not at all. He took them from the herd, and put them in a lot near his 
 house, in which were two pet cows which had been kept entirely separate and 
 apart from the Texas cattle, nor had they been brought into contact with his own 
 diseased cattle, until those two cows, on manifesting the first symptoms of the 
 disease, were put into the lot with them. 
 
 Under date of September 7th, Dr. J. F. Hodgeii, President of 
 the St. Louis Board of Health, communicated the follo\ying state- 
 ment to us: 
 
 "In April, 1866, a lot of three hundred Texas cattle were shipped on the steamer 
 "^Lizzie Gill" to St. Charles, on the Missouri river, and thence driven to Lincoln 
 county (about fifty miles). The stock stopped three nights on the way; in two 
 weeks after they passed, native stock was taken sick and died, and continued to 
 do so in those localities during the summer. * * * * j)^ Mattson, and his 
 partner, bought last season, a lot of cattle (native, fifty), and put them in a lot 
 where Texas cattle (healthy) had been fed. In ten days or two weeks they began 
 to die of Texas fever, and continued to do so until the end of about three weeks, 
 when he removed what remained to the country and gave them green food ; only a 
 few, and those were already sick, died. 
 
 From the observations of our health officer, the same thing is indicated. Cattle 
 running about the stock yards where Texas cattle are received, are affected, while 
 others near by but kept up closely, are not diseased. 
 
 It is clear to my mind that the disease is propagated through the excrements 
 (droppings) ; that these, perhaps, come in contact with the food, and are taken by 
 native cattle, or as in one case, the grass growing on soil impregnated by the excre- 
 
 ^ 
 
1Q70 Annual Report of New York 
 
 ments, is capable of bearing the seeds of disease. At any rate, there is one very well 
 authenticated case in which a lot of cattle were put in a pasture in May that had 
 been occupied by Texas stock in March, and these native cattle had the Texas 
 fever ; though in this case it may still have been that by nipping the grass close to 
 the earth, some of the excrements may have been taken into the stomach. 
 
 I think it would be well to send a commission to the Southwest next spring, 
 and provide for an extensive series of experiments with a view to learn by what 
 agent the disease is transmitted. If we could be sure that it was due to droppings 
 alone, it would not be a very difficult matter to guard our soil. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 (Signed) JOHN T. HOD GEN. 
 
 The health officer, under authority of the St. Louis Board of 
 Health, at a later date, communicated the following facts through 
 the secretary of that board: 
 
 ***** The disease appeared with the early transit of 
 cattle East, and gradually increased until about August 1st, then declined, and on 
 September 17th, there were few or no cases occurring. I would also remark for 
 the information of Dr. Harris, that the disease prevailed here almost exchisively 
 amongst milch cows. The stock yards during the summer were in a healthy 
 condition. The native cattle transported in the same cars that had been used for 
 Texas cattle, were not attacked by any disease here, the disease probably develop- 
 ing itself after they had passed on further East. A few instances — not more than 
 five bullocks sick and dying in transit — came to my knowledge. It was among 
 our milch cows that the great mortality took place. In all cases the animals were 
 permitted to run abroad, and, as the open pastures in the outskirts of our city that 
 they frequented for food, were almost daily traversed by Texas cattle, it was 
 there, I conceive, that the seeds of the disease were obtained. I met with, or 
 heard of no cases among cows kept confined either to stables or their own pastures, 
 except one instance. A large dairyman, in June, purchased some forty head of 
 cows in Illinois. Shortly after arriving at his farm, a disease appeared among 
 them from which they died rapidly. The disease did not show itself among his 
 old stock ; this may have been due to the segregation of the Illinois or sick ones. 
 
 From the best sources of information at my command, I would say that the 
 disease has never wintered over here. Cold weather destroys the germ as effec- 
 tually as it does that of yellow fever, and it is only' on the advent of Texas cattle 
 that it appears again. During the war there were no Texas cattle and no disease. 
 
 Cherokee cattle are accused by drovers of carrying the disease, whether justly 
 so I cannot say. 
 
 I speak of the disease among our milch cows as the " Texas disease," but 
 whether it was the same that formerly attended the passage of Texas cattle, I 
 cannot positively say, as no correct descriiitions of the disease as it formerly 
 appeared could be obtained. I can neither say that it was identical with a disease 
 as it existed the past summer in various parts of the country. The various reports, 
 as made up in various parts of the country, must be compared before this can be 
 determined. Of one thing I feel convinced, viz: that I have traced the disease 
 here in many, many cases to a Texas poison — i. e., that all the sick had frequented 
 the trail or passage way of Texas cattle, and that there they received the germ^ 
 that caused their death. ******* 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1071 
 
 From mj own observations with the scalpel alone, the organs most usually dis- 
 eased were the kidneys, spleen and liver. Without entering into a description of 
 the changes found in these organs, I would conclude by stating, that the disease 
 seemed to be one of blood poisoning, the result of a special germ imparted in some 
 way by Texas cattle. That no one organ was invariably and similarly affected in 
 all cases, and although the kidneys, spleen and liver were in all instances more or 
 less affected, yet one or the other of these organs would seem to have been specially 
 attacked in different cases. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 (Signed) JAMES W. CLEMENS, M. D., 
 
 Late Health Officer of St. Louis. 
 
 The mayor 5f Akron, Ohio, communicated to us the following 
 information, under date of September 10th: 
 
 * * * * In reply to your inquiries, under date of August 16th, I 
 
 informed you that we had not seen a case of cattle disease in this part of Ohio. 
 By the enclosed statement you will perceive that it has broken out in this and an 
 adjoining county, through which Texas cattle were driven. These cases have 
 proved the disease to be communicated by cattle being driven over a road upon which 
 diseased cattle have traveled. Respectfully, 
 
 L. V. BINN, Mayor. 
 To Corresponding Secretary and Registrar M. B. H. 
 
 The following is an abstract of the facts alluded to, and furnished 
 by this intelligent executive of Akron: 
 
 About two months ago a drove of some ninety head of Texas cattle were driven 
 through the north part of this county, Ncrthfield and Twinsburgh, on the way to 
 Mantua, Portage county, where the owner thereof, a Mr. Frost, resides, and where 
 said cattle are now being kept. While in attendance at the fair in Twinsburgh, on 
 Thursday last, we learned that the disease in question had broken out upon the 
 farm of Mr. G. W. Dresser, on the line between Twinsburgh and Northfield, near 
 Macedonia, at which point said Texas cattle had made a slight halt upon their 
 journey; while it was asserted by some, and denied by others, that large numbers 
 of the Texas cattle had also been stricken down with the disease upon the farm of 
 their owner, in Mantua. Desiring to ascertain the facts in regard to Mr. Dresser's 
 herd, in company with M. C. Read, Esq., of Hudson, and J. P. Alexander and R. 
 B. Walker, of this city, we visited the farm of Mr. D., who kindly gave us all the 
 information in his possession in regard to the matter. 
 
 It appears that a tenant of Mr. Dresser living upon the north side of the east 
 and west road, by the name of Maloney, having three cows which he had allowed 
 to run in the road, had lost two of them suddenly, by the disease in question, a 
 few days previously ; while one cow, out of the large herd of dairy cows owned by 
 Mr. Dresser, which, in going to and from pasture, had passed over the track of 
 the Texas cattle, had also died from the ^ame disease, the day before, after two or 
 three days' illness only. 
 
 From M. C. Eeed, Esq., of Hudson, Ohio, after a personal visit 
 aad examination at the place infected by the disease, we received 
 
1072 Annual Report of New York 
 
 a full account of these cases in Summit county. Though Mr. Read 
 went about this inquiry fully persuaded in his own mind that it 
 was only an endemic and local disease, the following points are so 
 well stated and so instructive that we present them to show how 
 well the Summit county outbreak corresponded with all that we 
 know concerning the propagation of this malady. Mr. Eead says: 
 
 ***** fpjjg Texas cattle were taken from the cars at Brighton, about 
 the first of July, and were slowly driven by way of Independence, Bushnell, North- 
 field, Twinsburgh, Hudson and Aurora, to Mantua, where they now remain. The 
 pastures were short and poor on account of the protracted drought, but the feed 
 was more abundant along the sides of the roads, our laws restraining animals 
 from running at large being generally well obeyed. The men in charge of the 
 Texas cattle herded them at night in yards, &c., without feed, and then, during 
 the day, permitted them to feed in the streets. 
 
 They reached Northfield July 4th, and the drovers permitted them to feed some 
 time in the street, and at night shut them up in yards on Mr. Dresser's farm. They 
 started them early in the morning, but again permitted them to feed for some time 
 in the street. Within about fifteen minutes after these cattle were turned out of the 
 yards, Dresser's cows were driven into it to be milked. A near neighbor, a Mr. 
 Maloney, had at the time three cows and a calf, running in the streets. About the 
 first of September the disease appeared among these cattle, fand they were also 
 found to be covered with the ticks. All of Mr. Dresser's cows, when I saw them, 
 had more or less of the ticks on them, not a large number that were fully grown, 
 but a multitude of small ones ; some of the cows in apparent good health having 
 many more of them than those that took the disease. He lost two cows; one 
 died, the other was killed after the cow became hopeless. I was at his farm yes- 
 terday, his cattle are apparently in good health and the ticks have disaj)peared. 
 Maloney's three cows died; the calf, which according to Mr. Dresser's statement, 
 was literally covered with the ticks, did not take the disease. A Mr. ]\Iunn, of 
 Northfield, living a little west of Dresser's, and on the route the Texas cattle were 
 driven over, lost one cow. This cow was driven to pasture through the street. 
 On careful inquiry, I am satisfied that the above is a full list of the deaths among 
 the cattle in that neighborhood, which there is any reason to attribute to the 
 presence of the Texas cattle. 
 
 Hon. Peter Hitchcock, a distinguished citizen of Geauga county, 
 Ohio, has communicated to us the following facts: 
 
 ***** Jq Portage county, I think there has been none of the disease 
 except in one township adjoining Summit county, where it was brought by a herd 
 of Illinois steers, and if I am correctly informed, the same cattle that, coming 
 through Summit count j'', left the disease there. 
 
 In this county (Geauga) there has not been a case of the disease. Of this I am 
 very well assured. In Lake county I am quite familiarly acquainted with the 
 cattle men of the county, and I am just as well assured that there have been no 
 cases there except what happened upon the line of the Lake Shore railroad. 
 
 Painesville, upon that railroad, is a point where much the larger proportion of 
 the cattle from the South and West, passing over that railroad, are unloaded, fed 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1073 
 
 and reshipped ; and my impression is that the herd to which you refer as from 
 Painesville, was really a herd of Western cattle, falsely shipped as from that place, 
 or else a herd that took the disease from an infected yard or car. 
 
 In answer to your inquiries, I would state that the "first cases" of which I 
 learned were in Aurora, Summit county, taken, as I understand, from following in 
 the track of the Illinois herd, to which I first referred. The exact date I cannot 
 give, but suppose it was the same as that of the cases of which you were informed 
 by ]Mr. Kead and the mayor of Akron. 
 
 The disease, so far as I have known, depended upon exposure to grounds over 
 wliich Texas cattle had been driven recently. 
 
 Very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 (Signed) P. HITCHCOCK. 
 
 The foregoing extracts from correspondence are quoted chieflj 
 with the view to convey tlie information and records therein 
 embodied in the precise words of the respective writers. There 
 was considerable correspondence with the State Commissioners and 
 Assistant Commissioners, and with various persons engaged in 
 handling cattle, but as all the points of information which such 
 correspondence embodies are embodied in the report of Dr. Morris* 
 in this volume, no further mention need be made of it in this 
 place. But there is one point that ought to be mentioned here< 
 namely, that the Board's correspondence ha,s been an imi)ortant 
 means for imparting information to great numbers who sought it, 
 and also for securing close observation and a reasonable supervision 
 of the disease throughout the country. 
 
 During the progress .of the infection in the country, there wjis 
 reason to apprehend that, on the one hand, reasonable fear of the 
 introduction of the disease into healthy herds might lead to 
 embarrassments in the beef supply in the cities; and that on the 
 other hand the drove-men and butchers — true to commercial 
 instinct — might push djdng and hopelessly infected beeves upon 
 our city meat markets, as, in fact. Assistant Commissioner Morris 
 ascertained was continually attempted. To prevent or largely 
 control these evils was an incidental and very important object, 
 both kept in view and actually attained in the Board's corres- 
 pondence. The daily press also discreetly sustained all the sanitary 
 and police measures which the Board recommended, so that entire 
 
 * It is deemed desirable that so far as the disease came under Dr. Morris' official observa- 
 tion, it should be consecutively presented by him. As Assistant Commissioner for the 
 State, he embraced every opportunity personally to see examples of the disease in different 
 localities, and to aid the Board of Health in procuring the most correct information con- 
 cerning the infected herds in the State of New York. 
 
 ;Ag.] 68 
 
1 074 Annual Report of New York 
 
 success was given to the endeavors of the sanitary officers as regards 
 their advice, as well as their acts. To insert here the entire corres- 
 pondence, &c., relating to these matters, would needlessly burden 
 this report with details; but we here introduced so much as seemed 
 necessary to show what was the precise nature of the information 
 obtained by us in the correspondence.* 
 
 ABSTRACT OF AUTHENTICATED EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM 
 VARIOUS SOURCES. 
 
 The earliest information of which the writer of this report had 
 any information concerning the " Spanish fever," or Texas cattle 
 disease, related to the spread of the disease from the fords of 
 the Osage river sometime before the war of the rebellion. The 
 earliest published account of it that has any definiteness and value, 
 is embodied in a report upon it by Dr. Albert Badger, of Nevada 
 Cit}^, Vernon county, Missouri, and published by the Missouri 
 State Agricultural Society in 1866. From that report we extract 
 the following well stated points: 
 
 This disease was first recognized as having been propagated by cattle driven 
 from Texas some twelve or thirteen years ago (that is in 1852 or 1853), the disease 
 having been in the county (Vernon) two seasons previous to its having been traced 
 to Texas cattle. 
 
 From the first, it was found to be confined to the great roads or highways 
 running through the county ft-om the south, and finally it centered on the Texas 
 eattle in the year 1853, by its being (discovered to be) confined to one highway 
 through the country over which these cattle passed that year. On this road 
 the disease was fatal, killing about fifty per cent of all the cattle along that 
 road, and persons living near the water courses over which that road crossed, lost 
 as high as ninety per cent. ****** 
 
 * * * The symptoms of the fever and its fatality are agreed to by 
 every person. The fatality is much greater in a warm and dry summer than in a 
 €old and wet one, and the disease always ceases when the frosts and freezes have 
 killed the vegetation. 
 
 Dr. Badger goes on to give perfectly accurate descriptions of 
 the symptoms of the disease and of the appearance of the sick 
 
 * Portions of the correspondence that related to strictly scientific inquiries, will be found 
 m the succeeding section of the report. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1075 
 
 cattle. His description of two classes of cases, or, rather of symp- 
 toms and phenomena, produced by the blood poisoning in the last 
 stage of the disease, is true to the life, and exceedingly instructive. 
 He narrates the circumstances by which the farmers of Vernon 
 county discovered the real source of the infection that had entered 
 their herds; also shows conclusively that the disease entirely 
 ceased during the four years of the war, and that the first case of 
 the re-introduction of it occurred in the autumn of 1865, when two 
 pairs of oxen were bought in the South by a Mr. Box, and imme- 
 diately infected the herds of three of his neighbors. 
 
 In June, 1866, a drove of Texas cattle passed through Vernon 
 county, and about eight miles into the adjoining county of Bates, 
 when the citizens resisted their further progress northward, and 
 compelled them to return into the Indian territory by the same 
 road they had entered Vernon county. The disease did not appear 
 for some six weeks; and then it prevailed more mildly than usual,' 
 yet it killed about forty per cent of the native herds. It extended 
 directly up to the very point, on the roadsides, at which the Texaus 
 had been turned back, and not a farm bej^ond that point. 
 
 Mr. John H. Tice, a citizen of St. Louis, makes the following 
 statement concerning his early experience of the disease at Chelten- 
 ham, near that city: 
 
 The first cases I saw were in 1858, five miles west of St. Louis, in a drove of 
 one hundred and eighty head of cattle, three-fourths were Texans, and the remain- 
 der native stock. In a few days after their arrival, the disease broke out among 
 them ; the first died on Saturday evening, and by Monday morning there were 
 twelve dead, every one of them being of the native stock. The pasture was iso- 
 lated, excepting on one side adjoining the turnpike. * * * * 
 In 1860, there was a large drove of Texas cattle opposite to the abovenamed pasture 
 and south of the road. Some of the drove died. The disease soon appeared in 
 the neighborhood cattle, nearly all of them being cows. I lost three cows. 
 
 ***** About the middle of October, 1866, some derange- 
 ment occurred in the machinery of a cattle train opposite to my house, and the 
 train was detained somewhere about three hours. On the train were Texas cattle, 
 and as some Irish people employed on the road lived there, and who during the 
 morning and evening pastured their cows within the enclosed railroad, I went 
 and advised them not to let their cows in. One of them did, and one did not. 
 The cow let in was a very valuable one, he having paid a short time before eighty 
 dollars for her. In about ten days she sickened with the Texas fever, and died in 
 a few hours. She pastured on the common when taken sick, with the neighbor- 
 hood cattle. But the day after she died (on the 30th of the month), we had the 
 first killing frost of that season. 
 
 During the summers of 1856 and 1857, Texas cattle were brought 
 into the States of Kansas and Iowa in great numbers, and it is 
 
1076 Annual Report of New York 
 
 stated that the native stock was swept away by a " dry murrahi " that 
 prevailed along the trails traversed by the Southern droves. The 
 newspapers of those dates, and of 1858, mention the singular cir- 
 cumstance that the course of the disease seemed totally arrested at 
 the banks of any deep stream of water, excepting at the points 
 where the Texas cattle found fording places, at which they crossed. 
 From 1858 to 1861, the disease prevailed along various routes 
 traversed by Texas herds in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa, and in the 
 latter year laws were framed by the Kansas Legislature to regulate 
 the movement of herds from the South. Similar laws were enacted 
 by the Legislatures of Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky, and all of 
 them are based upon the evidence of common observation of the 
 disease, introduced and propagated by the presence or even passing 
 of cattle from Texas and the Indian territory, bordering on Texas. 
 
 That this exotic disease wholly ceased in all the States here men- 
 tioned during the war of the rebellion, is a fact well established; 
 and that it sprang into existence immediately after the war, along 
 the trail of Texas cattle, which again were introduced as soon as 
 the obstruction of military lines had ceased, is also a fact equally 
 well established. Even in the famous Blue Grass regions in Cen- 
 tral Kentucky, the disease made its way in 1866, as the following 
 instructive instance strikingly illustrates: A drover brought a steam- 
 boat load of Texas cattle up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and, 
 landing them at Louisville, drove on to Lexington, which is in the 
 central part of the State. This drove was moved to Georgetown, 
 and wherever the native stock of the districts chanced to graze 
 upon the roadsides or pastures that were thus traversed by the 
 Texans, the former were in the course of two months almost 
 entu'ely swept off by the cattle disease. A drove of fat cattle that 
 chanced to follow close upon the trail of the Texans were all 
 attacked and all died. A Mrs. Duke, in Georgetown, who had a 
 fine dairy herd, lost forty of her cows in consequence of their tem- 
 porary exposure to grounds that had just been traversed by these 
 Texans. These facts are all vouched by Mr. Benjamin Johnson, 
 of Areola, Illinois, who brought that herd of Texans into this most 
 healthful and highly cultivated section of Kentucky. 
 
 Mr. V. P. Chilton, of Southwestern Missouri, has stated to the 
 Commissioners of the Illinois Agricultural Society, that as a resi- 
 dent of that section of country both before and ever since the Texas 
 cattle began to be driven through it (since 1849), he has observed 
 the following facts: 
 
Stats Agricultural Society. 1077 
 
 1. That beyond a doubt, the disease is communicated from feed- 
 ing or watering with or after Texas cattle. He says: 
 
 I have never yet known a case that could not be traced directly to this cause. 
 ******! have had my own cattle separated from large 
 herds of Texas cattle by a fence, without any evil results, and of the immense 
 number that have died on this road, none have died on pastures from which Texas 
 cattle have been excluded. The instances to sustain this view are so numerous 
 that I will not undertake to give them. My opinion is, that the poison is taken 
 into the stomach with their food or water; the greatest danger being in watering 
 in stagnant pools after infected stock, the known habit of cattle when watering, 
 leaving much fetid and feverish matter in the water. In very hot, dry weather it 
 is not safe to let cattle upon ground that has been used by diseased cattle for at 
 least eight weeks after they have been removed, as I have twice known the disease 
 contracted nearly that length of time after they had vacated it, and immediately 
 after hard rains when it was thought the disease had been swept off by the water, 
 but it was only washed into the water-pools with their droppings, and new energy 
 given to the virus. 
 
 This intelligent observer adds: 
 
 Cattle that have been here a few months, seldom impart the disease. The 
 fatality in cows appears to be greater than in steers. The disease is much more 
 virulent in some seasons than others, the excessive heat of this summer (1868^ 
 causing it to be worse than usual. 
 
 Experience at Cairo. — This chief point of transhipment of cattle 
 from steamboats to railroads, during the summer of 1867, in con- 
 sequence of State prohibitions against the movements of Texas 
 cattle over the routes of Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, early became 
 a seat of the Texas plague. The first lots that communicated the 
 disease, were landed from Texas, by way of New Orleans, on 
 the 23d day of April, the second on the 26th, and so on, about 
 thirty thousand head having been disembarked at this point during 
 the spring and summer of 1867. The boat-loads that first arrived 
 seemed to be in perfect health, but as the hot weather drew on, 
 many Texas steers died on the boats and in the Cairo yards. The 
 cattle were allowed two days for rest and recruiting after debarka- 
 tion from the steamboats before being shipped northward upon the 
 railroads, and it is stated that from twenty-five to thirty cattle died 
 daily in the yards, and about the levee during the hot season at 
 Cairo. The farmers in the vicinity of Cairo, suspecting no danger, 
 permitted their native stock to mingle freely with the Texas cattle. 
 But their cows began to perish by the disease early in June, and 
 this fatality continued to increase until it plainly declared the 
 
1078 Annual Repobt of New York 
 
 presence of an epizootic. This lesson was not forgotten, for during 
 the past summer of 1868, the farmers very carefully kept their 
 cattle out of the way of all contact and exposure. 
 
 Facts Showing the Probable Period of Incubation. — These facts 
 appear to consist of two classes; first, the deduction from records 
 of the time from first exposure to the fresh trail of infected Texas 
 cattle; or, the time which elapses from the first arrival and presence 
 of the Texas cattle and their excrements, to the date of the first 
 outbreak of the disease in native herds; second, the time that may 
 elapse between the first exposure and the first symptoms in native 
 cattle, when that exposure is known to have taken place, after the 
 infected grazing grounds or cattle trails had become actually capa- 
 ble of communicating the disease. In other words, there is a 
 distinction to be made between exposure to the infection itself 
 {i. e., the contagium of the disease), and the mere exposure to 
 the Texas cattle directly, or to their trail immediately after they 
 passed. 
 
 With this preliminary remark, we quote the following facts: 1. At 
 Cairo, in 1867, nearly six weeks elapsed after the landing of the 
 filrst five hundred Texans, before the native cattle began to die by 
 the imported infection, but after the outbreak had declared the 
 presence of the infection, the period that elapsed between the 
 exposure of native stock and the onset of fatal symptoms, was 
 scarcely four weeks. 2. At Whitehall, Illinois, Mr. Gregory put 
 two hundred and fifty-five Texas cattle into one of his pastures, 
 in which fourteen native steers were grazing; this was done on the 
 20th day of June. July 18th, one hundred more Texans were 
 placed in that pasture, and July 29th, he put in forty fat natives. 
 Three (3) native cows were also all this while grazing in this pas- 
 ture with the fourteen native steers, and after a lapse of forty-one 
 days, these natives also had the companionship of the forty which 
 arrived on the 29th of July. The following is the record of dates, 
 etc., of the attacks that followed: (a.) August 8th, two of the 
 three cows died, the other one having been sent away several days 
 previously, {b.) August 10th, one of the fourteen steers died, 
 (c.) Five days later, the fat steers that came in on the 29th of 
 July, began to die, and these continued to die at the rate of five 
 per day, until forty-four out of the fifty-four had died, {d.) Five 
 cows, some Texans and a bufialo were placed in a pasture together 
 on the 20th of June, and on the 8th of August, one of these five 
 cows died, (e.) July 17th, there were forty-seven native cattle 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1079 
 
 and two hundred and forty Texans placed together in a pasture; 
 they have shown no signs of sickness. 
 
 Mr. Groes, a farmer living in Sangamon county, received a drove 
 of cattle on the 16th of June, directly from Abeline, Kansas, and 
 placed sixty-two of them in a one hundred acre prairie-pasture, 
 where there w^cre thirty-five native cattle grazing. Twenty-six days 
 after receiving the Texas cattle, he removed two of the natives that 
 had fed with them during those three and a half weelcs, and placed 
 them in a fresh pasture where there were no Texans ; after twenty- 
 four more days had elapsed, namely, on the 5th of August, the 
 Spanish fever appeared in that herd of thirty-three natives. The 
 two other natives that had been removed Avere now returned to 
 their companions, and they continued healthy until the end of the 
 season; but in less than ten days after the disease appeared in that 
 group of thirty-three that had remained longest with the Texans, 
 nineteen of them died. 
 
 This case, like that on Mr. Gregory's ftirm, seems to show that 
 the infectious principle, or contagiiim by which the disease is spread 
 from place to place, either requires, _^r*^, a period of several days 
 and perhaps as long a period as four weeks, to develop it from the 
 excrement of the Texas cattle as deposited on the ground, to such 
 a maturity as to render it sufficiently active to propagate itself; or, 
 second, it requires that the individual cattle which have freshly 
 arrived from the Texas and Indian territory cattle-trails, — and whose 
 incubation of the poisonous cause of the disease chances to be yet 
 incomplete, — shall continue their incubation of it until it becomes 
 capable of reproducing a crop of its deadly growth. None of 
 the cases thus far quoted serve to determine which of these con- 
 ditions it is that must explain the curious facts in the instances 
 here mentioned. 
 
 The experience upon the great farm of Colonel J. T. Alexander, 
 in Champaign county, Illinois, throws additional light upon the 
 important question which we have here raised. On the last day 
 of May, 1868, four hundred freshly ai'rived Texans were placed 
 upon his farm at Broadlands, upon a prairie-pasture on which ona 
 hundred native oxen were grazing. The Texans remained in that 
 j)asture only one day. June 7th, two hundred and twenty-six 
 more freshly arrived Texans remained one day in the pasture here 
 mentioned. June 18th, four hundred and ninety-six more of the 
 same kind, freshly arrived, were allowed to remain in the same 
 pasture three days. June 21st, three hundred and forty-nine more 
 
2080 Anxl'al Report of New York 
 
 aiTived and remained there one day. June 25th, five hundred and 
 thirty-seven more, by the overland route through Kansas, arrived 
 and were placed in another pasture where twenty-two native cattle 
 were grazing; and on the 30th of June, one hundred more arrived 
 by the same route, and were placed in still another pasture with 
 native cattle. July 26th the disease appeared among native cattle, 
 and during the week it was observed in several different pastures. 
 Now, concerning the one hundred oxen — native cattle — that were 
 grazing in the great pasture which, from the last day of May until 
 the 4th of July, had continued to be a sort of hotel-ground for the 
 grazing and rest of immense herds of freshly arrived Texans day 
 by day, but only for a day or two in each arrival, the following 
 facts appear: (1.) These one hundred native oxen continued in the 
 great pasture until July 1st, when they were all removed to a pas- 
 ture in which there had been no Texan herds. (2.) That on the 
 14th of July twenty-seven of these one hundred oxen were removed 
 to a pasture that had, for some time, been grazed upon by Texas 
 cattle. Two weeks afterwards several of these twenty-seven sick- 
 ened, and in the course of the month nearly all of them had the 
 Texas cattle disease, and many of them died. In another lot of 
 native cattle, twenty-six in number, which had grazed for twenty 
 days with freshly arrived Texans in a pasture, namely, from June 
 10th to July 1st, not a case of the disease occurred, the cattle 
 remaining healthy until the end of the season; they were removed 
 from the Texans at the date last mentioned and placed in a pasture 
 where no Texans had grazed. But a numerous herd of the com- 
 panions of these fortunate twenty-six, that remained in the pasture 
 where they had together grazed with the Texans during the last 
 twenty days of June, and thenceforward for a month continued to 
 graze upon the same pasture alone, before the middle of August 
 were nearly all dead by the disease. These facts are all vouched 
 by Mr. C. L. Eaton, the very intelligent superintendent of the 
 Broadlands farm. 
 
 The experience in the Chicago stock yards was peculiarly 
 important. We have already stated many of the facts in our 
 chapter of correspondence, and we will here add a few more state- 
 ments which seem important in the history of the disease in that 
 neighborhood. Dr. Ranch, the Sanitary Superintendent of Chicago, 
 says: 
 
 * * * * * The first case at the Union stock yards, which 
 terminated fatally, occurred July 25th, soon after the arrival of the train that 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1081 
 
 brought the animal there. Two days after, two dead steers were found in a train 
 that arrived from the infected district (Tolono, in Central Illinois), with several 
 animals suffering from the disease. The next day, another train arrived with dis- 
 eased steers in it. This train was not permitted to remain. On July 29th, a cow 
 died, helonging to a citizen of the Fifth ward. 
 
 The number of deaths increased daily until the 20th of August, particularly in 
 the Fifth ward, when they began to diminish. In order that you may understand 
 the history of this plague, I will state that the Fifth ward comprises a large ter- 
 ritory, the greater portion of which is unoccupied, and in its primitive state, in 
 the extreme southwestern portion of the city, adjoining the Union stock j^ards, 
 and where, for the purpose of economy, herds of Texas cattle were grazed at 
 intervals while awaiting sale, from the month of May until the action of the Board 
 prevented it, in August. These animals were also grazed upon the prairie, east, 
 iSouth and west of the stock yards. No herds were at any time permitted to 
 graze east of the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne railroad. * * * q^ 
 
 this ground, the cows belonging to the Fifth ward grazed, and where the Texas 
 fever prevailed most, and the greatest mortality occurred, A large number of 
 eows grazed east of the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne railroad, but none of them 
 were affected, with the exception of a few which were in the habit of frequenting 
 a spot below the city limits, on the line of the Illinois Central and Michigan Cen- 
 tral railroad, connecting with the stock j^ards, where the cattle cars were cleaned. 
 These cows belonged to citizens of the Fourth ward. Other cases occurred near 
 Calumet Junction, Summit, Lyons, and south and west of the stock yards, where 
 herds of Texas cattle had been driven, or grazed, or where infected native cattle 
 had been sent from the stock yards. One case occurred in the Seventh ward, of a 
 cow that had been purchased several days before from a farmer living near Brighton, 
 but which, at the time of purchase, showed no signs of the disease. As far as we 
 have been able to learn, one hundred and forty-seven milch cows, one heifer and 
 four steers, belonging to citizens of the Fifth ward, died between July 27th and 
 October 10th. At the stock yards, thirteen steers died ; in the Fourth ward (the 
 extreme southern part of the city, and east of the stock yards), ten; and in other 
 parts of Cook county, as far as heard from, ninety-five. Of the animals condemned 
 and killed at the slaughter houses, there were seventy -eight. In these, the disease 
 was so well marked that it was unmistakable, while a great many were found, in 
 the incipient, and still more, in the convalescent stage, so that the Board did not 
 feel unwarranted in condemning the animals. This was particularly the case with 
 regard to the Texas cattle ; six of these were found suffering with the acute symp- 
 toms so well marked that they were condemned, making a total of four hundred 
 and one animals that died of this disease, and were slaughtered within the limits 
 of Cook county. 
 
 The following observation concerning an important symptom, 
 was made by Dr. Ranch: 
 
 So far no notice in the description of the symptoms of this disease has been 
 taken of the chill by which it is ushered in, nor of the urination. With regard to 
 the first symptom, I would state that three cases fell under my observation in 
 which this was well marked, and I have no doubt but that such was the case in nearly 
 all the animals that suffered. ******** 
 
 With regard to the transmittal of this disease by native to native cattle, I must 
 
1082 Annual Report OF New York 
 
 confess, that notwithstanding the weight of the testimony against it, I am inclined 
 to believe that such can and does take place. I can see no good reason why such 
 should not be the case. * * * Several instances of this character fell 
 under my observation during the past three months, but the most conclusive evi- 
 dence I have is, that native cattle were purchased at Chicago in August, and taken 
 to Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and that a short time, after they died, and that 
 other native cattle on the same farm and neighborhood died, and that no Texas 
 cattle had been near the place 
 
 Mr. Hill, of Tolono, a little town in Illinois, where large numbers 
 of the Texas cattle arrived from Cairo and from the raiU'oad depot, 
 stated the following facts concerning the experience in which he 
 had participated as a citizen of the place. He says: 
 
 Our little town is situated at the crossing of the Great "Western and the Chicago 
 branch of the Illinois Central railroad. Great preparations were made there last 
 spring by the Illinois Central railroad, and many thousand dollars expended, in 
 building fine cattle pens and barns, which, although the road denied it, we sup- 
 posed were intended (as the fact turned out to be), for the purpose of facilitating 
 the importation of these Texas cattle. The first train containing any arrived on the 
 29th of last April, and they continued to come until late in the summer. About 
 the 10th of June, the cattle disease broke out, and continued to rage as long as 
 there was material for it to work upon, until nearly all of our cattle fell a prey to 
 it. Among the few left, the disease still continues to work, one gentleman having 
 lost some fine steers only last week. On the 5th day of September, within a 
 radius of two miles of the town, I think there were hut two milch cows left, and 
 up to that time, seven hundred and twenty-six cattle had died in that little town- 
 ship, which polls but a trifle over two hundred votes, since which time two 
 hundred more have died. 
 
 Concerning the isolation or quarantine of herds, as a means of 
 arresting the spread of the disease, Mr. Hill states the following 
 facts: 
 
 Some facts have been stated in regard to Mr. Larmon's cattle, and the disease 
 not being communicated to them across a fence. As I am a near neighbor of his, 
 I will just state what I know about that. His co'ws were among the last that 
 died, but they did die, notwithstanding that they were enclosed, I think, by a 
 common five-plank fence. 
 
 The district around Tolono having been so thoroughly infected 
 that only two of the native cows remained alive after the 1st of 
 October, it does not appear strange that this pasture of Mr. Larmon 
 should have become infected at last. Mr. Hill does not inform us 
 in what manner the water drains into or from Mr. Larmon's pasture, 
 and there are several instances known to us in which pastures and 
 3'^ards which were receiving the water-shed of infected grounds 
 and Texas cattle bcj^ond their enclosure, and in that manner appa- 
 
State Aoricultural Society. 1083 
 
 rently became infected in turn; yet bad not been actually visited 
 or trodden by any Texas herds or other sick cattle before the disease 
 sprang up among the native cattle, in the manner which Mr. Hill 
 has well described in Mr. Larmon's case. 
 
 Mr. Hill, whose testimony seems to us peculiarly straightfor- 
 ward and logical, has recently given an account of the prevalence 
 of this Texas epizootic among the horses of the same district in 
 which the cattle had been swept away before the horses began to 
 die. He regards it as the same disease. He gives the following 
 important evidence upon the two questions: (1.) Does the contagium 
 of the Texas cattle disease persist in its activity long after the cattle 
 have been destroyed by it in the pastures? (2.) What is the period 
 of incubation in pastures that have become infected by this conta- 
 gium in its full destructive force, or mature stage of development? 
 
 (1 .) Answer. — After our cows had all died out, some eight or ten were brought 
 from Edgar county ; they had never been exposed to the Texas cattle ranges or 
 trails, excepting as it was necessary for them to cross where Texas cattle had been 
 driven. They were sold in our place, and part of them have died. * * * 
 
 (2.) Besides these cows, a large herd of native cattle that had not been in any 
 manner exposed to the Texans, were brought into the town and pastured upon the 
 same grounds where the disease had prevailed so fatallj''. In about three weeks 
 they began to die, and continued to die until nearly all were dead. One fermcr, 
 alone, lost seventy previous to the first of November. 
 
 Mr. Moore, of Missouri, states the following interesting facts 
 concerning the destruction of native stock taken southward to the 
 borders of Texas, overland. His testimony is corroborated by an 
 abundance of testimony of the same kind which has come into our 
 possession: 
 
 Some freighters, about to cross the plains, selected native and Texas cattle, 
 herded them, and fed them together during the winter ; made up their teams in 
 the spring, and started across the plains with all their animals apparently well. 
 When they had got half way across the plains, the native cattle were all dead, and 
 the Texas cattle were left to make the journey alone. These are the facts commu- 
 nicated to me by a gentleman who was with the train, and knew all about it. 
 
 There is abundant testimony to the fact, that Northern stock, 
 particularly that which is well bred, seldom survives the acclimat- 
 ing diseases which they suffer upon being taken southward beyond 
 the Arkansas and Osage rivers. But the nature of the acclimatizing 
 disease is not yet well known to us. The Agricultural Bureau of 
 the General Government, at Washington, collected important infor- 
 mation upon this subject, nearly ten years ago. (See Reports of 
 the Agricultural Bureau, Department of the Interior, 1860.) 
 
1084 Annual Report of New York 
 
 THE "TICK" THEORY CONCERNING THE DISEASE. 
 As some of the largest losers of cattle by the disease in the 
 West came to the conclusion that the vermin known as " wood- 
 ticks," which infested the skin of nearly all the newly arrived Texas 
 cattle, were in some way the cause of the infection to native herds, 
 we requested a friend who had examined into the history of the 
 disease of the "tick," in Summit county, Ohio, to communicate 
 the results of his investigation. The facts are simply these: The 
 doctor and the farmer believed without evidence, simply in view 
 of the fact that the "tick" seemed universally present with the 
 infected herds, that the vermin served in some way as the cause 
 and carrier of the disease. Our correspondent, M. C. Read, Esq., 
 of Hudson, Ohio, forwarded to us specimens of the "ticks," and 
 called attention to the following description of them by Cuvier: 
 
 Ixodes reticulatus (Lat., Fab.); ash colored, with small spots and small annalar 
 lines of a reddish brown; edges of the abdomen striated; pulpy almost oval. It 
 attaches itself to oxen and is, when swollen up, five or six lines in length. 
 
 Texas cattle usually become extensively covered with these 
 "wood-ticks," before leaving their native grazing grounds, and 
 when they arrive at the North, during the early part of summer, 
 they bring myriads of these vermin upon their skins. The cattle, 
 as we are informed by Mr. Read, and several other correspondents, 
 have never been observed to make any attempt to remove these 
 vermin off their hides by teeth or tongue. And we need only 
 quote the statement made, concerning this species of Ixodes, by B. 
 D. Walsh, Esq., of Rock Island, Illinois, one of the most learned 
 entomologists in our countiy: 
 
 There is a prevailing opinion amongst certain classes, that the ticks which are 
 found on the cattle which die of Texas fever are actually the cause of the disease. 
 In view of this fact, specimens of these ticks have been sent us for examination, 
 from different localities in Illinois, and they are identical with those we have our- 
 selves examined upon diseased cattle in St. Louis, and are but the common cattle 
 tick. It is exceedingly improbable that they have anything to do with the disease, 
 although it is barely possible that they may communicate the infection from the 
 Texas cattle to our native herds. (See American Entomologist, Vol. I, No. 2; 
 St. Louis, October, 1868.) 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1085 
 
 IT. OBJECTS OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION, AND 
 DESCRIPTION OF METHODS ADOPTED. 
 
 Plainly enough there are two leading and co-equal objects which 
 demand that thorough investigations shall be made concerning 
 whatever pestilential disease occurs in the animals that are used 
 for human food. The first object relates to the ascertaining of the 
 nature and efiects of the special disease in the sick animal, with 
 reference to the results to be feared or anticipated when their flesh 
 is used for food; and the second object of investigation has reference 
 to the discovery of the hidden and preventable causes of the pes- 
 tilential diseases which afliict animal life, and with an ultimate and 
 very special reference to the use of such knowledge in unfolding 
 the natural laws of epidemics, and the practical principles of 
 hygiene. 
 
 First Object of Inquiry — The Diseased Food Question. — That 
 animals dying or killed when suffering from a pestilential and 
 destructive disease, or when slowly undergoing the incubative 
 effects of an infectious poison or ferment that at the full term of 
 the incubation shall destroy life, would thereby be rendered unfit 
 for human food, might seem to be decided, without argument, in 
 the affirmative. But common observation has shown that not every 
 kind of disease of the lower animals is noticeably pernicious as 
 food when the flesh is cooked; and as the beneficent laws of our 
 physical organization do actually provide in some degree for the 
 protection of human life against many of the perils of defective 
 foods, it has come to pass that the empirical conclusion has been 
 drawn very boldly, that no cooked meats, however much the animals 
 whence the meats were obtained may have been diseased, will pro- 
 duce disease or sickness. But this is a preposterous doctrine, and 
 it is as absolutely untrue as it is illogical. 
 
 This report is not the proper place for examining into the whole 
 subject of diseased foods, so we will simply state the questions 
 that had to be considered by the committee of the Board of Health 
 in regard to the matter. 
 
1086 Annual Report of New York 
 
 1. In consequence of an enormous increase in the death-rate by 
 diari'hoeal diseases, and especially in view of the fiict that a sudden 
 and utterly obstinate and incurable class of choleraic diarrhoeas in 
 adults, and in children past the age and diet of infancy, had very 
 rapidly increased during the last weeks in July, and the first two 
 weeks of August, in New York, we repeat what we have previously 
 stated, that the chief incentive to our first search for the presence 
 and characteristics of the "Texas cattle disease," had special refer- 
 ence to the well formed purpose to arrest, discover and control 
 whatever removable causes of disease could then be found opera- 
 ting upon the population of the Metropolis. During the first ten 
 days of August, the Registrar personally visited twenty-five sick, 
 dying or dead persons to discover what local and domestic causes 
 of choleraic disease might be present in the places where such 
 sickness was occurring. At no hour of the night was he free from 
 this duty of visiting cases of sudden sickness of this kind. Familiar 
 as he was with Asiatic cholera and all forms of summer cholera, 
 he found ample reasons for doubting if all the causes of this class 
 of choleraic diarrhoeas then prevalent, were adequately known and 
 controlled. The precise state of our anxieties and of the general 
 estimation of removable causes of some of the diarrhoeal disease 
 at the end of the first week of August, is correctly set forth in the 
 note which accompanied the mortality records for the week ending 
 August 8th, as usually submitted to the Board of Health. We 
 quote a paragraph to show how medical officers regard the duty 
 of searching; for and restraining the sources of such excess of diar- 
 rhceal disease: 
 
 ***** There were 751 deaths in New York last week, 
 and 267 in Brooklyn, against 730, and 233 in the respective cities the previous 
 week. * * * Acute diarrhoeal diseases are charged with 203 deaths 
 in New York (40.34 per cent of the total mortality), and with 142 (53.18 per 
 cent of the total) in Brooklyn. We regret to see that the fatality of this most 
 preventable kind of disease, the unerring indicator of foulness and putresence in 
 domestic surroundings or in food articles, continues to increase, and there is just 
 reason for saying that impure and injurious food has been sold in the markets of 
 New York and Brooklyn. * * * ^j^j i\^f. f^Qi must fearlessly be 
 told that it is a crime against life to offer for food any portion of the flesh of the 
 sick and infected animals that may for several iveeks continue to be sent forward 
 from the West. It is idle to. talk of such meats being safe and wholesome for 
 food. Medical oflBcers are in duty bound to know the truth on this subject, and 
 to advise accordingly. 
 
 Such was — and we believe such should be — the view taken of the 
 use of the flesh of diseased or infected animals for food, especially 
 
State Ageicttltural Society. 1087 
 
 when, by the symptoms of the sickness, the disorder is pestilential. 
 How urgently important is this view of the case, when there is a 
 deadly prevalence of bowel disorders in the community? And as 
 sundry correspondents in newspapers, and some persons of fair 
 authority in veterinary science, have expressed the opinion that 
 the flesh of diseased cattle is harmless, it is but proper that we 
 should quote here a paragraph from a letter of information which 
 we received from Prof. John Gamgee, the distinguished veterinarian, 
 who is at present in this country, then writing from Kansas City, 
 Missouri, under date of August 22d, after having examined scores 
 of the dead and dying cattle, and after having discovered the same 
 disease in Texas cattle that were awaiting transportation from 
 Kansas. That gentleman remarked, that " no sanitary officer can, 
 for a moment, sanction the sale of the meat of diseased animals, 
 whatever the disease for which they are slaughtered." 
 
 As medical and sanitary officers we do not feel at liberty to pass 
 lightly over the questions that are involved in the consideration 
 of this first object of scientific inquiry and sanitary regulation in 
 regard to the foods derived from sick and infected animals. But 
 as we cannot, in this brief report, properly take up the several 
 questions that relate to this important subject, the following state- 
 ment of the main points in the argument against the use of diseased 
 animal food is submitted: 
 
 First. — The origin and early stages of various disorders of human 
 health, especially of those afiecting the healthy condition of the 
 blood and secretions, and the digestive and the depurative func- 
 tions, and, also, certain degenerations of vital organs and proximate 
 elements of the human body, are very reasonably believed to be 
 often dependent upon faulty food and consequent faulty assimi- 
 lation; and as the peculiar manner in which the flesh of diseased 
 animals sometimes operates as a virulent cause of fatal blood- 
 changes warrants the conclusion that such food, even when cooked, 
 produces its deleterious effects by operating as a morbid poison or 
 ferment (zi/me), every medical officer is in duty bound to discrimi- 
 nate rigidly against those special diseases of animals that destroy 
 by means of pestilential disintegration or zymotic transformations 
 in the blood and fluids of the diseased creatures. The entire class 
 of anthrax fevers or anthracoid diseases, and all those diseases that 
 are known by the term " braxy," are to be regarded as liable, though 
 not certain in all cases, to beget disease of a fatal kind in man or beast, 
 if used for food. Testimony on this subject is clear and strong. 
 
1088 Annual Report of New York 
 
 That the diseases we have just mentioned, as well as the rinder- 
 pest, the contagious pleuro-pneumonia, and the bovine-typhus, and 
 all the disorders which the (jermans term milzhrand^ should not, 
 in a majority of instances in which the diseased flesh is used as 
 food, actually produce fatal results or any recognized disease in 
 the persons who partake of the food, is neither strange nor impor- 
 tant in this argument. Not every child takes scarlatina or the 
 small-pox when exposed to the contagia of those diseases; and, on 
 the other hand, not every human stomach will destroy, and not 
 every human body will certainly and completely eliminate all 
 noxious elements from the circulating blood. So, also, in and upon 
 some persons parasites will grow and propagate, while other per- 
 sons resist such depressing maladies. 
 
 In regard to our earlier opinions concerning the essential nature 
 of the Texas cattle disease, we should here mention that until it 
 was discovered that a cryptogamic organism was constantly to be 
 found in the blood and bile of the infected animals, we believed 
 that the malady would be found closely allied to the anthracoid 
 and braxy diseases described by European pathologists. The 
 cryptogamic and contingently infectious nature which we now know 
 that the malady possesses, enhances the theoretical importance of 
 restrictions against the use of such flesh for food. And, in ix'gard 
 to the whole subject, nothing could be said more appropriately 
 than has been said by the learned and most practical of hygieoists 
 and pathologists. Prof. Edward A. Parkes, in the following remark; 
 
 We should conclude from general principles that all diseases must aflfect the com- 
 position of flesh, and as the composition of our own bodies is inextricably blended 
 with the composition of the substances we eat, it must be of the greatest import- 
 ance to health to have these substances as pure as possible.* 
 
 In his fifth and seventh annual reports to the privy council of 
 England, the chief medical officer. Dr. John Simon, takes up tliis 
 question with a masterly grasp, and he arrives at the same general 
 conclusion as that which Professor Parkes has so well expressed. 
 In the light of experience and the most advanced knowledge, there- 
 fore, the terms in which the decision of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Health was set forth by its special committee on the loth of 
 August, will stand as a safe and good rule.f 
 
 * Practical Hygiene, by E. A. Parkes, p. 161. 
 
 f Metropolitan Boakd op Health, ) 
 New York, August \Uh, 1868. \ 
 . In view of the rapid spread of the malignant disease that has burst forth among herds 
 of cattle in certain portions of Illinois and Indiana whence beef is supplied to the Metro- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1089 
 
 The Second Object sougJit in the Investigations. — Search for the 
 Causes of the Ejgizobtic malady with reference to the Laws of Epi- 
 demics. — The skillful study of epizootics, especially those which 
 affect the bovine species in open pastures, and in their removals or 
 migrations from their native ranges of grazing, etc., has in the past 
 half century, added much important information to the stock of 
 medical knowledge concerning the causes of certain- endemic dis- 
 eases, and concerning various important questions in the pathology 
 of such maladies. The human family has for seventy years been 
 enjoying, — as a direct result of Dr. Jeuner's skillful and scientific 
 study of a bovine disease, — the greatest boon that medical inquiry 
 has ever conferred upon man. The modern investigations concern- 
 ing the "murrains," have finally classified them into groups of 
 maladies that are almost entirely analagous to the most destructive 
 epidemic and infectious diseases of the human family- and the 
 scientific medical study of each group of them and of the outbreaks 
 of them during the last fifteen or twenty years, has greatly aided 
 the progress of a kind of practical knowledge that is much needed. 
 
 But, until the scientific commission which was appointed to inves- 
 tigate the rinderpest in England had completed their reports, there 
 had but little been published in the English language that was 
 adapted to aid sanitary officers in meeting the exigencies of an out- 
 break of a destructive epizootic affecting the meat-supply of cities. 
 The elaborate and thoroughly practical presentation of the whole 
 
 politan district of New York and the most populous portions of the Eastern and Middle 
 States, this Board of Health has endeavored promptly to do whatever lies in its power to 
 prevent the introduction of such cattle, and to exclude all such beef from the markets iu 
 this district. And however greatly it is regretted that farmers and the holders of the 
 infected and sickly herds must suffer personal losses and inconvenience, the act of bringing 
 forward and offering any such animals for food must be regarded as a very gross offence 
 against the lives of our fellow beings. The investigations made by scientific and experienced 
 officers of this Board have fully confirmed the opinion that the flesh of those diseased ani- 
 mals cannot safely be used for food. The information now before us clearly shows that 
 until some proof of the contrary is obtained, the malignant disease which has been brought 
 eastward from Illinois and Indiana, should be regarded and treated as an infectious fever or 
 plague. The transportation of any sick or infected cattle from the sickly districts to other 
 States should be prohibited. The offering of any such diseased animals, or any portion of 
 their flesh for sale for food within the Metropolitan district of New York, will be regarded 
 as a culpable offence against the sanitary ordinances relating to markets and food articles, 
 and will be punished with the heaviest penalties the laws provide. No relaxation of this 
 order of the Board can be allowed. 
 
 From the first hour that any officer of this Board had any information of the probable 
 presence or approach of the infected herds near to New York, the utmost vigilance has 
 been resorted to for the prompt and absolute exclusion of these cattle and every portion 
 of their flesh from the markets. The greatest diligence and all available means are being 
 employed in the investigations of the pathology and character of the disease, and its mor- 
 bid results in the organs and flesh of the sick cattle. 
 
 [AG.] 69 
 
1090 Annual Report of New Yobk 
 
 subject of diseased moat-supplies, however, had previously been 
 made, as just mentioned, by the chief medical officer to the English 
 Privy Council; and that presentation was made solely upon the 
 ground of the particular necessity for carefully guarding our mark- 
 ets and the peoples' tables against diseased meat-supplies. 
 
 Epizootic diseases, when of a pestilential or destructive char- 
 acter, usually make their outbreaks with great violence and rapidity 
 of movement. And, as we are informed, there never has been an 
 instance, until the present year, except under an Imperial govern- 
 ment — occasionally, as in France in 1865-66, — in which an infec- 
 tious epizootic among beef cattle has been confronted from the first 
 day of discovering its presence, and, so far as human ability and 
 effort are concerned, held under absolute police control. The fact 
 that this Texas cattle fever did not turn out to be so inevitably 
 contagious as there was reason to expect and fear it might, did 
 not diminish the duty of promptitude of official action. Indeed, 
 it has resulted that this mode of action was essentially requisite as 
 a means of investigating the disease with accuracy and success. 
 This remark brings us to the postulate that should be laid down 
 as the first rule to be established in attempting to exercise a sani- 
 tary control over, or to make an accurate and scientific investi- 
 gation of any infectious and pestilential disease of cattle, sheep or 
 swine that are designed for human food. It is as follows: Place 
 every diseased animal in quarantine, and have all infected and sus- 
 pected animals under strict observation and under sanitary regu- 
 lations, wherever they are moved or kept. 
 
 Hitherto, or especially until the European States brought the 
 rinderpest under scientific investigation and strict police control, 
 there has been much difficulty in pursuing medical observations 
 upon the pestilential diseases of cattle. ^ On the one band, it has 
 been difficult — in the United States scarcely possible — ^for medical 
 officers of health to pursue any adequate study of a bovine epizootic. 
 And, on the other hand, the descriptions and the pathological 
 inquiries concerning epizootic maladies were generally vague and 
 unscientific. 
 
 The fact was known to us that there was such a malady as the 
 " Texas cattle disease," or " Spanish fever,*' but no medical or 
 scientific account of it had ever been published. It was also 
 obscurely known that when improved Northern stocks of cattle 
 (and horses also) are taken into the regions of the Gulf of Mexico, 
 they suffer an enormous death-rate from some unknown and unde- 
 
State Agricultural Societt. 1091 
 
 scribed disease. This obscure kind of knowledge had, for the past 
 ten or twelve years, been so vaguely reported, that really nothing 
 was known of its medical histoay. The writer now recalls with much 
 interest certain efforts he made, when passing from St. Louis to 
 New Orleans, in the summer of 1865, in company with two gentle- 
 men from the western border of Missouri and Arkansas, to ascer- 
 tain what the geographical limits were of the "Texas cattle 
 disease," or "Spanish fever," of which some indefinite kind of infor- 
 mation had been received from southwestern Missouri before the 
 war. But the war had suspended the disease, and it was only 
 remembered as a " dry murrain" that destroyed native herds at and 
 the fords of the Osage river. The information that during the 
 last few months has reached us concerning the earlier observations 
 of this disease, proves that it had for many years been vaguely 
 known and described by the great drovers of cattle in the South- 
 west. We here allude to these facts for the purpose of showing 
 that it was not possible, at the time when we first saw the disease, 
 to refer to any published account concerning it, that could in the 
 least aid the sanitary authorities in the duties which they owed to 
 the public, in regard to measures that might need to be taken 
 concerning the infected cattle. The chief objects and methods 
 for scientific investigation by the Board's officers, had to be 
 determined upon from the stand -point at which the diseased 
 cattle were first viewed in the market-yards near New York, last 
 August. 
 
 THE OBJECTS AND METHODS OP THE SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. 
 
 Having reason to believe that this disease was allied to the 
 aeithracoid maladies, or t» some specific and infectious pestilence, 
 which, by exact methods of investigation, might be as perfectly 
 understood as any great types of disease can be, and, believiiig 
 also that whatever we might clearly demonstrate in regard to 
 the origin, spread and morbid changes or pathology of this cattle 
 fever, would directly promote the knowledge of causation, and 
 the means of preventing epidemic as well as epizootic diseases, we 
 adopted impromptu the methods of inquiry that are indicated by 
 the present advanced state of medical and sanitary science- These 
 comprised: 
 
 1. The medical observation of symptoms. 
 
 2. The slaughter and post mortem examination of infected cattle 
 with special reference to investigation concerning the disease. 
 
1092 Annual Report of New York 
 
 3. The continual use of the microscope in the pathological 
 researches. 
 
 4. The employment of chemical analyses and tests. 
 
 5. Experiments to test the supposed methods by which the dis- 
 ease may be communicated, 
 
 6. Experiments and tests for the verification or settlement of 
 questions arising in the progress of investigations. 
 
 With this simple plan of procedure, it was easy to keep up 
 systematic inquiries. And it has turned out, in our experience, 
 that this methodical organization of the means for investigation has 
 proved to be an essential aid to the work. 
 
 The objects that most urgently invited the diligent investigation 
 by these and other kinds of inquiry concerning the nature of the 
 disease, after the food question had received adequate care, are 
 objects towards which the desires and highest endeavors of physi- 
 cians and hygienists may justly be directed; for, they relate to the 
 larger and more exact comprehension of the physical circumstances 
 and laws that are concerned in the cause and spread of pestilential 
 diseases. 
 
 Here was a bovine pestilence that appeared to infect nearly all 
 the cattle that grazed over the trail of freshly arrived Texas herds, 
 and which destroys eighty per cent of all the Northern cattle that 
 become obviously infected. And yet, notwitstanding this fatality 
 of the unseen contagium, the contagiousness itself is subject to such 
 contingencies and exceptions, that it the more strongly promised 
 to aid in unveiling very important truths relating to the origin and 
 propagation of certain pestilences that afflict the human family 
 within limited districts. Yellow fever, cholera and typhoid fever 
 variously represent the kinds of contagia and classes of yet undis- 
 covered material causes which need, if possible, to be individually 
 described, so that the hygienic control of them may be more definite 
 and absolute. And, as regards a remarkable association of analo- 
 ofies that we have found to exist between the Texas cattle disease 
 and the yellow fever, as witnessed in the human family, it may be 
 remarked that we are now fully warranted in adopting the expres- 
 sion used by Dr. Stiles in his report, that the "Texas cattle disease, 
 when judged by its pathological lesions, might be termed the yellow 
 fever of cattle." A detailed account of these analogies need not 
 be presented here,, but it sufiices to state that the points in com- 
 parison in these two pestilences are so well marked, as to warrant 
 the belief that the actual demonstration of the precise nature, 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1093 
 
 origin, propagation and pathological effects of the infective princi- 
 ple or virus of either of these two pestilences, would throw such 
 a flood of light upon that of the other, as to enable medical men 
 soon to grasp and unfold the hitherto mj^sterious laws that govern 
 the propagation of yellow fever. Let it be understood, however, 
 that we do not presume that these two pestilences are identical; we 
 simply assert that they are wonderfully analagous in essential and 
 constant attributes in their pathology, and in certain chief points, 
 but not in all, of the phenomena and habits of their respective 
 principles or agents of infectiveness. 
 
 Upon this subject the leading medical philosophers and hygienists 
 of our day, have for some years past been urging the necessity and 
 duty of making careful and thorough scientific investigations in 
 regard to the infectious maladies which afilict cattle, sheep, and 
 other domestic animals. It requires no argument to show that 
 both the labor and facilities, as well as the satisfaction, in making 
 exact observations upon tame animals that are wholly under the 
 control of the medical observer and subject in all respects to his 
 absolute authority, even to any kind of experimentation (experiments 
 that are, of course, not cruel, or barba7'ous), and subject, at the 
 observer's arbitrary decision, — to slaughter and to the instant 
 examination of the blood and the tissue while they are absolutely 
 fresh, — are conducive to the attainment of exact and trustworthy 
 results, and to the discovery of the more important and recondite 
 physical relations that most need to be understood in the history 
 of infectious and epidemic or endemic diseases. 
 
 Epizootics, thoroughly investigated in the light of modern 
 science, can become, and indeed are becoming the most trustworthy 
 aids to the correct interpretation of the conditions and principles 
 connected with the propagation and the pathological history of 
 pestilential epidemics. The time has come when the medical pro- 
 fession is demanding; that the value of this kind of investigation 
 into the pestilential maladies of the domesticated lower animals 
 shall be more intelligently appreciated by all educated physicians 
 who have opportunity for observing e23izootics. And we deem it 
 due to the medical profession to state in this place that not a few^ of ' 
 its most learned and practical members are at present pursuing this 
 kind of study in various parts of Europe, and that for several years 
 past the profound sanitary scholar and statesmanlike medical officer 
 of the English privy council, John Simon, Esq., has continued to 
 direct various investigations of this kind in the interests of the 
 
1094 Annual Repobt of New York 
 
 public health in Great Britain, In those inquiries the name of 
 Professor Gamgee and the distinguished Dr. Thudichum have 
 become associated with that of Dr. Simon. Dr. Lethby — the chief 
 medical officer of health for London — and Dr. Henry Ballard, the 
 medical officer of Islington (a district of London famous for stables 
 and fevers), have done much to advance this kind of investigation. 
 In connection with the English cattle plague commission we find 
 that the chief value of all their royal reports consists in the results 
 of scientific investigations by Dr. Charles Murcheson, Dr. J. Burdon 
 Sanderson, Dr. W. Marcet, Dr. J. S. Bristowe, Dr. Lionel S. Beale 
 and Dr. Angus Smith; while the Edinburgh committee for the same 
 investigation consisted of such physicians as Dr. Littlejohn, the 
 chief medical officer of Edinburgh, Sir James Y. Simpson, Dr. 
 Lyon Playfair and Dr. Andrew Wood. These distinguished names 
 represent the highest renown and scientific ability of the medical 
 profession in Great Britain. In this list of the promoters of the 
 kind of inquiry here referred to, we find the names of Sir Henry 
 Holland and Dr. Wm. Budd. The Eoj^al Academy of Medicine in 
 Belgium, has for years made it a point of duty to promote this 
 kind of scientific investigation; and throughout Europe this class 
 of inquiries is regarded as eminently dutiful by medical men and 
 by governments. But to the Metropolitan Board of Health and 
 the Cattle Plague Commissioners it is not necessary to mention this 
 testimony to the correctness of the principles on which they have 
 acted in their official efibrts to procure a suitable investigation of 
 the Texas cattle disease. The subject is here referred to in this 
 way for the purpose of promoting this kind of practical inquiry 
 into the nature, causes and means of preventing both epizootic and 
 epidemic diseases. If there are among us any persons within the 
 ranks of the medical profession or in public life who would affect 
 to disdain such labors by medical or other scientific men, it would 
 be a waste of time to offer evidence to them in support of the 
 course pursued by the Board of Health and the State Commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 But to return to the ground upon which the lines of progress 
 in the needed advancement in medical and sanitary knowledge are 
 now marked out, it is deemed desirable that the medical officers 
 and members of the Board should put forth reasonable Endeavors 
 to promote the advancement of these topics of inquiry. This com- 
 mittee, and the medical officers of health in various cities, with whom 
 we are now in correspondence throughout the United States and 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1095 
 
 Europe, entertain the same opinion upon this subject which has 
 been well expressed by Dr. William Bucld, of England, in his 
 admirable sketches of the epidemic variola ovina, or small pox of 
 sheep. That greatly honored physician and hygienist, in the 
 annual address which he delivered by appointment before the 
 British Medical Association, set forth the views of the enlightened 
 portion of the medical profession, as follows: 
 
 Statistics afford much information on epidemics ; but it is all of a general kind. 
 The really vital questions they leave almost untouched. Neither on the mode of 
 being of the morbific agent without the body, nor of its mode of action, do they 
 throw any but a dim and distant light. ******* 
 What we want is some clue, however slender, to guide us through the obscurity in 
 which the truth lies hid. Now, exactly such a clue is found in that most remarka- 
 ble of properties, the power which certain epidemic disorders possess of spreading 
 by contagion. * * * * * If we were asked to define what 
 other conditions we would desire * * * j^ -^rould be that all the 
 sufferers should be under our own eye, that their incomings and outgoings and 
 intercourse with one another should all be known to us ; or, better still, should 
 be determined by our own will. It will be seen at once, that taken together, 
 these conditions are not to be met wath in human life. They are only to be found 
 in the case of the domestic animals. 
 
 ********** 
 
 What in the whole range of medicine is so striking as this invasion of the yet 
 living and unbroken frame by a power, which, like an evil spirit of the olden 
 time, unseen, untraceable and unbidden, enters in and takes possession, and holds 
 riot and revels there, to issue forth again reinforced by a countless progeny ? 
 What so wonderful as this imperium in imperio, in which the majestic spirit that 
 animates the human form is dethroned, and the noble form itself is often marred 
 and laid in the dust, by a thing in comparison with which mildew and toadstool 
 stand high in the scale of being.* 
 
 These are the thoughts of no ordinary physician, but of one of 
 the greatest promoters of hygiene that ever lived; and these words 
 were spoken to the chief leaders of medical and sanitary science 
 and practice in England. In their endeavor to grasp the causes 
 and the secret operations of human diseases, especially those of an 
 epidemic and infectious type, physicians aiifd hygienists are continu- 
 ally thwarted or hindered by the various circumstances which are 
 peculiar to the social, moral and physical conditions that are char- 
 acteristic of man, and of the very organization of society. For 
 when we would undertake any exact demonstrations regarding the 
 
 * Variola Ovina, Sheep's Small-pox, or Laws of Epidemics, illustrated by an experi- 
 mental type. Being the annual address before the British Medical Association, 1863. By 
 ■William Budd, M. D., Eon. and Consulting Physician to the Royal Infirmary, Bristol. 
 
1096 Annual Report of New York 
 
 incubation or the exclusive operation of any contagium or infection 
 in man, there arises the necessity and the difficulty of an arbitrary 
 control of all the movements of the persons who become the sub- 
 jects of such investigation. And then, even under imprisonment, 
 the human being is sure to interfere in some way with the plans 
 and details of the medical observations. So, likewise, the most 
 favorable and essential physical circumstances for insuring correct- 
 ness and completeness in the investigation of the anatomical and 
 pathological changes that constitute or cause the disease, especially 
 in maladies of the infectious and epidemic types, the post mortem 
 examination is necessarily delayed in obedience to the sentiment of 
 proper respect for the dead and for the grief of the friends; and 
 in cases of convalesence, or partial recovery, or on the other hand, 
 of lingering suffering and the slow approach to the fatal end, the 
 way is necessrrily barred against the discovery of the most essen- 
 tial facts that need to be understood by the physician and pathologist; 
 the very nature and sanctions of our moral nature forbid that we 
 should so mar the human body, or proceed upon any investigations 
 upon or within it, as in any manner would disturb the living occu- 
 pant, or in any manner offend the sentiments of the living friends 
 after death shall have left to scientific investigators the human body 
 §lain by the disease that is the subject of the desired inquiry. 
 
 But, in addition to all these obstructions to the prompt and exact 
 researches in the pathology of diseases of the infectious and epi- 
 demic kinds, there is an insurmountable difficulty in regard to the 
 exigencies, perils and alarms which always attend upon such mala- 
 dies in the human family, when the claims of the sick and the dying 
 demand the utmost sacrifices of the physicians' time and thoughts, 
 and when, alas, the healer and student fall victims to the fatal 
 infection of the malady which demands such sacrifices for science 
 and its humane purposes. This view of the subject in question 
 would seem to need no special illustrations beyond this mere state- 
 ment of the case; but if any one chances to regard this as an 
 over-statement of the case, let him revert to the experience of 
 medical men in any great epidemic, even when not personally con- 
 tagious, as in the visitations of yellow fever, a pestilence that like 
 cholera, calls urgently for the most searching investigations. Even 
 upon the inviting and airy grounds of the Quarantine establishment, 
 in successive years, the present Eegistrar of the Metropolitan Board 
 of Health, then in charge of the Quarantine hospitals, found that 
 out of the great number of scientific physicians whom he invited 
 
State Agricultural Sooiett. 1097 
 
 to witness the phenomena and pathological effects of yellow fever, 
 only two ventured to approach the hospital wards or enter the 
 dead house. 
 
 The remark has justly been made by our excellent pathologist 
 and microscopistj Dr. Stiles, in his special report, that the Texas 
 cattle disease may properly be termed yellow ftver in cattle. And, 
 although it is not claimed that the cause of the Texas cattle disease 
 and the mysterious contagium of yellow fever in man are one and 
 the same, yet it is a fact full of practical importance and significance 
 that this disease of cattle is the only one yet discovered and exam- 
 ined in the animal kingdom which produces identically the same 
 pathological changes and all the essential phenomena that are found 
 to characterize yellow fever in man. The writer speaks from very 
 extensive observation and researches in each of these diseases when 
 he states that the remark made by Dr. Stiles is, in his judgment, 
 fully sustained by the constant attributes of both the diseases, and 
 that it now seems probable that the medical profession will ulti- 
 mately arrive at an exact and controlling knowledge of the great 
 scourge of our American tropics and littoral regions by pursuing 
 the same course of investigation in regard to it that we have pur- 
 sued in regard to the Texas cattle disease; and it is not altogether 
 improbable that the very lines of researches which have now been 
 commenced so successfully in regard to the cattle disease may lead 
 directly to the much desired discovery of the essential nature, 
 operation, cause and external sources of yellow fever. The medi- 
 cal officer to whom the supervision of all these researches was 
 committed, confessed at an early stage of the work, even before 
 the end of August, the wonderful analogies which he and Dr. Stiles 
 observed to exist between these two diseases, as respects changes, 
 tissues and fluids of the victims, as well as in regard to some 
 points connected with the incubation and effects of the infectious 
 cause; so that the hope of being guided by this bovine pestilence 
 back through its own natural history and upwards to a true know- 
 ledge of the exact sources and the nature of yellow fever and some 
 other destructive pestilences, should inspire untiring endeavors to 
 reach general results that will permanently benefit mankind 
 after this new disease of cattle may have become extinct under 
 improved sanitary care in the herding and handling of Western 
 and Southern stock. The very direct bearing which this kind of 
 investigation is to have upon sanitary science and the application 
 of preventive measures against the worst pestilences that have, 
 
1098 Annual Report of New York 
 
 until the present hour, continued to afflict the human family, will 
 ere long be well understood. Then will these labors which the 
 Metropolitan Board of Health authorized its medical officers to 
 undertake, be fully appreciated. 
 
 THE MEDICAL OBSERVATION OF THE SYMPTOMS IN THE "TEXAS 
 CATTLE DISEASE." 
 
 The minute observation of symptoms in wild and restless bullocks 
 that chiefly sufiered the disease, was a difficult, and sometimes an 
 impossible task. We have requested Dr. Morris to incorporate 
 into his special report, all the tabulated records which the commit- 
 tee has been able to make upon this subject. It will be seen, by 
 Dr. Morris' report, that the symptoms cover a diversity of facts, — 
 the chief of which relate to the temperature, condition of the respi- 
 ration and the respiratory organs, the puls€, and the excremental 
 performances, especially the hsematuria or " black water." The lead- 
 ing facts regarding the symptoms that deserved most attention from 
 the medical observer are these, viz: (1.) A great increase of tem- 
 perature, which is invariably noticeable at the earliest moment of 
 obvious disease. Though no opportunity was afforded this com- 
 mittee, or Assistant Commissioner Dr. Morris, to make observations 
 for four or five days previously to the commencement of the 
 obvious symptoms in any infected bullock, there was no instance 
 in which an observation of increased temperature amounting to 2>\^ 
 above the natural heat of healthy bullocks — that standard being 
 100° Fah., or a fraction of a degree below 100° — was not followed 
 within four days by the unequivocal evidences of the cattle disease. 
 The first observations upon this point were commenced on the 8th 
 aiid 9th of August, in Mr. Alexander's infected herd at Commu- 
 nipaw, and on the 11th and 12th, temperature observations were 
 made upon five of the cattle that exhibited symptoms of the dis- 
 ease in Mr. Thomas' herd at Bergen, with the following result: 
 The one least sick in appearance had a temperature of 104°, while 
 one that was staggering and delirious with the disease, had a tem- 
 perature of 109°; another, delirious but not staggering, 107^°; 
 another, lOT^*^; and another, very feeble, 105°. On the 13th of 
 August, the animal that was delirious and staggering twenty-four 
 hours previously, and now unable to walk, had a temperature of 
 106° in the rectum, and 106^° in the blood of the aorta at the 
 moment of slaughter. The other bullock that had a temperature 
 of 107^°, was found in a dying condition on the 13th, and had, a 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1099 
 
 moment before slaughter, had a temperature of .107° in the rectum, 
 and 107|° in the blood of the aorta at the time of slaughter; while 
 that bullock which, on the 12th, had a temperature of 105°, was 
 found to be in a dying condition, and had a temperature of 106° in 
 the rectum and the blood of the aorta at the moment the vessels 
 of its neck were severed. 
 
 Persons who did not witness the disease, might reasonably inquire 
 if this feverish temperature was not the result of inflammatory 
 action or excessive irritation, incident to the hardships of transpor- 
 tation; and this was a question which the committee caused to be 
 thoroughly investigated, with reference to cattle that were arriving 
 under the circumstances, and at the same time obtained in reference 
 to the sick herds; it was proved that the temperature of all cattle, 
 excepting the victims of this infection, gave evidence of but slight 
 increase of temperature under any circumstances, and that an 
 increase above 103° Fahrenheit, was not observed in any other than 
 infected bullocks, and that there were only three or four instances 
 in which the uninfected animals steadily exhibited a temperature 
 above 101°. The average of all the temperature observations taken 
 of the infected bullocks was nearly 105°. The mean temperature 
 of the central part of the liver, taken from ten to fifteen minutes 
 after the animal ceased to breathe, was 104^°.* 
 
 (2.) Evidences of toxaemia were early observed to be among the 
 very first symptoms of the obvious stage of the disease, constant 
 unrest, a faltering gait, a partial paralysis, occasionally a kind of 
 paraplegia, the sick animal in such cases reeling or actually falling 
 down upon his hind-quarters; and in some instances, the urinary 
 bladder remaining distended and almost continually leaking as by 
 a kind of enuresis, the symptoms in short being those which pertain 
 to failure of innervation, in consequence of some kind of poisoning, 
 or from some fatal change in the condition and chemistry of the 
 blood. But chief among this group of symptoms is the disturbance 
 of the senses, and the occurrence of a kind of delirium. 
 
 Further details of this class of symptoms need not be mentioned 
 here. The evidence of the operation of a morbid poison is the 
 subject to which attention is invited; and, whether this poison be 
 derived from an external source, as some kind of contagious matter, 
 
 *The practical utility of thermometrical observations has been strikingly illustrated in 
 the dealings which the sanitary officers have had with cases of the Texas cattle fever. 
 The pestilential type of this fever was unequivocally asserted by this test alone, even in 
 cases in which the obvious symptoms had not yet appeared. 
 
1100 Annual Report of New York 
 
 for example, or some parasite, or whether it chances to be a pro- 
 duct of morbid changes in the proximate elements of the circu- 
 lating blood, the fact that such a condition of empoisonment occurs, 
 is important and suggestive. 
 
 (3.) The evidence of dissolution of the proximate elements of the 
 blood appeared in a special group of symptoms as well as in certain 
 general phenomena. The " black water," or hsematuria is the con- 
 stant symptom of the breaking up of the blood globules; while 
 the marvelous increase of temperature in the infected animal, the 
 ecchymoses and engorgement of nearly all vascular organs and 
 tissues, such as appeared in nearly all the cattle that died or were 
 condemned, must be regarded as general symptoms. The bare fact 
 that a destructive disorganization of the blood was not only the 
 invariable result in all the cattle that died or were slaughtered in 
 consequence of the malady, but that wherever the infection was 
 introduced among herds, the farmers and common observers recog- 
 nized the disease by the term "black water," or " bloody water," 
 shows how invariable was this pathological change. 
 
 To ascertain the causes and the history of these destructive 
 changes in the blood would be almost equivalent to gaining access 
 to the entire line of the facts which are concerned in the causation 
 of the disease. Hence the class of symptoms here mentioned, 
 together with the minute and general changes which the tissues 
 of the infected animal suffered in consequence of the changes in 
 the blood, and especially certain morbid conditions of the liver, 
 the bile and the spleen, that would morbidly affect the blood, 
 became the objects of special study. The researches of the micro- 
 scopist and the chemist were of the highest service here. And 
 there is reason to believe that the very discriminating study which 
 these scientific experts bestowed upon the questions that were sub- 
 mitted to them in regard to the physiological and chemical events 
 concerned in the spoliation of the blood, will be among the most 
 permanently useful labors of the whole investigation. The symp- 
 toms and phenomena that indicated these destructive alterations in 
 the blood were worthy of the distinguishing importance that has 
 been attached to them both by the herdmen and medical men. 
 - (4.) The careful examination of the flesh and all the organs of 
 beeves that came under suspicion in various abattoirs, with regard 
 to the healthful conditions that might be discovered in such meats. 
 This jpost mortem observation very frequently was resorted to by 
 Sanitary Inspector Morris, as a means of verifying or of correcting 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1101 
 
 opinions or suspicions that were based upon slight or equivocal 
 symptoms in the living cattle, or upon equivocal records of the 
 herds. As will be seen in Dr. Morris' special report, there were 
 numerous instances in which the opportunity for the observation 
 and testing of symptoms in living cattle that were under contract 
 by butchers, was so unsatisfactory, that the post mortem observa- 
 tion of the carcass and its viscera was deemed important. The 
 fact should be stated here, that these post mortem observations — 
 and we now refer to the mere inspection of the carcass and the 
 abdominal viscera — so completely confirmed the trustworthiness 
 of the thermometrical observations and the special symptoms of 
 the advanced or obvious stage of the disease, that Dr. Morris 
 finally relied exclusively upon the self-registering rectum ther- 
 mometer and his own personal inspection, during the most trying 
 periods of his service as Assistant Commissioner for the State. 
 When it is considered that the latent or incubative period of the 
 disease is protracted through several weeks — always more than 
 fourteen days — and that the temperature test never was resorted 
 to in vain when a doubt existed, and that the post mortem inspec- 
 tion of several thousand beeves, by Assistant Commissioner Morris 
 and his aids, lent full confirmation to the conclusion that increased 
 temperature was the first, most constant and sure of all means for 
 ascertaining the existence of the disease at any stage in which its 
 presence and effects can in any manner be ascertained, tlie import- 
 ance of the records of temperature will be conceded. 
 
 (5.) Lastly, the observation of the symptoms of recovery or con- 
 valesence became important in the study of the disease. The 
 opportunities for such observations were rare indeed. The five 
 sick bullocks that were given up to us by Mr. J. T. Alexander, for 
 observations and medical experimentation, as well as for ultimate 
 anatomical examination, were too wild and timid to allow of satisfac- 
 tory observation of the temperature and other intimate symptoms 
 daily. Greatly as this circumstance was regretted, in these most 
 instructive cases, the general observations upon the progress of 
 those cattle towards recovery will be perused with interest. They 
 are recorded in Dr. Morris' contribution to this report. It will be 
 noticed that the temperature of the first of that group of convales- 
 cents, at the date of his slaughter and on the seventh day of con- 
 valescence, was 103|° Fah. This is precisely 3° less than the 
 temperature observed in the same bullock one week previously, 
 
1102 Annual Report of New York 
 
 ■when he was passing bloody urine and exhibiting all the symptoms 
 of the advanced or obvious stage of the disease. 
 
 Thouafh the five infected bullocks here mentioned constituted the 
 only group of convalescent cattle without complications, which were 
 observed throughout the entire period of recovery, or from the 
 commencement of symptoms of recovery until the end or until 
 slaughter, there were numerous instances (in all about thirty cases) 
 in which bullocks were brought under Commissioner Morris' official 
 observation, when in some stage of partial recovery that had become 
 seriously complicated by excessive or incurable lesions, or by fever 
 and fatal prostration, in consequence of the severities of hurried 
 transportation. If the medical reader of this report will turn to 
 Prof. Chandler's tabulated analyses of the blood of some of these 
 convalescents, the state of the blood in the instances here referred 
 to will be seen to account for the fatal results which ensued in 
 convalescent cattle when subjected to the hardships of transporta- 
 tion or. to dry food, etc. • 
 
 We have referred to the recovery of five cattle under very favor- 
 able hygienic care and antiseptic medical treatment at Communi- 
 paw. And it is proper that we should express the conviction we 
 entertain that every one of them would have died in a very few 
 days if they had been driven to the butchery sheds in the heart 
 of the city and there put upon hay diet and hard usage. We beg 
 leave here to append the latest statement from Dr. Snow, superin- 
 tendent of health in Providence, concerning the ultimate result of 
 his observations in the case of the convalescent and imperfectly 
 cured bullocks that were under his official direction, and concern- 
 ing which we have given some account in a preceding section of 
 this report. The group here referred to fell sick on arriving at 
 Providence, the first week in August, and the owners promised the 
 medical officer that he should see the survivors at slaughter, some 
 time in December, if they recovered flesh by that time, as they had 
 no doubt they would before the expiration of five months. As 
 Christmas week was the time designated for the slaughter and 
 examination, we have waited until the printing of this report has 
 been commenced. Under date of January 7th, 1869, Dr. Snow 
 writes: 
 
 * * * In relation to those cattle which were sick last summer, I am 
 informed that they have not grown fat, and are unfit for beef. It is, therefore, yet 
 uncertain when they will be killed. The promise is continued, and I presume will 
 be remembered, that when it is proposed to kill them, I shall have due notice and 
 opportuuit}'' to examine them. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1103 
 
 It will be seen from these records relating to medical observa- 
 tions upon convalescent cattle in this disease, that like all other 
 observers of the malady, the assistants of this committee came 
 well nigh losing all opportunity of studying the phenomena and 
 history of convalescence. Fortunately we had some rare chances 
 for this class of observations, and they were improved. But had 
 it not been for the unceasing watchfulness of Assistant Commissioner 
 Morris, who permitted no suspected bullock to escape his personal 
 inspection, ^aud the test for the temperature and other symptoms, 
 some of the most instructive illustrations of the disease would have 
 remained unobserved and mirecorded. The explosive suddenness 
 with which the fatal stage of the disease occurs, the rapidity and 
 brevity of that stage, and the readiness with which the dying ani- 
 mals could be, and for a time were, sequestered, or abandoned 
 unclaimed, and — most important of all — the rapidity of the putre- 
 faction that immediately ensued upon the death of the diseased 
 bullocks, rendered it a difficult and vexatious task to carry out the 
 plan of searching investigation we had adopted. Distance, Aveariness, 
 hunger, storms, the rapid transportation, and the quick assembling 
 of all the necessary assistants in each post mortem examination, 
 were very essential means to the successful results that attended 
 these efforts. 
 
 Such has been the history of our efforts to secure a reliable series 
 of medical observations upon the Texas cattle disease. These efforts 
 were necessarily made under circumstances of very great incon- 
 venience, in open yards or pastures, upon wild and timid bullocks, 
 with no skilled aids to trust, except the few overworked medical 
 officers whom we have here mentioned, and with only an occasional 
 opportunity to continue the observations for more than thirty -six 
 hours in any one case, — so rapidly fatal was the malady in its 
 stage of obvious symptoms. Imperfect and incomplete as the series 
 of observations continued to be, untiring endeavors continued to 
 be put forth to correctly observe the essential symptoms of the 
 disease in each group of infected cattle that came within reach of 
 the medical officers who had undertaken this inquiry: and it was 
 by persistent and unvarying adherence to the original purpose and 
 plan of the observations that anything worth having was ultimately 
 accomplished. The total results of the medical observations may, 
 therefore, be summed up as follows: 
 
 (a.) The duration of the period of obvious symptoms of the 
 disease is brief, and so far as our observations and other reseai'ches 
 
J 2 04 Annual Report of New York 
 
 can be said to have determined anything in regard to the onset and 
 progress of this short and last stage of the mahidy, it seems not 
 only to be a paroxysmal stage or period of the disease, but like- 
 wise seems to be a single paroxysm. That is, the Texas cattle dis- 
 ease, considered with reference to its obvious symptoms, is a fever 
 of but one paroxysm* 
 
 (b.) The symptoms come on, at first, in so sudden and violent 
 a manner as to have led to the remark in every group of cases we 
 have witnessed in Northern (native) cattle, that the obvious mani- 
 festation of the malady comes, as the French say, "^ar explosion,''^ 
 or with suddenness and violence. 
 
 (c.) The symptoms, as well as the observations that have been 
 made in the numerous post mortem examinations at all stages of 
 the disease, plainly declare the fact that the destructive or disor- 
 ganizing changes which occur in the proximate elements of the 
 blood, and in the special degenerations of tissue in the liver and 
 spleen are very rapidly produced, and that the logical evidence is 
 clearly in favor of the hypothesis that the structural lesions which 
 ensue in this malady mainly occur during the obvious brief period 
 of symptoms. But the symptoms do not yet reveal the extent of 
 the congestive and other changes that may be going on in the liver, 
 stomach, spleen and kidneys for weeks previous to the explosive or 
 phenomenal and obvious stage of the fever. Such morbid con- 
 ditions are reasonably inferred by other than the symptomatic 
 evidence. 
 
 (cL) The symptoms connected with the appearance, posture, res- 
 piration, pulse, successive changes in the progress of the fatal or 
 obvious stage of the disease, as all that i^indicated by the temper- 
 ature changes, and by the phenomena attending the death of the 
 infected cattle, completely harmonize in the conclusion that all 
 these symptomatic conditions indicate the rapid and fatal operation 
 of a morbid poison, or a combination of poisonous agents. And 
 further, it is demonstrably certain that the mvasion of the blood or 
 blood and tissues by that poisonous agency is rapid, and compara- 
 tivel}', that it is sudden; or, that the powers of life do succumb to 
 its morbid power very rapidly and suddenly. So clearly was this 
 
 * The medical reader of this report need not be reminded that this peculiarity in the 
 type and phenomena of the Texas cattle disease renders it strikingly analogous to yellow 
 fever in man. And it should here be remarked that the observations of Dr. Ranch and 
 Mannheimer, in the infected cows at Chicago, establish the fact that the obvious or last 
 etage of the disease is ushered in by a chill. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1105 
 
 fact indicated in our earlier observation of the sjaiiptoms and phe- 
 nomena of the disease, that it led to very scrutinizing search for 
 the morbid came by means of the microscope and chemistry. In 
 other words, the symptoms guided and impelled us to those exact 
 researches which were subsequently made in regard to the patho- 
 logy and causes of the disease. This has been, therefore, a strictly 
 medical and logical kind of investigation, from fii-st to last. 
 
 THE SLAUGHTER AND POST MORTEM EXAMINATION OF INFECTED 
 
 CATTLE. 
 
 This duty was deliberately undertaken, as was noticed in the first 
 section of this report, as soon as permission was obtained. The 
 task was, in all cases, an unpleasant, toilsome and expensive one. 
 It was not a self-imposed task, for it was a duty. 
 
 Familiar with the history and requirements of the more exact 
 methods of pathological and medical investigation, the Sanitary com- 
 mittee and medical officers of the Board of Health foresaw many diffi- 
 culties which they had reason to fear might prevent success in the 
 -effort to push such investigations as were essential. 1st. The sud- 
 denness of each discovery of the sick bullocks b}^ the Sanitary 
 Inspector and State Commissioner at the herd yards, and the rapidity 
 with which the fatal stage of the disease ensued, rendeved it diffi- 
 cult to make arrangements for a post mortem in season to find the 
 animal alive at a suitable hour for the inspection. 2d. It Ava« 
 deemed essential that everything pertaining to the post mortem 
 investigations should be attended to immediately after killing the 
 diseased animal, and this involved great sacrifices of time and con- 
 venience, besides much cost and vexation. 3d. It would almost 
 certainly be found impossible to make perfect w^ork in all the 
 needed branches of investigation, and some points would necessa- 
 rily be omitted. 
 
 The importance of the researches seemed to justify the attempt 
 then, and as the medical members of the Board that constituted the 
 sanitary committee, advised the efifort to be made, the duty was 
 plain. But in presenting the chief results of the effort, it is due 
 to all concerned that the fact should here be stated, that the ability 
 or means for prosecuting all this kind of labor depended upon the 
 voluntary labor and sacrifices by two or three persons who greatly 
 desired to see the whole work and responsibility assumed by other 
 hands. From beginning to end this class of investigations required 
 infinite toil, patience and rigid regulations for its execution.* 
 . [Ag.] " 70 
 
1106 Annual Report of New York 
 
 The various sketches which have been prepared in chromo- 
 lithography, to illustrate and explain this report upon the disease, 
 have been executed with great faithfulness. They are especially 
 valuable as showing precisely what lesions occur, and by what dis- 
 tinctive marks and colors they are distinguished at the hour of the 
 slaughter and death of the sick bullocks. 
 
 In the selection of examples for these sketches of the pathologi- 
 cal changes in the disease, there was a careful avoidance of all 
 exaggerated cases or excessive alterations. It was deemed useless 
 to attempt to sketch for printed illustrations, any of the excessively 
 marked results of the disease; for example, the cases in which the 
 kidneys had become disorganized, or the spleen had become a mass 
 of diffluent pulp, or, as was occasionally witnessed while the bullock 
 yet lived, the tissues being inflated by the gases of putresence and 
 decomposition. The sketches relate solely to the average classes 
 of cases of the disease. They were all animals in good flesh and 
 full development, excepting only a few convalescents that were, of 
 course, emaciated by the continuance of the disease. 
 
 The first fact that impressed the medical officers concerning the 
 morbid changes produced by the disease was, that the putrefactive 
 process was in full operation almost immediately after death, whether 
 the death was by the pole-ax and knife, or by natural exhaustion. 
 It was all-important, therefore, that whatever post mortem inves- 
 tigations were made, should be attended to in slaughtered bullocks, 
 and instantly after life had ceased. That this tendency to speedy 
 decomposition was not due to peculiarities of the weather, or to 
 any other cause than disease itself, would plainly appear from the 
 fact that the cattle, horses and other animals that daily died in 
 the Metropolis from other causes, did hot undergo such rapid 
 decomposition, nor, especially, did any of their viscera undergo 
 such putrescent disorganization as was found to be the rule in regard 
 to the kidneys, the spleen, the liver, and the fluid blood of the 
 infected cattle. As mentioned elsewhere in this report, these fer- 
 mentative (zymotic) changes were, in some instances, so fully estab- 
 lished before the dying animals had ceased to breathe, that it was 
 found in the dissection which instantly foUawed the slaughter, that 
 putrescent disorganization was already in progress in the viscera 
 here mentioned, and that gases, resulting from the general decompo- 
 sition, already filled the capillary blood vessels and the surrounding 
 tissues. 
 
 The second very essential fact revealed in the post mortem 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1107 
 
 examinations, consisted in the greatly increased size and weight of 
 the liver, the spleen and the kidneys, and in very important patho- 
 logical alterations in the two viscera first mentioned, so important 
 and peculiar indeed, when examined microscopically and with pre- 
 cision, that no ground of doubt now remains that certain of these 
 morbid conditions may justly be regarded as trustworthy guides 
 in discriminating between undetermined causes and kinds of disease 
 in dead beeves inspected at abattoirs, or in cattle when found dead 
 or brought to slaughter. Yet, this kind of pathogmonic evidence 
 found in the liver and spleen by the microscope, is so constantly 
 associated with several morbid changes which are visible to the 
 naked eye and other ready aids to a judgment, that for ordinary- 
 purposes of sanitary and market inspection, the latter can always 
 be relied upon with tolerable certainty. A summary of these con- 
 clusions upon the post mortem inquiries will be found at the end 
 of this chapter. 
 
 RESULTS SOUGHT BY MICROSCOPY, CHEMICAL ANALYSES, AND 
 THE EXPERIMENTAL TESTS. 
 
 The practical usefulness of the microscope, however powerful and 
 perfect the instruments employed in the reseai'ches of pathology, is 
 so largely dependent upon the experience, skill, and good judg- 
 ment of the medical observer who uses them, that it is hardly 
 necessary to mention the particular quality of the instrument which 
 Dr. Stiles used in his examinations. But as we have ascertained 
 by correspondence with several good microscopists in Western 
 cities where the disease was being observed, that it has frequently 
 been found impracticable to bring into operation the degree of 
 excellence and power of glasses which Dr. Stiles was employing, 
 we will mention, in his own words, for readers who may desire to 
 be informed on this point, that " the more delicate researches were 
 made with a ' Hartnach immersion system,' magnifying, with No. 4 
 ocular, one thousand diameters." 
 
 All who witnessed Dr. Stiles' demonstrations in the field (or the 
 abattoirs) were fully impressed with the remarkable clearness and 
 penetration of his glasses, and with the nicety and skill of his 
 manipulations of the elements that were brought under examina- 
 tion. And as the plan of the pathological researches required that 
 all final conclusions must be based upon results of examinations 
 made of tissues and fluids taken freshly fjom cattle killed and 
 dying in presence of the medical officers directing the investiga- 
 
1108 Annual Report of New York 
 
 tioiis, there is a trustworthiness in the microscopical and other 
 pathological researches in this inquiry such as has rarely been 
 attained. Numerous cattle that were found dead or that died in 
 the absence of any medical observer, were examined minutely, but 
 the conclusions in this report are based upon none of those exami- 
 nations, though the latter were generally instructive and corrobo- 
 rative in their bearings upon the medical history of the disease. 
 
 As the microscope had, in skillful hands, during the past few 
 years, revealed the essential character of certain morbid changes that 
 now enable us to determine the nature and name of the fever that 
 has destroyed the life of a person found dead, if the point of 
 inquiry be whether yellow fever or the malignant congestive fever 
 were the fatal disease, and as chemistry had also come to the aid 
 of the physician, in discriminating between various diseases and 
 between different causes of pathological conditions, it was reasonably 
 hoped that some progress towards the ends desired in the cattle 
 disease inquiry would result from the use of these aids. Precisely 
 what results have been reached will be seen in detail in the chapters 
 contributed ])y Dr. Stiles and Professor Chandler. Taken by them- 
 selves, — each fact and each result separately, — the real value and 
 significance of the separate portions of all this work cannot be cor- 
 rectly understood. Therefore we will here present a brief sum- 
 mary of the total results attained in the investigations which have 
 been made. 
 
 SUMMARY OF RESULTS IN THE PATHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 
 
 I. Concerning the Anatomical Changes or Lesions — Vital 
 Organs that are most Afeected in Structure and Function. — 
 The post mortem inspections showed that the liver, the spleen and 
 the kidneys, the organs which are chiefly concerned in the preser- 
 vation of the blood from destructive agencies, were the most 
 constantly and seriously afiected. No exception was found to the 
 rule that the liver and spleen exhibit morbid conditions and are 
 to be regarded as characteristic evidences of the disease; and the 
 morbid alterations in the kidneys seemed to be incidental to an 
 ■(pssentially pathological condition of the blood. But, as regards 
 the pathological conditions which have been found so constantly as 
 to be justly regarded as attributes of the disease, there were two 
 elements which may not have depended directly upon any primary 
 morbid alteration in the blood; yet it was plain that all these alte- 
 rations should be considered as associated results of some primary 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1109 
 
 morbid poison, tliat so far iis we could judge by the evidence, ope- 
 rated chiefly upon the blood and the liver in the earliest period of 
 its fatal work. Reasons for this conclusion will appear as we pro- 
 ceed in the pathological records, Avhere the intimate changes that 
 occur in these organs, will be fully described. 
 
 Gastric Lesions. — The only constant or characteristic lesion of 
 tissues in any portion of the stomachs in the infected cattle was 
 limited to the fourth stomach (^rennet or- cJjomasimi), and this lesion 
 consisted in erosions, sloughs and ulcerations of the mucous lining. 
 These were, in all acute and recent cases, mostly limited to the 
 tubular or pyloric portion of that stomach. Their appearance is 
 correctly shown in plates 6, 7 and 13. 
 
 The folding and expanded, or omasal portion of the abomasum, 
 though excessively congested and almost purple in appearance in 
 certain cases of the disease, was found sloughed or marked exten- 
 sively by ulcerations, only in chronic or slowly convalescing cases. 
 Plates 3 and 4 show the appearance presented by the cases last 
 mentioned; while plate 4 shows the appearance of the abomasum 
 and omasum in one of Mr. Thomas' Indiana herd, which was slaugh- 
 tered and sketched in the field August 13th, near Hudson City, 
 N. J. It is almost the only instance in which the entire lining mem- 
 brane of the rennet or fourth stomach was wholly unbroken by 
 erosions or sloughs; yet the bullock was in a dying condition when 
 killed. It would appear quite probable that the lesions in the 
 fourth stomach result primarily from intense engorgement and 
 stasis in the vascular structure of that stomach, and that this lesion 
 occurs in the dense fibrous structure of the tubular section, where 
 the sloughing and erosion of mucous membrane have been chiefly 
 observed. Though the constricted or closely adherent relations of 
 the membrane throughout the tubular or " reed " portion of the 
 abomasum may justly be deemed a suflScient reason for its having 
 become the seat of the only characteristic lesion in the stomachs, 
 the normal constriction of the part rendering this mode of slough- 
 ing or breaking down of mucous membrane, when engorged with 
 disorganized blood, a natural and certain consequence, yet it was 
 deemed important to search diligently in that and other portions 
 of the gastro-intestinal lining, to discover if any parasitic or fungus 
 organism might chance to be associated with such a peculiar kind 
 of lesion of the membrane. None was found. But, to the patho- 
 logical anatomist the causes of this lesion cannot appear doubtful, 
 particularly when it has most extensively appeared in those ctises 
 
1110 Annual Report of New York 
 
 in which the structures and functions of the spleen (as the grand 
 diverticulum for the excess of blood flowing to the stomach), are con- 
 sidered. This class of lesions in th^ fourth stomach was so constant 
 (though greatly varied in amount) in the whole membrane of 
 infected bullocks examined by the Board's officers, that when pro- 
 perly discriminated from the lesions produced by ordinary gastritis, 
 that, as Assistant Commissioner Morris has justly remarked, " th«; 
 ulcerations, or, rather, the peculiarities that were found in the tubu- 
 lar portion of the rennet or fourth stomach, and at the base of the 
 longitudinal folds in that stomach, finally appeared to be a surer 
 guide to a recognition of the disease than was the mere appearance 
 and size of the spleen or the liver; the absolute tests by the minute 
 examination of the liver, bile and spleen-pulp by the microscopist, 
 and the historical and symptomatic history of the animal before 
 death, being, of course, preferred to all other kinds of evidence. 
 Yet to the practiced eye, these ulcerations, sloughs and erosions 
 served as trustworthy guides in deciding the nature of any case in 
 which for the moment, the other kinds of evidence were not accessi- 
 ble." 
 
 The plates which are given in this report, to illustrate the gastric 
 lesions, present a fair average of them, both in regard to extent 
 and morbid coloration, etc. 
 
 Intestinal Canal. — The lesions found in the intestinal canal were 
 regarded as being important only as illustrating: 1st. The exist- 
 ence of passive engorgement in the mucous membrane at various 
 sections, principally in the coecal portion (plate 9, fig. 1), and in 
 the rectum (plate 14, and plate 8, fig. 2). The mere congestion 
 which was always found in various portions of the small intestine, 
 seemed to be wholly unimportant, except so far as it showed very 
 happily the nature and universality of the capillary engorgement 
 that occurred in the acute or last stage of the disease. Plates 14 
 and 15 illustrate this condition of the intestinal mucous membrane. 
 
 Constipation seemed to be the usual condition of the bowels 
 during a number of days preceding death, in the infected cattle. 
 The intense and deep engorgement of the rectum and the peri- 
 rectal tissues in the sick animals, was a very noticeable fact. So, 
 also, was the presence of bile in the intestinal tract in most cases, 
 even in those that were great sufierers from constipation. The 
 question will naturally be asked, but we cannot answer: "Why 
 was there constipation when an ample quantity of bile was found 
 in the intestinal canal?" But this fact may here be stated, viz: 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1111 
 
 that in feeding rabbits and mice upon breads and salads saturated 
 with the bile from these infected beeves, diarrhoea was rarely pro- 
 duced, though such feeding, for the purpose of infecting those small 
 animals, was in some instances continued daily for more than a week. 
 
 Condition of the Lungs and the Areolar Tissue. — The lungs 
 were in all cases found in a healthy condition, or, at least, unaf- 
 fected by the disease, except in a verj' small percentage of the 
 cases in Avhich the infected bullock had been for many hours inca- 
 pable of changing his posture, when hypostatic congestion of a por- 
 tion of the lungs was noticed. The question was often asked: 
 "How is it possible that so great a degree of disintegration of the 
 blood produces so little congestion in the lungs?" The fact is as 
 we here state it, and until analytical chemistry had proved that the 
 blood in the late stages of the disease is watery and thin, it cer- 
 tainly was difficult to comprehend the reason for what we saw. 
 Yet the fact must be borne in mind, in regard to the type of the 
 disease, that it is not an inflammatory malady, and is not charac- 
 terized by fibrinous and phistic exudations in any tissue of the 
 body. It is true, however, that in a few instances there existed a 
 marked degree of infiltration of the areolar tissue with serum and 
 the fluid resultants of blood dissolution; and in reference to this 
 there is an important fact to be stated in another place. The occa- 
 sional occurrence of interlobular emphysema was, in all instances, 
 observed associated with and plainly dependent upon the extrica- 
 tion of putrescent gases in the capillaries and the free areolar tissue. 
 In one instance, every portion of the dying bullock's areolar tissues 
 was thus inflated with gases. General oedema and anasarca were 
 occasionally observed, and copious efiusions also, in the more 
 chronic cases, in which either the period of incubation had been (as 
 we ascertained) unusually protracted, or in which there were inef- 
 fectual and lingering eflTorts at convalescence. The latter class 
 of cases possess peculiar interest, and have proved wonderfully 
 instructive as objects of pathological and hygienic study. 
 
 Special Conditions observed in the Serous and the Mucous Mem- 
 branes. — The endocardial or lininsr membrane of the heart was 
 found, in certain very acute cases of the disease, to be marked by 
 minute ecchymoses, and, in two instances, the entire endocardial 
 surface was deeply ecchymosed. These marks of blood changes 
 and extravasation beneath the serous linings in the heart and blood 
 vessels, seem to be precisely similar to those often seen in cases of 
 yellow fever. 
 
m2 Annual Report of New York 
 
 The pleuritic cavity rarely contained more than an ounce or two 
 of serum, but the abdominal cavity always contained more or less, 
 and it usually appeared to be blood-stained. Though, with the 
 exception of two bullocks that had suflered extensive complications 
 resulting from extravasations into the areolar tissue pertaining to 
 the intestines and the surrounding fat, there were no traces of 
 inflammation of the serous, or other tissues of the peritoneal cavity, 
 there nevertheless was usually found in that cavity a quantity of 
 bloody serum, as just stated. This varied from a quart to more 
 than a gallon. In numerous instances it wtis deeply tinged with 
 brownish-yellow, like the fat. This effused fluid possessed, in 
 some instances, the property of spontaneous coagulation in the 
 open air. Dr. Stiles describes some curious phenomena exhibited 
 by the fluid, and indicating that it contained some pseudo fibrine. 
 
 The mucous membrane of the gastro-intestinal tract exhibited no 
 chronic alterations in structure, except in the slowly convalescent 
 or very chronically sick cattle, and in all those cases the lesions 
 were limited to the abomasum (fourth stomach). 
 
 The softening, the erosion, sloughing, and the blackened patches* 
 of the mucous membrane in the abomasum, in acute cases of the 
 disease, were plainly due to the blood changes; while on the other 
 hand, the peculiar ulcerations and cicatrices in the tubular portion 
 of that stomach, and occasionally at the base of the folds, indicated 
 the fact that some of the sloughs that had occurred during the dis- 
 ease carried away all the tissues, quite down to the muscular 
 structure. This latter class of lesions was found mostly in such 
 diseased auinals as were making ineflectual efforts at convalescence. 
 Plates Nos. 3 and 21 illustrates such a case. Plate No. 22 presents 
 the appearance seen in the first convalescent ox that was sacrificed for 
 dissection in the reserved group of five from Mr. Alexander's 
 herd. This animal was rapidly recovering, and had not passed 
 " black water " for six or seven days. 
 
 The morbid appearances usually observed to exist in the intes- 
 tinal raucous membrane are shown in Plates 11 and 14. The deep 
 ensforffement in the mucous membrane of the rectum, as seen in Plates 
 11 and 21, was occasionally wanting, though usually \evy marked. 
 Indeed, the blood-stained appearance of the excremental droppings 
 
 * The blackened patches and pimcta, when minutely examined, were found to he simply 
 extravasated blood, rendered black by the gastric juice, the mucous membrane at those 
 points being softened and broken. The occasional presence of genuine "black vomit " in 
 this stomach (the abomasum or rennet), only illustrated this pathological alteration of 
 blood and tissue in an extravagant degree. 
 
State Agricultural Society, 1113 
 
 was one of the means by which the presence of infected anhnals 
 was occasionally detected by Dr. Morris and his yard inspectoi-s, 
 so almost constantly was this symptom present in the sick cattle, 
 before an obviously morbid condition of the animal was discover- 
 able. In only a single instance was the muscular and areolar tissue 
 of the rectum found deeply involved in the engorgement, or in an 
 inflammatory process; nOr was the mucous membrane, color, or any 
 other portion of the intestinal canal, found to be sloughed or ulce- 
 rated. The fourth stomach (abomasum) alone exhibited this lesion. 
 The only instance in which this kind of destruction of mucous 
 membrane Avas not observed, was in the case represented in Plate 
 4. This exceptional ctise was plainly on the verge of extensive 
 sloughing or erosion of the lining tissues of the abomasum, for it 
 was already deeply ecchymotic. This was a very marked case from 
 Farmer Thomas' herd, and was killed for dissection August 13th, 
 The sketch was made by the artist instantly upon removal of the 
 orofan from the carcass. 
 
 The mucous membrane and all appearances of the mouth, 
 pharynx, oesophagus and nostrils were normal, with the exception 
 of a jaundiced hue that was noticed in some cases that had con- 
 tinued many days. But in acute cases, as in that from which the 
 stomach last mentioned was taken, the mouth and lips had a clear 
 and somewhat injected appearance. This is shown in plate 8, 
 fig. 1, together with a common accidental ulcer that chanced in 
 this case to be present. 
 
 'Post Mortem Appearances of the Brain. — In three instances the 
 condition of the brain was carefully examined, because it was pre- 
 sumed that those particular cases might be found to have suiiered 
 from acute menino^itis or fi'om cerebral congestion. No trace of 
 actual inflammation was found, but there was evidence of congestion 
 of the cerebral vessels in two of the cases. The medulla oblongata 
 was examined in these cases, and suflicient efi'nsion was found in 
 one instance to have produced morbid, nervous and muscular phe- 
 nomena. Yet the observations finally led to the conclusion that 
 all, or nearly all the delirous actions, distorted movements and 
 postures, and the comatose conditions that characterized various 
 cases, were attributable to the toxeemia which constitutes the essen- 
 tial quality of the disease. 
 
 The Pathological Changes found in vital Organs "\vhich are 
 Chiefly concerned in Depuration and Conservation of the 
 Blood. — The importance of the blood-changes was so manifest and 
 
1114 Annual Report of New York 
 
 all-pervading in the disease, that it was deemed necessary to search 
 very carefully for whatever structural alterations the liver, the 
 kidneys, and the spleen might exhibit in the various stages of the 
 disease. The fact that the lungs presented no lesions has already 
 been stated, and we may now refer to the three other vital organs 
 upon which the conservation of the blood depends. And for the 
 purposes of this report it will not be needful to encumber the record 
 of mere observations with any statements concerning the normal 
 structure or the functions of these oro^ans. And in res^ard to the 
 • morbid histology of most minute structural changes discovered in 
 each of these organs by means of the microscope, all the conclu- 
 sions that can properly be published are presented in Dr. Stiles' 
 report in the succeeding chapter. The statement we would here 
 make will refer to the grouping and total quantity of results of 
 the morbid alterations in these organs, so far as a reasonable judg- 
 ment may now be expressed concerning them. 
 
 The Liver. — Increase in weight and volume was a constant fact. 
 Taking the normal standard of weight of the liver to be from 
 eleven to fifteen pounds avoirdupois, the average degree of augmen- 
 tation in weight was found to be equal to about thirty per cent 
 above the normal weight. The most excessive weight was found 
 to be thirty-three pounds, — the steer being one of medium size, 
 estimated at a gross weight of 1,200 pounds, — one of former 
 Thomas' herd, killed in the moribund stage four weeks after the 
 first exposure to the Texas infection. 
 
 The increase in the size of the liver kept pace with its increase 
 of weight. This increase in size and weight in all cases consisted 
 chiefly in the excessive engorgement of the portal blood vessels, but 
 in the cases that had been long in progress there was such a degree 
 of fatty and " waxy " degeneration as to add largely to the weight 
 and still more largely to the volume of the organ. This was the 
 case with the liver exhibited in Plate 17, which weighed upwards 
 of twenty-three pounds, and Avas taken from a young bullock that 
 was slaughtered in the moribund stage of the disease, and after a 
 long continuance of it, the entire period being probabl}?- not less 
 than forty-five days. The shape of the liver was in some instances, as 
 in this one, distorted by rapid increase in its size. There were some 
 instances in which a waxy condition of the liver was unattended 
 by engorgement with blood, but in no instance was the liver found 
 in the very " dry " condition that occurs in long protracted fatal 
 cases of yellow fever in man, though in several instances that con- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1115 
 
 dition was in some cle2:ree established. The later observations in 
 autumn clearly indicated that the " waxy " * change occurred in the 
 animals that suffered long with the disease. This was most strik- 
 ingly illustrated in the ox that was killed for dissection the 18th 
 of October, and some of whose morbid conditions are strikingly 
 represented in the several figures in Plate 23. This liver weighed 
 eighteen and a half pounds, and strongly resembled the " dry" con- 
 dition in persons that die after twelve or fifteen days' suffering from 
 yellow fever.f 
 
 Before concluding these statements concerning the obvious and 
 essential alterations found in the liver in this disease, it is necessary 
 that we should remark that no special importance is attached to the 
 ordinary and familiar modes of observation and description. The 
 color and consistence of the liver were not in all cases so obviously 
 changed as to attract special notice. The morbid condition of the 
 bile, and especially, a certain quality it displayed when tested upon 
 blood-globules, — dissolving them almost instantly, as described in 
 the next chapter by Dr. Stiles, — rendered it very desirable to have 
 scrutinizino; examinations made in re^^ard to the intimate or inteojral 
 changes that might be found in the minute organization and struc- 
 ture of the liver. The pathological alterations in an organ so 
 elaborately organized and structurally guarded as the largest and 
 most constantly active of all the secreting organs of the animal 
 system, — the liver, — may suffer grave and dangerously injurious 
 pathological changes both in structure and function, and still retain 
 a fair appearance upon its surface. And as regards the discoveries 
 that Dr. Stiles has made in his researches into the morbid alterations 
 ill the liver, and incidentally, into one of the most important 
 elements in its pathological structure, namely, the ultimate distri- 
 bution or reticular structure of the biliary duct system, it plainly 
 appears that no ordinary observations could ever have reached such 
 definite results, or have added such welcome and yerj necessary 
 facts for guides to the proper interpretation of the nature and conse- 
 quences of the malady we are here considering; and important, 
 too, for the more exact understanding of certain most destructive 
 human pestilences. 
 
 The morbid and morphological changes and abnormal elements 
 
 •As described by the histologists, or uader microscopical observation, this alteration in 
 structure consists in a thickening of the walls of the secreting cells of the liver. 
 
 i" The chief pathological changes in this disease of cattle promise to throw so much light 
 upon those of yellow fever that we deem it proper to call attention to such points of 
 resemblance wherever there is an essential and characteristic alteration of structure, kc. 
 
Hi 6 Annual Report of New York 
 
 discovered at the outset in the bile of the diseased cattle, served 
 both as a guide and an incentive to patient researches and experi- 
 mental tests. The next chapter will sufficiently explain the nature 
 of this interesting line of investigations. Eut let it be remem- 
 bered that the first fact that was demonstrated or asserted con- 
 cerning the source or carrier and vehicle of the contagious cause 
 was this, namely, that the excrement of certain Texas cattle is 
 directly chargeable with this unfortunate evil. Hence we came to 
 regard with interest whatever abnormal elements or properties the 
 bile of the diseased cattle possessed, because it is a ready vehicle 
 for carrying into the excremental droppings whatever may pertain 
 to it. The experimental investigations in regard to the fungus 
 organisms found in this morbid bile ' are still in progress. In this 
 branch of inquiry we invited and obtained the cooperation of Prof. 
 Ernst Hallier, of Jena. That gentleman is justlj' regarded as the 
 highest living authority in experimental and analytical researches 
 of this sort in the study and cultivation of the microscopical organ- 
 isms that infest plants and animals. Prof. Hallier's plan of inquiry 
 in regard to the spore organisms that are found in the blood and 
 bile of the sick cattle will be found in a subsequent section of this 
 report. Though this particularly abstruse line of inquiry has been 
 only collateral to the first objects that were to be kept in view in 
 the work, and though the actual relations of the fungus-spores in 
 the blood and bile may not be fully grasped in the present — merely 
 preliminary stage of inquiry — and may not throw any light upon 
 either the source or the essential nature of the disease, at least until 
 naturalists shall have advanced many steps further in the study and 
 analysis of the parasitical fungi, the demands of progressive know- 
 ledge require that whatever facts have been acquired in regard to 
 this collateral, and, probably very essential line of studies, should 
 not be timidly withheld from publication. Therefore the committee 
 has advised that the record of this class of observations should be 
 embodied in this report. And as this parasitical element of th« 
 morbid bile has become an object of special examination, we refer 
 to it now as one of the constant elements found in the bile of th« 
 infected cattle. 
 
 The Spleen. — The most obvious of all the morbid appearances 
 exhibited upon the mere exposure of the abdominal viscera to exter- 
 nal inspection is that which the spleen presents in most cases of 
 the disease. The morbid changes that occur in the essential and 
 intimate structure of this organ seem to be equally as constant as 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1117 
 
 those which occur in the liver, but, consideriug the comparatively 
 subordinate fuuctions that are required of the spleen, — so far as 
 its fuuctions are understood — its pathological changes cannot reason- 
 ably be regarded as being so important and far-reaching in their 
 mflueuce, as attributes of the disease, as the structural and morpho- 
 loorical changes in the liver seem to be. But as the grand diver- 
 ticulum or waste-gates to the portal and gastric circulation, the 
 spleen would inevitaby become engorged and swollen to abnormal 
 dimensions so soon as eno:orgements and obstructions in the circu- 
 lation of blood in the liver, or the liver and the rennet stomach 
 occurred. This is an accepted deduction in physiology, and requires 
 no further remark in this place. 
 
 Yet it is not certain that the mechanical and anatomical disturb- 
 ance which the disease produces in the spleen does not finally 
 induce morbid conditions in it, or, as seems probable, so cripple 
 and overwhelm its special, but obscurely known functions, that the 
 total suspension of those functions may contribute towards the 
 rapid and fatal dissolution of the blood itself. The fact that the 
 spleen is generally believed by physiologists to be charged with 
 some special duty towards the repair of the blood corpuscles, or 
 at least, the duty of completing the normal dissolution of the 
 defective and worn red corpuscles,* gives peculiar interests to 
 the pathological inquiries concerning the share the spleen has in 
 this disease. Dr. Stiles has carefully described the degenerative 
 and other structural changes which the microscope revealed in the 
 cases which he examined. The very constant presence of crystals 
 of hgematoidine in the enlarged cells of the spleen, toge'ther with 
 the peculiar yellow flocculi, such as were found abundantly in the 
 blood and the bile of every infected bullock must be regarded as 
 important circumstances. 
 
 ♦The difficulty hitherto experienced in all efforts to demonstrate the nature and functions 
 of the spleen and the thymus gland, need not prevent us from adopting the conclusion that 
 notwithstanding the morbid alterations in the structure and functions of the spleen may be 
 secondary to those in the blood and the liver, they nevertheless can contribute important 
 results towards the final fatal end. As that philosophical writer. Dr. John Simon, has said 
 of the thymus gland that " it seems to serve the purpose of a sinking fund in the interest 
 of respiration," so it may be said of the spleen, that it serves as a sort of " sinking fund " 
 in the interest of the worn and expiring red blood-globules, and of a sound state of the 
 circulating blood. And continuing the figure it may reasonably be presumed that 
 the destruction of the "fund" may, in the critical exigencies of disease, contribute to the 
 general disaster which the blood and life itself must suffer. At any rate this illu.-;tration 
 aptly conveys, in a homely way, a correct idea. We would invite attention to the results 
 attained by Dr. Stiles in his study of the changes, — both morbid and conservative, — that 
 .♦ccur in the spleen in this disease. 
 
1118 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Theories regarding the relation of the spleen changes to the dis- 
 ease or to its fatal termination, are of minor consequence, for 
 physiologists and pathologists will not hesitate to agree with Dr. 
 Stiles in the very reasonable opinion, that all the essential changes 
 in this organ of the infected animals are of a secondary character. 
 The diseased conditions which were uniformly found in the liver 
 and in the fourth stomach, would inevitably be attended by engorge- 
 ment of the spleen. 
 
 There were four or five instances in which cattle were found 
 dead with this disease in the Metroj)olitan market yards, or aban- 
 doned by the wayside, and dissected at the rendering dock, in which 
 the spleen was said to be found ruptured. The fact is, that in every 
 such case, this organ was also found in a state of total disintegra- 
 tion, a mass of diffluent pulp. Descriptions which have lieen 
 forwarded to this committee of post mortem appearances of the 
 spleen and other viscera found in diseased cattle in various places 
 in the Western States, show that the instances are not infrequent in 
 which the spleen is found in the condition here described, particu- 
 larly if the infected animal lingered to die in the natural way. 
 The sanitary authorities of Chicago, Illinois, — having ascertained 
 through Dr. John H. Ranch, their intelligent sanitary suj)erintendent 
 and registrar, that an increased weight and volume of the spleen 
 were the most readily observed facts to which they could officially 
 direct the attention of butchers and meat inspectors, at the immense 
 slaughter-pens of that city, where Texan and Western beeves are, 
 killed for packing as well as for the city stalls, — ordered that all 
 spleens should be carefully and separately weighed, and that exces- 
 sive enlargement and disorganization of this organ should be 
 regarded as sufficient evidence for the condemnation of particular 
 cattle and herds, so as to prevent sale and slaughter. Though an 
 engorgement and very great enlargement of the spleen may occur 
 from various other causes than the Texas cattle infection, this test 
 which was adopted by Dr. Ranch for convenience sake, and fully 
 approved by Prof. Gamgee, undoubtedly served the practical pur- 
 pose of the sanitar}?^ authorities of Chicago exceedingly well. 
 
 Dr. Rauch has politely furnished us a transcript of the entire 
 record of the weights of spleens and livers that were inspected 
 under his authority at the Chicago slaughter-pens. The record of 
 the native cattle (Illinois and Missouri stock) shows that 4,918 were 
 killed, and that the average weight of their spleens was 1.35 pounds 
 each; while the record of the freshly arrived Texas cattle shows 
 
IState Agricultural Society. 1119 
 
 thiit 3,485 were slaughtered, and that the average weight of their 
 spleens was 2.28 pounds. The details of these records show that 
 the spleen in native bullocks rarely exceeded one and a half pounds, 
 excepting in the case of those that were sufiering from Texas cattle 
 disease; also, that in the Texan cattle recently arrived there were 
 particular herds in which nearly one-half of the bullocks had this 
 organ so greatly enlarged that it weighed between two and a half 
 and four pounds, or an average of nearly three pounds. 
 
 The wood cut, No. 1, on the jDreceding page, is sketched from a 
 photograph presented to us by Dr. Ranch, of a group of healthy 
 and unhealthy spleens. In the second sketch is shown a group, 
 selected by Sanitary Inspector Dr. Janes, at one of our city slaugh- 
 tering houses, the small and natural specimens being from native 
 or State cattle, the enlarged ones being from infected Texas steers 
 freshly arrived from Texas, by way of Illinois. 
 
 The term " spleenic fever," which has been applied to this dis- 
 ease, and the term " milzbrand " that is applied to a group of 
 authracic fevers in Central Europe, do not convey any correct idea 
 of the essential nature of the diseases to which they are applied, 
 though they thus prominently mention an organ which, from pecu- 
 liarities in its anatomical construction, readily takes on certain very 
 obvious morbid appearances.* 
 
 •The familiar and expressive terms in which some of the best medical observers of the 
 Texas cattle disease in Missouri and Kansas have described the symptoms, and the patho- 
 logical changes produced by it, serve to convey some important facts which will explain 
 various apparent discrepancies that have appeared in the descriptions of post mortem 
 appearances. The fact that the sanitary officers could make no scientific use of the putres- 
 cent mass of viscera, which was almost invariably found upon opening an infected animal 
 that had been dead more than an hour or two, will explain, also, how different are most 
 of the descriptions of their post mortem dissections from those published elsewhere. For 
 an illustration of the first-rate descriptions which have been given by some Western 
 observers, who have been many years familiar with the disease, we quote the following 
 extract from a report of Dr. Albert Badger, Nevada city, Vernon county, Missouri. Con- 
 oerning post mortem appearances, he says : 
 
 " In a very close observation of this disease among my own and neighbors' stock for the 
 last thirteen years, I have generally found on opening those that had died but very little 
 blood, and the following results : In those that passed water, mixed with blood, the kid- 
 neys and surrounding parts were entirely decayed, the other parts of the body sound ; those 
 that did not dung at all, or but very little, with manifolds perfectly dry and partly 
 decayed, while the large stomach would be more or less mortified, other parts healthy; 
 those that appeared to dung and pass water naturally, with a liver more or less decayed, 
 the gallbladder always swelled to its greatest tension, other parts healthy; those that 
 were ever on their feet in a watchful attitude, the brain was found more or less decayed. 
 This leads me to believe the disease to be in the blood, which finally becomes congestive, 
 destroying the parts in a fews hours after it becomes seated, and no doubt in many cases 
 could be cured if we knew exactly when and where it had seated itself — blood-letting not 
 being sufficient of itself to check the inflammation. The hollow horn and tail no doubt is 
 caused by the fever destroying the blood in the extremities before it does in the vessels, 
 which it does destroy in a great measure before death." 
 
1120 Annual Report of New York 
 
 It would be difficult to find, lu the whole category of human 
 diseases, so striking an illustration of the disintegration and ulti- 
 mate destruction of the blood, associated with so extensive and so 
 rapidly-produced fatty degenerations of tissue in the liver, spleen 
 and kidneys. Yellow fever and malignant congestive (intermittent) 
 fever are respectively attended by some of these changes; but we 
 have witnessed no disease previously, in man or the lower animals, 
 that has afforded such an opportunity for demonstrating the mode 
 and the various results of blood-poisoning. The wasted, crip- 
 pled and shrunken red globules; the transudations and ecchymoses 
 resulting from this drainage of the vital fluid; the injurious and 
 obstructive presence of resultants of this damaged blood in the 
 tissues of the liver; the overwhelming of the spleen by the debris 
 of the spoiled blood; the views which the microscope revealed of 
 the condition of this debris and of the spleenic tissues in the fatal 
 stages of the disease, and during successful convalescence; and, 
 lastly, in cases that lingered beyond the acute stage, the presence 
 of crj'stalized hmmatoidine — that beautiful signet and memorial of 
 the destroyed blood-globules and consequent transudations — in all 
 loose tissues and the chief seceruant viscera of the body, presented, 
 together and in their various relations, the most remarkable, the 
 most instructive, and, when studied with all the associated facts, 
 the most conclusive results that could be met with in the phj^si- 
 cian's searches into the nature and consequences of a pestilential 
 disease. 
 
 It would be impossible, in a mere report of events and particular 
 results in the committee's investigations, to place all of the more 
 interesting and conclusive circumstances on record concerning par- 
 ticular observations in individual cases of the infected cattle. Each 
 case, when carefully dissected and studied, presented striking " me- 
 morial tracings" of the morbid changes, that had occurrd in the 
 blood. For example: An infected bullock was killed for dissec- 
 tion, October 18th, at the National drove yards on Third and Fourth 
 avenues. [This bullock's jaundiced skin, waxy and fatty liver, 
 and partially restored spleen, are represented in Plate 23,] The 
 fat surrounding the kidneys, and, to some extent, that of the omen- 
 tum, was of a greenish and mottled appearance, and the cellular 
 tissue contained some opaque serous fluid. The dissector cut the 
 discolored fat with caution, saying there must be pus in it. But 
 it was simply a mass of hasmatoidine crystals, which remained there 
 as a signet left by the disintegrated red globules of the spoiled 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1121 
 
 blood. Ill other cases, both lingering and acute, brilliant and dis- 
 colored spots in pelvis of the kidney were found by Dr. Stiles to 
 consist of hsematoidine. Besides this beautiful seal, which the 
 disease impressed upon the glandular and cellular tissues, there 
 always could be traced other series of proofs of the nature and 
 results of the blood changes. 
 
 [Dr. Wm. Aitkin, in his remarkably instructive chapter upon 
 " Symptoms and Signs of Disease," happily epitomizes the facts 
 relating to the source and significance of hsematoidine crystals 
 found in the tissues and closed cavities of the body, in the follow- 
 ing remark: " Crystals of hgematoidine are the most frequent 
 products of blood-degeneration (Virchow). They are formed spon- 
 taneously out of haematine. * * * If large masses of extrava- 
 sated blood continue to lie for any length of time, this is the 
 substance into which the blood is transformed. An apoplectic 
 clot in the brain, for example, is repaired by a large portion of the 
 blood (the clot) undergoing this transformation, and the color of 
 the resulting cicatrix is due to the crystals of hgematoidine. When 
 a young woman menstruates, also, the cavity of the Graefian vesicle, 
 from which the ovum escaped, becomes filled with coagulated 
 blood, and ultimately hcematoidine crystals are the last memorials 
 of the event (Virchow)."] 
 
 Hie Kidneys — Dr. Stiles submitted specimens of this organ to 
 microscopical examination from all the cases of which he also had 
 opportunity to examine the liver and spleen. The changes in 
 ■structure are in harmony with those found in the latter organs and 
 in the blood. The kidneys indeed, contained certain very imports 
 ant evidences and signets of the rapid destruction which the red 
 blood-globules had undergone. Nothing could be more significant 
 than the lodgment of crystals of hgematoidine in the tissues of 
 this depurative gland. The average general appearance of the 
 kidneys in the infected bullocks which we slaughtered and dissected 
 for purposes of scientific investigations, is correctly shown in the 
 plate on the next page. This specimen (Plate 19) and its mate 
 (Plate 20, fig. 1) on the page following, were taken from a young 
 bullock slaughtered at the National drove yards. One Hundredth 
 street, September 26th. The two weighed five pounds eleven 
 ounces. The appearance of the kidney during convalesence, at the 
 end of seven or eight days in progress of recovery, is represented 
 in Plate 20, fig. 2. This specimen was taken from the first con- 
 valescent of Mr. Alexander's herd, August 16th. 
 
 [Ag.] 71 
 
1122 Annual Repobt of New York 
 
 In man}^ instauces the morbid appearance was less marked than 
 in the examples here represented; but in still more cases there was 
 vastly more alteration in appearance, and with scarcely an excep- 
 tion as is reported by all observers, there is usually a more morbid 
 appearance of the kidneys than that which is here exhibited. But 
 it is not in the mere appeai^ance, but in certain morbid changes 
 which the microscope alone can reveal, that this organ has aided 
 the general inquiry concerning this disease. Often, in the post 
 mortem inspections of cattle found dead, and in slauglitered and 
 allowed to remain a few hours, the kidneys were found utterly 
 disorganized and almost as diffluent or broken down as the spleen 
 in the same animals. A marvelous rapidity of disorganization and 
 putrefaction of this and every other organ that was similarly 
 engorged with blood, will be remembered by all observers as a 
 decided characteristic. But it is a fact to be noted that the kidneys 
 as well as the liver, kept up a remarkable activity of secretion, or 
 at least of evacuation of morbid secretions, until a very late stage 
 of the disease. The source and nature of the "black water," or 
 hasmaturia are correctly illustrated in Dr. Stiles' report [Plate 7], 
 and in the chemical analyses of urine and blood, by Professor 
 Chandler. The loss of blood-albumen by the kidneys in this dis- 
 ease is in all cases enormous, and the blood analysis shows that 
 this loss goes on pari j)assu with the disease, so that in long pro- 
 tracted cases it reaches a minimum percentage of the quantitative 
 results in the table of analysis. * 
 
 The report of Dr. Stiles which follows in the next chapter, ade- 
 quately sets forth the results of microscopical examination of the 
 three vascular organs that we have mentioned in this section, as 
 being the chief objects of interest in those pathological researches. 
 All other organs and tissues of the body were in turn examined, 
 but it was in these three organs, the most vascular, the most sus- 
 ceptible to morbid alterations in their organic and interstitial 
 constitution, while, also, the respective functions which they seve- 
 rally perform in preparing the blood for its continued flowing as 
 the healthful supporter of life, that distinctly and very peculiarly 
 characterized alterations in structure, most important, far-reaching 
 and fatal in results in the infected cattle were observed. But the 
 
 * The decrease in the percentage of albumen in the blood manifestly depends upon three 
 eauses, viz., loss by waste through the kidneys; loss by the destructive effect of the fever 
 in which this blood of food has to meet unusual demands; and lastly, the failure of the 
 eick animal to supply by its digestion of daily food. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1123 
 
 statement must here be repeated, that it is not in the fortuitous 
 changes of color, size and apparent healthfuhiess of these organs 
 that the question of their healthful or their diseased condition is 
 determined in an acute malady like this of the Texas cattle disease. 
 
 Devoted to special and vitally important functions of blood pre- 
 servation, each of them containing characteristic marks of morbid 
 conditions induced by the poison of the disease, and each in its 
 own peculiar way, finally becoming embarrassed in function and 
 organic structure, these organs were the subject of daily study by 
 Dr. Stiles and various medical observers for more than three 
 months. The results of that study have been worthy of the labor 
 bestowed, for very important facts have been ascertained which 
 throw light upon the nature and course of the disease that was under 
 investigation, and at the same time contribute to the progress of 
 important branches of medical knowledge. 
 
 Note on Special Conditions Observed in Convalescent Cattle 
 THAT w^ere Slaughtered for Dissection. — In the report by Dr. 
 Morris will be found an abstract of notes taken at the post mortem 
 examination of the five convalescent cattle belono-ino- to Mr. J. T. 
 Alexander's herd. They will repay perusal. Much might be 
 added to these notes that would be interesting to pathologists, and 
 also would be important to farmers and herdmen that may have 
 to deal with the disease. We will briefly recapitulate the most 
 essential facts observed in the examination of animals known to be 
 convalescent from the disease: 
 
 IsL External Appearances. — For several days the eyes appear 
 jaundiced, the skin also, in certain cases, was seen to be deeply 
 jaundiced; and this is strikingly shown in the case of a bullock 
 that was slaughtered on the 18th of October, after being at least 
 ten days past the commencement of obvious symptoms. The 
 appearance of this animal is correctly shown in Plate 23, fig. 1. The 
 cases examined late in the autumn, like the one here mentioned, had 
 oedematous legs, and exhibited a very flabby condition of surface. 
 
 2d. The Temperature. — Examined per rectum, the first of Mr. 
 Alexander's convalescents (slaughtered August 16th) on the seventh 
 day after last of the hiematuria, gave a temperature of 103^*^ Fah. 
 The other members of that convalescent family, which came to 
 their dissection for scientific purposes on the 26th of August, from 
 twelve to sixteen days past obviously acute sj^mptoms, gave the fol- 
 lowing temperatures: No. 1, 103°; No. 2, 103 1°; No. 3, 103 1°; No. 
 4, 103|°. In other instances of cattle partially i-ecovered from the 
 
1124 Annual Report of New Yore 
 
 disease, there usually was some complicating coudition that kept 
 up the febrile temperature, as iu the bullock whose jaundiced skin 
 is illustrated on the preceding page. His temperature, when ten 
 days or a fortnight past the obviously acute stage, but when suffer- 
 ing intensely from inflammation of the rectum and colon, and from 
 the extravasation of his anasmic blood into the cellular (areolar) 
 tissues of the body, was 105 ^'^. In several of the imperfectly 
 recovered Texas cattle, examined by Sanitary Inspector Janes at 
 one of the butcheries — cases quoted by Dr. Morris in this report — ■ 
 the temperature was two degrees or more above the standard of 
 health. 
 
 3d. Condition of the Blood. — In all the convalescents it was 
 remarkably deficient in red globules and globuline, and in the per- 
 centage of salts, of albumen, and of total solids. This is shown 
 in the chemical analysis of the blood of diseased bullocks by Prof. 
 Chandler. [See his Tabulated Analyses.] The same fact was con- 
 firmed in the microscopical examinations by Dr. Stiles, in regard to 
 the destruction of the red globules. 
 
 4th. Tlie Spleen and Liver. — In every convalescent these organs 
 exhibited evident traces of the disease. The weight and the 
 unnatural appearance of the spleen seemed to be very tardy in the 
 return to normal conditions. The spleen of the first examined 
 convalescent in Mr. Alexander's herd (on the seventh day) weighed 
 five and a half pounds, and was still soft and discolored; while the 
 liver weighed thirteen and a half pounds, and was fatty and fawn 
 colored. In convalescents killed later in the season, the " waxy" 
 conditions were conjoined, and the former was evidently superven- 
 ing upon the latter condition. In Plate 23 a section of such a 
 liver is shown, also a section of the spleen. They evince a tardy 
 return towards the healthy state. 
 
 5th. The Abomasum or Fourth Stomach. — ^A rapid tendency to 
 recovery from the common erosions and ecchymotie conditions in the 
 tubular or " reed" portion of this stomach was evinced in the well 
 conditioned convalescents; but the deep sloughs and ragged ulcera- 
 tions recovered slowly. Plate 21 exhibits the appearance of the 
 tubular or "reed" portion of the abomasum in the first bullock 
 killed in Mr. Alexander's group of convalescents, at Communipaw. 
 
 6th. The Bile, the Blood, and the vascular organs concerned in 
 blood elaboration, continued to exhibit the yellow flocculi or pig- 
 ment matter and the hsematoidine crystals for some time. But the 
 fungus spores ceased to be found quite early. The completeness 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1125 
 
 and rapidity of this disappearance of the fungus parasite in the 
 cattle that were medicated with carbolic acid was, at the time, a 
 subject of unexpected satisfaction. It was reasonably presumed to 
 be due to the action of the carbolic antiseptic upon the blood. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS TO TEST THE SUPPOSED METHODS BY WHICH THE 
 DISEASE MAY BE COMMUNICATED. 
 
 In the beginning of our inquiries the fact became so unequivocally 
 established that to the excrement of the cattle which introduced 
 the disease was to be attributed the means or vehicle of distribution 
 and propagation of the infectious cause of it, that it was believed 
 there would be a spontaneous demonstration of the possibility or 
 the impossibility of the re-propagation of the poison by Northern 
 cattle which were under observation and dying with the disease in 
 the vicinity of New York. The only instances of such re-propa- 
 gation by sick native stock are related by Assistant Commissioners 
 Drs. Morris and Montfort concerning the herds in Orange comity. 
 
 Dr. Stiles attempted some experiments by injecting a solution 
 of infected bile into the blood vessels of some of the lower animals, 
 but they gave no other result than that of a speedy termination in 
 fatal convulsions, as soon as the solution mingled in the general 
 circulation. 
 
 The constant presence of the fungus-spores in the bile of the 
 infected and dying cattle suggested the propriety of instituting a 
 series of experiments and tests upon such herbiverous and carni- 
 verous animals as could readily be made to partake of simple foods 
 garnished with a little of the morbid bile. To Dr. F. J. Randall 
 an Assistant Sanitary officer, the task of conducting the experi- 
 ments was committed. Dr. Stiles followed up the examination of 
 the morbid anatomy and microscopy of the fluids and diseased 
 tissues whenever death ended the experiments upon any of these 
 small animals. 
 
 The experiment on dogs was inconclusive. Dr. Mackay, the 
 Health officer of Buffalo, had informed us that all his observations 
 in feeding dogs with the flesh of the infected dead cattle ended in 
 poor Tray's vomiting the food. Three dogs were kenneled and fed 
 very sparingly on two of the enormous livers taken from infected 
 cattle that were slaughtered for dissection. Two of them were 
 attacked with an obstinate diarrhoea and one of them died at the 
 end of twelve days. The stomach of the latter was ulcerated, but 
 Dr. Stiles discovered no traces of the essential signs of the cattle 
 
1126 Annual Report of New York 
 
 disease. It was scarcely presumed that the dog would readily 
 succumb to the poison if any pertaiued to the tissues of the liver 
 and the bile they contained. 
 
 The facts regarding the pathological results of this feeding and 
 incubation of the bile-poison, if poison it was, are summed up by 
 Dr. Stiles in the second part of his report. He found all the 
 characteristic lesions which the infection induces, and he remarks 
 that the rabbits " died with many of the phenomena of the Texas 
 cattle disease." Dr. Randall states that they died suddenly in every 
 instance, after but a brief period of apparent illness. The only 
 fungus-spores discovered in the dead rabbits were those known to 
 mycologists as the Oryptococcus guitulatus. Eegarding the practical 
 inference to be drawn from these experiments we would not con- 
 sider them absolutely conclusive, because the absorption of morbid 
 bile into the blood would in all probability produce the chief 
 results that were observed by Dr. Stiles and Dr. Eandall. Yet, so far 
 as this series of results has any bearing upon the theory of this 
 fever-propagation, by means of this germ-element, they are regarded 
 by Dr. Stiles as strongly conlirmatory. 
 
 Experimental tests showing the eifects that would be produced 
 by the transfusion of blood from an infected bullock into a healthy 
 one was scarcely practicable, as every medical observer was already 
 overworked, and no pecuniary means were available for such experi- 
 mentation. That class of tests remains to be made, together with 
 several other experimental observations if the infection ever again 
 crosses the Mississippi river. 
 
 INDISPENSABLE USES OP THE MICROSCOPE AND CHEMICAL 
 ANALYSIS IN THE INVESTIGATION.— RESULTS. 
 
 The microscope and the chemist's laboratory are helps to the stu- 
 dent of the causes and effects of disease, but they may as readily 
 prove false guides as true, unless they are themselves directed 
 by skillful and thoroughly experienced hands. The success that 
 attended the labors of Dr. Stiles and Prof. Chandler, in their res- 
 pective branches of investigation, will justly be regarded as among 
 the most satisfactory results attained in the whole range of inquiry. 
 The reports of those two co-laborers follow in next chapters. 
 Divested of the technicalities of such studies, their results may be 
 concisely translated into familiar phraseology, as follows: 
 
 What the Microscope has revealed concerning the Pathological 
 Characteristics of the Cattle Disease. — (1.) That the red corpuscles 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1127 
 
 'of the iufected blood are impaired, and, to a great extent, broken 
 up before the death of the iufected animal; and that, immediately 
 after death, the disintegration of this essential and life-bearing con- 
 stituent of the blood, as well as the other constituents, went on 
 with amazing rapidity. 
 
 (2.) The chief change discovered in the liver, spleen and kid- 
 neys, consisted in the acute fatty degeneration or deposit, and in 
 certain remarkable evidences of embarrassment in the circulation 
 of the blood and of destructive changes in it. The presence of the 
 crystals of hasmatoidine, and of a peculiar yellow matter, in these 
 organs and in the bile, as well as in loose cellular tissue, were so 
 remarkably demonstrated under the microscope, that they came to 
 be regarded as signets of the presence and operation of the disease 
 upon the red blood-corpuscles. The yellow matter here mentioned 
 also associated destruction of the red corpuscles with the presence 
 of the morbid bile; and this circumstance, in the pathological con- 
 dition of the blood, was rendered quite certain by other kinds of 
 evidence. 
 
 (3.) The diseased distension of the minutest biliary ducts by the 
 morbid bile, revealed a physiological fact regarding the minutest 
 and previously undetermined character of the ultimate arrangement 
 of those ducts and their relations to the secreting cells of the liver. 
 This discovery by Dr. Stiles has served to aid in the investigations 
 and deductions. 
 
 (4.) The exact nature and causes of the " black water "^ or hsema- 
 turia have been clearly defined by the microscope. 
 
 (5.) The nature of the morbid changes which occur in the spleen 
 in consequence of the disease is clearly defined, so far as the micro- 
 scope can reveal the altered conditions in that organ. 
 
 (6.) The presence of fungus-spores or an infinite growth of 
 parasitical organisms, has been revealed as a constant fact in the 
 blood and bile of the infected animals. And to test and develop, 
 by experimental culture, the actual nature and botanical (niyco- 
 logical) classification of this fungus parasite, has been a separate 
 undertaking. Furthermore, without waiting the results of such 
 culture, the microscopical observations upon the bile, the minute 
 tissues of the liver, and the morbid conditions of the blood, &c.,. 
 are finally regarded as warranting the conclusion, that whether it 
 may be an active and propagating el,ement in the Infectious cause 
 of the disease, or only a concomitant of the diseased and feverish 
 blood in the infected animals, it certainly seems to play an important 
 
1128 Annual Report of New York 
 
 and fatal part in the final morbid changes that occur in the bile, 
 if the bile becomes, as there is no doubt it does at last, a destructive 
 poison to the blood and the nervous centres. 
 
 (7.) The microscope has enabled Dr. Stiles, and Prof. Hallier (of 
 the University of Jena), to trace the botanical and developmental 
 history of the fungus element or " micrococcus." 
 
 In these, and in various other ways the pathological investigation.^ 
 of the disease has been aided by the microscope in the hands of a 
 most leai'ned, careful and trustworthy physiologist and pathologist. 
 
 RESULTS FROM CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 
 
 The Blood. — In the eight columns that present the results of 
 the quantitative analysis of blood from fourteen infected bullocks 
 that were slaughtered and carefully dissected for the purposes of 
 our investigations. Prof. Chandler has clearly demonstrated the fol- 
 lowing facts: 
 
 (1.) The normal relative proportions of the total solid constituents, 
 and the water of the blood in the infected cattle, was found to be 
 changed, the healthful percentage of solids being much diminished, 
 and in the most typical cases of the disease this decrease of solid 
 constituents was excessive. In a fine fat steer that had passed the 
 acute or explosive symptoms, and was (ineffectually) convalescent, 
 this decrease of solids in the blood was found to be equal to fifty 
 parts in the 1,000 of blood, or of the one hundred and ninety of 
 normal solids, that is, this loss exceeded twenty-five per centum 
 of the natural total of solid flesh-forming constituents in the blood. 
 In other instances in which the disease produced extreme symptoms 
 in very fine and full fleshed animals, as in one that was carried to 
 the rendering dock, and in two that were killed and carefully dis- 
 sected September 11th and October 18th, respectively, the loss of 
 solid elements of the blood was found to be nearly seventy parts 
 out of the normal proportion (which is about one hundred and 
 ninety) in the 1,000 parts of blood, or equal to thirty-seven per 
 centum of loss of the substance of the blood. But the loss of solid 
 elements was not an invariable fact, though evidently quite sure to 
 occur ill extreme cases, and in all instances of lingering beyond a 
 few days after the period of hematuria and the acute symptoms. 
 
 (2.) In every case of the disease there was a very marhed loss of 
 red blood-corjpiLscles. The loss amounted to more than fifty per 
 cent of the total quantity that healthy bullocks' blood contains; 
 and, in the most striking cases, the loss of blood corpuscles and 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1129 
 
 globuliiie was almost complete. In some examples (one of which 
 Prof. Chandler has placed in his tabulated results) the destruction 
 of this most essential element of the blood could not be estimated, 
 so entire was the destruction and change. 
 
 (3.) The healthful proportion of salts in the blood was dimin- 
 ished in all the typical cases that had snrvived a few days after 
 the onset of acute symptoms. The causes of this loss, as well as 
 that of total solids were physiologically obvious in the class of 
 animals in which it occurred. 
 
 (4.) Albumen was quite constantly found below the healthful 
 proportion in most of the cases examined, but it was noticed as in 
 excess of the normal amount in those cases of the disease in which 
 the blood-corpuscles and globuline had undergone such changes as 
 caused the red globule element to nearly or wholly disappear from 
 the list of proximate elements. 
 
 (5.) The fibrin varied greatly in amount, but in the phenomena of 
 coagulation, &c., never exhibited signs of an inflammatory condition. 
 In some instances the fibrin appeared rotten and imperfectly elabo- 
 rated; but in no specimen examined under the microscope did Dr. 
 Stiles notice any unnatural state of fibrillation. 
 
 The foregoing five points of departure from the healthful standard 
 of the blood elements are thus specially noticed, because they are 
 very directly associated with the essential cause and course of dis- 
 ease. 
 
 The Dropsical Effusions {Serum) in the Peritoneal Cavity of 
 the Infected Cattle. — The eflused dropsical fluid possessed the pro- 
 perty of spontaneous coagulation when exposed to the air. Dr. 
 Stiles' description of the peculiar mode of that coagulation shows 
 that a pseudo fibrin was contained in these fluids. Prof. Chandler's 
 analyses show that this fibrin was quantitatively estimated. In the 
 remarkable case that was examined the 9th of September, the 
 spleen was ruptured, accidentally, as we believed at the time, in 
 last struggles, or in the handling of the bullock. [See third 
 analysis of serum and eighth analysis of blood, in Prof. Chandler's 
 tabulations.] 
 
 Chemical Analysis of the Bile. — The results are recorded with- 
 out comment. There* may be readers of this report who would ask 
 for these results, and the time may come when this class of facts 
 will aid in other inquiries. 
 
 The Urine. — The albuminous state of the urine was in all cases 
 remarked, and in most instances this wasting of the substance of 
 
1130 Annual Report OF New York 
 
 blood by the urinary organs was excessive. The morbid changes 
 that were occurring in the blood itself — by damage to the red 
 globules and to the fibrin — would account for this wastins;, even if 
 the kidneys had not been found to be undergoing acute degenera- 
 tive changes, and suffering enormous congestion. And it is worthy 
 of notice that the congestion of the kidneys (usually excessive, but 
 in some cases annoticeable,) did not result in obstruction and sup- 
 pression of urine, but usually in an excessive flow of it. 
 
 Chemical Analysis of the Liver. — It was not until cold weather 
 arrived that any analysis of this organ was attempted. The speci- 
 mens were not as excessively fatty as livers dissected earlier in the 
 season. They were changing into what is termed the "waxy" 
 condition, in which the minute cell-walls are simply thickened by 
 plastic matter, and, as before remarked, there was far less fatty 
 deposit than in the livers that were not " waxy." Dr. Stiles states 
 that the microscopical examination of the livers thus anal^^zed, 
 contained less than half the proportion of free fat than those that 
 were examined earlier in the season and in the acute cases. But 
 even the four examples presented in Prof. Chandler's analyses, show 
 an excessive percentage of fat. Here we see no less than sixty-two 
 and a half, sixty-six, eighty-eight and a half and ninety parts, by 
 weight, of fat in 1,000 parts of the liver substance, in livers that 
 had, in the lingering stages of the disease, changed to the " waxy" 
 condition. Frerich found only twenty-two parts of fat to 1,000 of 
 substance in a wax}'^ liver, and one hundred, and seventy-two parts 
 in a fatal case of "fatty liver." 
 
 In pursuing a pathological inquiry upon yellow fever in man, 
 the writer submitted a specimen of a liver from a sea captain that 
 died of that disease, to Prof. Chandler for analysis. The man had 
 died on about the twentieth day from the beginning of incubation 
 of the disease at the port (Vera Cruz) whence he sailed. The liver 
 was the most perfect specimen of the cafe au lait or dry and fawn 
 colored condition of that organ as witnessed in lingering cases of 
 that malady. The following is the result of the analysis: Water, 
 739.84; total solids, 260.16; fat, 96.31. 
 
 Dr. Stiles' microscopical analysis of a specimen of the same 
 human liver, pronounced it atypical example, of yellow fever liver, 
 as had also the writer's professional examination of the body and 
 history of the patient the previous day enabled him to do. It 
 seems desirable to place these facts on record here, though they 
 relate to a pestilence in the human family. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1131 
 
 EXPEREVIENTS AND TeSTS FOR THE VERIFICATION AND SETTLEMENT 
 
 OF Questions that have Arisen in the Course of the Investiga- 
 tions. — The chief experiments of this kind relate to the attempts 
 to cultivate the fungus spores that infest the blood and bile of the 
 infected cattle. Though these experiments, and certain collateral 
 inquiries relating to the sources whence they may have been 
 derived, are still in progress, and may be continued a year or more, 
 the chief object of such culture-experiments should be stated here. 
 The design of the effort is not so abstruse as may be supposed. 
 Divested of details, and of the marvelous things that are associated 
 with the several stages of development in the parasite fungi, the 
 object and the art of spore and parasite culture may be stated in 
 ordinary phraseology as follows: 
 
 The spores or vegetative germ matter found in the blood and 
 bile of the infected cattle, present, in the fresh specimens, certain 
 peculiarities that are sufficiently definite to enable skillful micro- 
 scopists to recognize them with considerable certaint3^ We pre- 
 sented to Prof. Hallier, of Jena, sealed specimens of fresh bile 
 fi'om infected cattle, without intimating to him what results Dr. 
 Stiles had obtained, and his description of what he saw exactly 
 accords with what Dr. Stiles and his associates witnessed. This 
 spore-growth in the fluids of infected cattle is, so far as Dr. Stiles 
 was able to ascertain, invariably of the low or primordial kind of 
 mere multiplication and growth, which is the germ-mass or micro- 
 coccus of Prof. Hallier. Growing and repropagating, away from 
 all direct exposure to the atmosphere, this kind of spore is termed 
 anoeropliytic^ or growing without air. This circumstance of anasro- 
 phytic multiplication and rapid growth is not singular, for the 
 didium lactis, or fungus of milk — also an^rophytic — illustrates 
 this kind of vegetation; but it is manifest that the circumstances 
 of such parasitic growths must necessarily occur wholly at the 
 expense of the constituents of the fluid in which they float and mul- 
 tiply, for they grow without the aid of atmospheric air. As the 
 spore-forms( or as the micrococcus^ cryptococcus, zooglom^ or cylin- 
 drotmnum forms,) of fungus organisms all have relations to the 
 higher and more complex development of plant-like fungi and algas, 
 the planting and cultivation of the micrococcus or spore-matter has 
 become an art that promises important results. The very first con- 
 tributions of the practically useful results of that art were given to 
 hygiene. We refer to the study and development of the fungus- 
 forms that pertain to the excrement of the cholera sick. And as 
 
1132 Annual Report of New York 
 
 the world is indebted to Prof. Hallier, of the University of Jena, 
 for the chief discoveries and improvements that have been made in 
 this difficult art of studying the progressive stages of cryptogamic 
 development from the spore-matter or micrococcus up to the plant- 
 like stages of growth, we secured the cooperation of that learned 
 naturalist with Dr. Stiles. He has presented his researches upon 
 specimens of fresh bile that we sent to him under seal. The 
 statement of results in this fungus-culture by Prof. Hallier, will be 
 seen in the communication from him, which we append to Dr. Stiles' 
 report in the next chapter. 
 
 There is much reason to believe that this spore-growth, which 
 both gentlemen are studying, will be found to belong to certain 
 parasite fungi that infest the coarse herbage which covers certain 
 tracts of country over which the Texas cattle are driven before 
 reaching the Osage, the Red, or the Mississippi rivers. Some of 
 the grasses of that region are already under examination by Dr. 
 Stiles and others. No final results can be reached immediately in 
 such an inquiry, but the clear and definite progress already made 
 in this line of researches is sure not to end in barren uncertainties. 
 Yet it must not be supposed that a correct general knowledge of 
 the "Texas cattle disease" will not be attained independently of 
 this promised contribution from the natural history of the fungus- 
 spores of the infected blood and bile of the cattle and of the para- 
 sites which infest the herbage of the cattle trail. These toilsome 
 researches may result in unveiling one of hidden and all-important 
 factors of a class of epizootic and epidemic pestilences that hitherto 
 have defied all attempts to interpret their mysterious origin, and to 
 discover the nature of the virus or germs by which they are propa- 
 gated as spreading pestilences. 
 
 In the present state of medical knowledge, we can only desig- 
 nate this probable fungus or parasite element in the cattle disease 
 as Q. factor in the sum of causes.* It may be the essential and most 
 
 * "In the great field of the epidemic and contagious disorders by which the animals that 
 minister to man are afflicted, a rich harvest yet remains to be gathered. * » * 
 
 ***** A searching investigation into them would open up analogies 
 that could not fail to be of the deepest interest in their bearing on the great group of 
 iindred maladies which are so fatal to man. It is not too much to say that many a vexed 
 problem relating to these last would here find a ready solution. It is, in fact, only by 
 thus extending the survey that it is possible to obtain a just and comprehensive view of 
 the nature and mode of propagation of that great and remarkable brood pf morbific agents 
 which are the material cause of contagious diseases, and which, low as they are in the 
 order of created things — as yet undefined in nature, but snecific in essence — are so destruc- 
 tive to men and animals alike. * * * * . * * 
 
State Agricultural Society. _ 1133 
 
 important factor, or it may be subordinate td some others; but it 
 now seems probable that the transportation and spreading of the 
 disease by the Texas cattle, would be impossible, if this parasitical 
 element or factor were absent or were controlled. It is not 
 unreasonable to presume that the presence and destructive, as Avell 
 as irritant effects of this fungus parasite in the blood and the liver, 
 would almost necessarily induce the very changes and fatal condi- 
 'tions which are actually found in the cattle that die of this disease. 
 But science and the art of sanitary prevention of disease will lose 
 nothing by accepting all the facts and possibilities on this subject, 
 in the same cautious and exacting way in which we have ventured 
 to mention it in this report. That the effort to discover the precise 
 nature and source of the infective carrier of the pestilences which 
 are spread by means of excrement, as in the case of cholera, typhoid 
 fever and this disease of cattle^ will, ere long, be successful, and 
 will lead to the extinction or effectual prevention of them, is 
 regarded probable. And there is reason to believe that this disease 
 of cattle will yet furnish a clear demonstration in this line of study 
 into the causation and spreading of this and some other j)estilences. 
 
 " By ttis and other means so employed, we might, in no long time, succeed in investing 
 our knowledge of whole provinces of disease with much of that precision which is the 
 charm of the physical sciences, and medicine's greatest want. By the same means, we 
 should gradually be accumulating data whereby to make the work of prevention sure, and 
 thus help towards that great consummation to which we may even now confidently look — 
 the ultimate deliverance of man from that vast brood of contagious diseases which afc 
 present seem to mock his power — whose very existence is a humiliation to him, and which, 
 under the form of slighter visitations or of wide spread pestilence, bring every year so 
 many millions to the grave by a cruel and untimely death. — On the Occurrence, of the 
 Malignant Pustule in Man, by William Budd, AI. D., London, 1863. 
 
1134 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Y. REPORT ON THE PATHOLOGY OF THE TEXAS 
 CATTLE DISEASE. 
 
 BY R. CRESS ON STILES, 3L D. 
 
 To Elisha Harris, M. D.: 
 
 Sir — The following contributions to the pathology of the disease 
 which has recently proved so fatal to the cattle forwarded from the 
 West to the New York market, are based upon microscopical exami- 
 nation of the diseased organs collected at various abattoirs in the vici- 
 nity, and upon experiments upon the nature of the morbid secretions. 
 The uniformity of the elementary alterations of structure, amid a 
 variety of diseased appearances in both solids and fluids, was one of 
 the most interesting and satisfactory features of the epidemic. It 
 establishes the existence of a well-defined group of symptoms and 
 of corresponding pathological changes of structure which it is of 
 the highest importance, both practical and scientific, to record 
 accurately and publish widely. 
 
 With the etiology, symptomatolog}', therapeutics and prophy- 
 laxis of the disease, this report has no concern. On several occasions 
 I was present at the post mortem examination of diseased cattle, 
 and collected such specimens as I required for study, but by far 
 the greater number were forwarded to me by yourself, or by your 
 friends in Chicago and the West, where the disease has prevailed 
 to a far greater extent than in our neighborhood. From whatever 
 source derived, the same story was told by all; the epidemic which 
 has destroyed thousands of cattle in the West, was identical with 
 that from which the Board of Health has sought to protect our 
 markets for the past three months. 
 
State Aqbicultubal Society. 1135 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 I. THE FLUIDS. 
 
 (1.) The Blood. — The blood examined, was usually drawn from 
 the aorta or carotid arteries at the time these were severed in 
 slaughtering the animal. In other specimens it was taken from 
 the jugular vein during life, or from the portal vein after death. 
 In none but the last was there any marked peculiarity by which it 
 was distinguished from the foregoing. It coagulated firmly in 
 a large and deep vessel within fifteen minutes, without a bufiy 
 coat. In no case did the quality of the fibrin seem impaired. 
 It presented invariably a delicate fibrillation when in shreds, and 
 a finely granular appearance when in mass. The red blood-cor- 
 puscles when examined immediately after removal from the body, 
 were shriveled and ci'enated, without artificial provocation, as rep- 
 resented at b b, Plate 1. In one case, many of the discs appeared 
 to have lost a portion of their substance, as if a circular piece had 
 been punched out, the addition of water failing to restore the disc 
 to completeness. In one specimen only, the white blood-corpuscles 
 were in great excess and aggregated in masses. The liquor san- 
 guinis was invariably of a yellower color than natural, and contained 
 minute yellow flocculi or flakes of granular matter of irregular 
 size and shape, as represented at c, c, Plate No. 1. After a clot 
 had formed, the serum was found to present a yellow tinge, due to 
 a difiused coloration. The source of the yellow coloration was 
 indicated by the occasional presence in the serum, after standing 
 for several hours, of rhomboidal-notched plates, such as were found 
 also in the bile, and consisted probably, of cholesterine. In sev- 
 eral instances, defibrinated blood, or serum poured from a clot, 
 which originally abounded in corpuscles, was found after a few hours 
 to be absolutely devoid of the latter, complete dissolution of the 
 red discs having taken place long before putrefaction. 
 
 The specimen of portal blood abounded in white blood-corpuscles, 
 and in morbid cellular elements from the parenchyma of the spleen. 
 
 (2.) The Bile. — The bile was, in all the cases which fell under 
 my observation, abundant, distending the gall bladder to its utmost 
 capacity, filling the hepatic duct, and constituting the principal 
 portion of the contents of the small intestines. Instead of present- 
 
1136 Annual Report of New Tobk 
 
 ing the normal greenish or brownish transparency, it was opaque, 
 thick and grumoiis, nor was its opacity lost on filtration. It con- 
 tained granular flakes and masses of a brilliant yellow or orange 
 tint to transmitted light, reddish brown on the filter by reflected 
 light, as represented at a a, Plate 2. These were in many cases so 
 abundant as to give the bile a semi-solid consistence. They pre- 
 sented, when the bile was most dense, a crimson coloration, and 
 were then mingled with granules and stellate crystals of hsematoi- 
 dine (Virchow), c c, Plate 2. These yellow flocculi abounded in the 
 hepatic duct and its branches, and were found at times impacted 
 so that they might have oflered resistance to the flow of the bile 
 into the gall bladder. Some of the yellow coagula had been 
 molded by the smaller biliary ducts into cylindrical casts, b, Plate 
 2, and were found presenting this shape in the gall bladder. 
 Plate No. 2 represents the appearance of a drop of bile under a 
 magnifying power of five hundred diameters. 
 
 It was evident that the source of the yellow flocculi in the bile 
 was an admixture of blood with the bile in the minutest ducts 
 within the substance of the liver. The blood-corpuscles being 
 dissolved, the coagulating fibrin imbibed the bright yellow dye 
 of the mingled coloring; matters of the bile and the red bloocl-cor- 
 puscles. 
 
 I have preserved specimens of this morbid secretion for nearly 
 three months. They manifest no tendency to decomposition, but 
 give off a sweetish aromatic odor; crystals of oxalate of lime have 
 formed in the yellow flocculi, and micrococcus germs have multi- 
 plied so as to form masses visible to the unassisted eye. 
 
 (3.) The Liquid Contents of the Small Intestine abounded in the 
 yellow flocculi of the bile. The hardened faecal masses in the 
 large intestine consisted of homogeneous yellow granules (the 
 result of condensation of the yellow flocculi), mingled with epithe- 
 lium and vegetable debris. Constipation was a prominent symptom 
 in most cases. Of the bile, therefore, which was so abundantly 
 poured into the alimentary canal, but a small quantity left the 
 body in fiscal evacuation. 
 
 The fourth stomach and intestines were occasionally filled with 
 coagula of blood. Specimens of ooagula were sent me, but I did 
 not witness a case of the kind. 
 
 4. The Urine. — The urine was opaque, and blaclv, with a crimson 
 reflection. It formed a solid coagulum on boiling. When much 
 ^diluted with water it became of a claret color. Blood-discs were 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1137 
 
 i-arely found in it, but coagula of granular fibrin, a a, plate 3, 
 enclosing debris of blood corpuscles and dark crimson granules, 
 and molded into ca^ts of the tvbuli urirdfen^ were of frequent occur- 
 rence. The dark red coloring matter of the broken-down blood 
 discs was difiused through the urine. 
 
 (5.) The Peritoneal Qavity contained a yellow liquid which 
 owed its tint to a diifused coloration, and was spontaneously coagu- 
 lable on exposure to the air. In one case, where a few drops of 
 blood had been accidentally mingled with it, coagulation continued 
 for two days, and until putrefaction commenced. A fresh gelati- 
 nous clot formed in the liquid as often as it was poured from the 
 coagulum previously formed. This was but one among many 
 interesting physiological phenomena revealed by study of this 
 disease. 
 
 II. THE SOLIDS. 
 
 (1.) The Liver. — The liver was invariably enlarged and con- 
 gested, its surface marked by yellow patches, or of an uniforn*' 
 yellowish discoloration. The surface of section presented yellow 
 spots on a ground of deep congestion. Under a low magnifying 
 power, a thin section presented the appearance represented in plate 
 No. 4. A translucent center of bright yellow was seen in each 
 acinus, «, plate 4, surrounded by an opaque zone, 5, plate 4, of 
 mingled fatty degeneration and 3^ellovv injection. Surrounding 
 each acinus was the fibrous striation of the capsule of Glisson, c, 
 plate 4. Under a power of five hundred diameters, the yellow 
 color of the center of each lobule was seen to be due to the reple- 
 tion of the ultimate biliary radicles, forming a regular net- work 
 between the liver cells, with bright yellow secretion, a, plate 5. 
 About this, and shading into it, was a zone of fatty degeneration, 
 which affected the superficial or portal portion of each lobule. 
 This fatty degeneration was sufficiently marked to render the liver 
 cells opaque, but the nucleus was still visible in many of them. 
 The injection of the reticulum of bile ducts was the most interest^ 
 ing phenomenon presented by the disease, not only on account of 
 the opportunity it afforded of studying an anatomical structure, 
 which has given rise to much discussion among histologists, and 
 concerning which great difference of opinion still exists, and on 
 account of the beauty and perfection of the anatomical demonstra- 
 tion, but owing to the important relation which this phenomenon 
 bore to numerous manifestations of the disease. The cause of the 
 difficulty in determining the mode of origin of the bile ducts, was 
 I'Ag.] 72 
 
1138 Annual Report of New York 
 
 seen to consist in their fragility and intimate association with the 
 liver cells, each cell on being separated from its neighbors carrying 
 with it its portion of biliary reticulum. The delicacy of the mem- 
 brane forming the walls of the reticulum, renders its thorough 
 injection impracticable, and its recognition, when empty, impossible. 
 The brilliant tenacious secretion of the liver in this disease distends 
 and reveals every portion of the biliary channels. The larger 
 ducts between the acini can be recognized in every carefully pre- 
 pared section communicating with the intra - lobular reticulum. 
 Immediately after death, the yellow secretion begins to pass 
 out of the reticulum by exosmose, and to tinge the liver cells with 
 a ditfiised yellow coloration, so that it is difficult to preserve the 
 biliary reticulum for anatomical demonstration. Plate 6 represents 
 the liver cells examined several hours after death. In other speci- 
 mens the injection is more permanent, and I have been enabled to 
 save for demonstration portions of diseased liver which still reveal 
 ■ the most marked phenomenon of the disease. 
 
 The source of the bright yellow coloration of the bile was evi- 
 dently in the hsematoidine (Virchow) of the broken down blood- 
 discs. The coagulating fibrin of the eflEused blood, absorbing this 
 yellow dye, formed the characteristic flocculi of the bile; the same 
 absorbed by the capillaries of the liver gave rise to the yellow 
 flakes circulating with the blood, and found abundantly in the spleen. 
 
 The mucous membrane of the hepatic duct was always of a 
 bright crimson hue. 
 
 In one instance, in which the injection of the reticulum of bile- 
 ducts was most marked and most permanent, there was no fatty 
 degeneration of the enlarged liver, but a waxy appearance. 
 
 (2.) The Kidneys. — The kidneys, in every post mortem that I 
 witnessed, were enlarged, deeply congested, black on the surface 
 and in section, the cut surface giving issue to an abundance of dark 
 blood. The natural distinction of color between cortical and tubular 
 portion was eflfaced. The tubuli uriniferi of both the cortical and tubu- 
 lar portion were rendered opaque by a deposit of granules of fat in 
 their epithelium, and their cavity was occupied, for the most part, by 
 coagula, reddened or blackened by d6bris of blood-corpuscles, and by 
 granules of dark crimson pigment, with occasionally a recognizable 
 blood-disc. Plate No. 7 represents the appearance of the tubuli 
 of the kidney, as affected by the disease. The Malpighian bodies 
 were not affected, but blood was occasionally found effused within 
 their capsule. The tubular presented the same alterations as the 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1139 
 
 cortical portion. In one instance, in which the projecting cones 
 of the tubular portion presented to the unassisted eye a glittering 
 yellow coloration, it was due to rhomboidal plates and stellate 
 crystals of heematoidine. Minute yellow oily drops were occasionally 
 found scattered through the epithelial lining of the tubes. 
 
 An interesting alteration in the effused blood was noted in cases 
 of long duration, and during convalescence. The red pigment 
 within the tubuli was changed into melanine, and black pigment- 
 granules filled the epithelium of the tubuli. The transformation 
 of h^ematoidine into melanine was beyond question. Long after 
 every other morbid character had given place to healthy structure 
 through convalescence, the cortical portion of the kidneys retained 
 the black coloration due to granules of melanine. 
 
 (3.) The Sj^leen. — Increased size and weight of the spleen was 
 an invariable accompaniment of the disease. At the same time 
 the consistence was diminished to such a degree that it gave issue 
 to a soft black pulp on section, in which all trace of structural 
 arrangement was lost. The increased size of the spleen was not 
 due to congestion merely. A remarkable alteration was presented 
 by the nuclear and cellular elements of the parenchyma. The 
 nuclei (nuclear epithelium, Robin), or the same with delicate cellu- 
 lar investmetit, which in the natural state, fill the closed vesicles of 
 the Malpighian bodies and the trabecular interspaces, were replaced 
 by the large cells undergoing fatty degeneration, which have been 
 represented in plate 8. In some instances, yellow flocculi were 
 found free in the splenic pulp; in others, cells filled with black 
 pigment-granules and crystals of h^ematoidine were abundant. The 
 appearance presented in plate 9 always accompanied convalesence. 
 The cellular elements rapidly regained their normal character, but 
 the pulp was filled with minute homogeneous rounded yellow 
 granules, or with spherical or oval aggregations of the same. 
 
 (4.) The mucous membranes of the fourth stomach and intes- 
 tines, and of the urinary and gall bladders presented a diffused 
 redness, with minute petechial spots, in which coagulated blood 
 was found filling the distended capillaries. The epithelia of these 
 membranes presented no marked alteration. The various states of 
 congestion and ulceration in the alimentary canal offered no reve- 
 lations of interest to microscopical study. 
 
 (5.) The muscular system presented a darker coloration than in 
 healthy animals, but under the microscope revealed no alteration 
 in structure. 
 
1140 Annual Report of New York 
 
 (6.) The nervous system was entirely free from discoloration or 
 structural change. 
 
 (7.) The adipose and areolar tissues were tinged by a diffused 
 yellow coloration. Occasional yellow flakes were found in them, 
 and about the kidney, circumscribed extravasations of blood. 
 Beautiful crystals of hsematoidine were found in old extravasations. 
 
 (8.) The lungs were remarkably free from acute disease. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS IN REGARD TO THE PATHOLOGICAL NATURE OF THE 
 
 DISEASE. 
 
 To sum up the results of microscopical investigation, and give 
 the pathological conclusions to which they point, the Texas cattle 
 disease is an acute, infectious, febrile disorder, attended by morbid 
 action of the liver, its most distinctive phenomena being explicable 
 as the results of the hepatic affection. The dissolution of the 
 coloring matter of the blood-corpuscles in the liquor sanguinis, and 
 the hsematuria are consequent upon the entrance of bile into the 
 bloodvessels, in whatever manner efi'ected. In the experiments of 
 Kiihne and Frerichs, the injection of bile or of its salts, into the 
 blood, was followed in the great majority of their experiments, 
 upon the lower animals, by the appearance of blood in the urine. 
 The solvent action of the bile upon the blood-corpuscles, and the 
 consequent liberation of their coloring matter can be readily wit- 
 nessed under the microscope, each disk disappearing suddenly, like 
 a light blown out, and the liquid assuming an orange tint. The blood 
 thus altered in character, becomes liable to extravasation, other 
 haemorrhages than hsematuria being frequent attendants upon 
 attacks of jaundice. 
 
 That bile is mingled with the blood, is proved by the yellow 
 color of the serum, its yellow flocculi, its crystals of cholesterine, 
 by the yellow drops in the epithelium of the tubuli uriniferi, by 
 the yellow granules in the spleen and by the hsematuria. These 
 results cannot follow the mere accumulation in the blood of the 
 constituent elements of bilej the proximate principles of the bile 
 
State Agricultubal Society. 1141 
 
 itself are there found. The liver is excited to excessive secretion, 
 the product of which distends to excess the channels and reservoirs 
 of the bile, and fills the intestines. It is not unusual to find cases of 
 Icterus in man thus accompanied by excessive biliary secretion. 
 
 That the greatest facility exists for admixture of bile with the 
 blood, is shown by the repletion of the reticulum of bile ducts in 
 immediate contact with the capillaries of the liver, as well as by 
 the abundance of bile exposed to absorption by the mucous mem- 
 brane of the intestines. In the experiments of Dr. Randall, under 
 your direction, in which rabbits were fed upon bread soaked in the 
 bile of the Texas disease, death ensued in from one to four weeks, 
 according to the amount of bile consumed. In these experiments 
 the poison was absorbed by the mucous membrane of the alimen- 
 tary canal. The stomach was found ulcerated and containing extra- 
 vasated blood, the liver was softened and fatty, the bile was of a 
 bright claret color, and contained coagula; the kidneys were deeply 
 congested; thus death Avas caused by the absorption of bile, with 
 many of the phenomena of the Texas disease in a chronic form. 
 
 The only alternative to this admission of the vitiation of the 
 blood by bile, is the hypothesis that the destruction of the blood- 
 corpuscles through another agent — that of the infection, for exam- 
 ple — permits an accumulation of hsematoidine, or of the coloring 
 matter of the bile in the blood, beyond the capacity of the liver to 
 remove it. The yellow flocculi of the liquor sanguinis, and the 
 spleen, would, however, be inexplicable on this hypothesis, while 
 their formation through the agency of the liver is manifest. 
 
 Quite early in this investigation my attention was attracted to 
 the existence in the diseased bile of minute vegetable germs, which 
 multiplied abundantly in the various specimens of bile preserved 
 for analysis. They existed in the form of spherical or irregular 
 aggregations of micrococcus (fig. 1, plate 10), the nature of which 
 could be determined only by the employment of the highest powei-s 
 of the microscope, and by studying their development. They were 
 found in fresh blood and bile, but with difficulty. In specimens 
 of bile collected in the evening, they would be found abundantly 
 in the morning; the white color of their aggregations contrasting 
 with the yellow hue of the flocculi of the bile to which they were 
 attached, and from which they seemed to be derived, their abund- 
 ance being such as to preclude the idea of their derivation from 
 any other source than the blood, or the bile itself. A magnifying 
 power of over one thousand diameters and a lens of good penetrat- 
 
1142 Annual Report of New York 
 
 iug power were necessary to their definition. Within a few hours 
 of removal from the body, numerous cryptococcus (or torula) cells, 
 resulting from the development of the former, were found, often 
 containing crimson granules, as represented in fig. 6, Plate 10. Spe- 
 cimens of bile and blood were collected from healthy animals, and 
 carefully examined, but in no instance did the forms described 
 make their appearance. The ordinary attendants on putrefaction 
 were alone descried. Whether these forms of micrococcus and 
 cryptococcus were merely accidental and attendant on a process of 
 fermentation taking place in the bile, or were peculiar to the dis- 
 ease, their presence was an interesting fact, and their nature deserv- 
 ing of careful investigation. Their development was accordingly 
 studied under various conditions. They were planted in solutions 
 of sugar, gum and saliva, which had been boiled in order to destroy 
 whatever germs of a difi'erent nature the solutions might contain, 
 and were kept hermetically sealed at a temperature of 100° 
 Fahrenheit, for several days. The resulting anaerophytic forms 
 (cryptococcus and torula, fig. 4, Plate 10) were planted on slices 
 of apple, etc., and their development was noted, as represented in 
 Plate 10. After a period of two weelis the planted area was found 
 covered with penicillium, as represented in plate No. 12, while the 
 rest of the surface was free from vegetable growth. At the same 
 time cryptococcus guttulatus, from the intestine of a rabbit which 
 had been fed on the morbid bile, was also planted on slices of 
 apple, and the germination, represented in Plate No. 11, noted. 
 This was done for the purpose of comparison merely, cryptococcus 
 guttulatus being constantly found in the rabbit. The cryptococcus 
 from the bile, howevef, manifested very different phenomena, 
 although under precisely similar conditions with the former. After 
 two weeks it had merely increased in quantity, aggregations of 
 spores having been foimed visible to the naked eye, but no fila- 
 ments. 
 
 These forms of micrococcus and cryptococcus are but grades in 
 the life of higher organisms. Thus, Hallier gives the following 
 forms or " morphen " of Achyla Prolifera: 
 
 Ripe, form . . 
 Mould 
 
 jinaerophytic 
 
 Schizosporangium 
 
 jierophytic 
 
 Tilletia caries 
 Oidium lactis 
 
 Sporidesmium 
 Mucor racemosus 
 
 Cladosporium 
 C Penicillium 
 I crustaceum 
 
 I have taken warning from the numerous disappointments of 
 microscopists, whose spores and germs of diseases have sprouted 
 
State Agricultural Society. 114S 
 
 luxuriantly for a while in popular reputation, but have had a mush- 
 room duration only in the annals of science. I am aware that the 
 micrococcus and torula forms of fungi, alike in all, give no evidence 
 of their nature and origin, and that all that can be said respecting 
 those I have had under observation is, that it is possible that these 
 germs, developing luxuriantly in the bile and voided with the faeces, 
 may be the source of the contagion which proves so fatal in the 
 Western pastures where Texas cattle have occupied them in advance 
 of native herds. Whatever may be the bearing of these researches 
 upon the etiology of the disease, they have an abstract interest and 
 value independently of their practical application. 
 
 The fungus origin of zymotic diseases is now conceded by the 
 highest authorities in mycological research, and the Texas fever is 
 one which points with unusual clearness to this mode of propagation. 
 That Texas cattle should communicate the disease while in a state 
 of apparent health, and that Northern cattle dying from the viru- 
 lence of the infection should be, as a rule, incapable of communi- 
 cating it, can be readily understood on the hypothesis that a definite 
 stage or amount of development is required by the organic germs 
 of the contagion before they became capable of giving ofi" the infec- 
 tious spores by which it is propagated. The history of yellow fever 
 shows how complete may be the immunity acquired by acclimation 
 against a virulent form of contagion, and if the disease we have 
 been studying were denominated " bovine yellow fever," no fault 
 could be found with the designation. It is now admitted that per- 
 sons in apparent health may convey the germs of cholera Asiatica 
 from an infected district, their excreta undergoing a kind of fer- 
 mentation through the multiplication of fungus germs, rendering 
 them highly infectious. 
 
 According to recent researches, the different stages in the develop- 
 ment of the same fungus possess very different properties and react 
 very differently upon the human system. Thus the best authorities 
 assert that achorion schcenleini, which is known to be the cause of 
 herpes circinatus and of favus, as I have proved also by my own 
 experiments, is but an oidium form of the same plant, which gives 
 origin to penicillium crustaceuin. If so, what limit can be set to 
 the morbid capabilities of the commonest species of fungus? Their 
 capacity for mischief must be as varied as the conditions of their 
 development. So pliable are these low forms of vegetable life, 
 that their injurious influence upon the human system, and upon the 
 animal organism, need not be sought in their specific character, 
 
1144 Annual Report of New York 
 
 but may be ascribed to a virulence acquired by the circumstances, 
 conditions, direction and degree of their development. This fact 
 has received ample illustration by the researches of Prof. Hallier 
 upon the fungi attendant upon the exanthemata. 
 
 In the hottest period of summer, when the liver is excited to 
 unusual activity, cases presenting many of the features of the Texas 
 disease in cattle are not infrequent in man. They present the saifie 
 fatty degeneration and boxwood discoloration of the liver, the 
 haemorrhages into the stomach and intestines, albuminuria and fatty 
 degeneration of the kidneys, intense jaundice, yellow grumous, but 
 usually scanty biliary secretion, high fever, softening of the spleen; 
 all these characteristics without the suspicion of yellow fever infec- 
 tion. In some of these cases disorder of the liver is the only 
 recognizable cause of a train of symptoms ending in black vomit 
 and death; in others, Bright's disease of the kidneys is the basis 
 upon which these symptoms are engrafted. In these cases and fn 
 yellow fever, an acute cholasmia or admixture of bile with the blood 
 is the most decided of all the pathological phenomena. The group 
 of symptoms and lesions in the Texas disease is therefore well 
 established, and corresponds to the action of a not unusual combi- 
 nation of causes, as well as to that of the yellow fever miasm. 
 The application of the term yellow fever to the Texas disease of 
 cattle, is warranted both by its pathological characteristics, and by 
 the source of the contagion. From examination of the liver of 
 yellow fever, I am confident that the same injection of the biliary 
 radicles would be found as in the Texas disease, could the liver of 
 the former be obtained under the same conditions that revealed that 
 structure in the latter. 
 
 The pathological alteration in the liver of yellow fever is not a 
 fatty degeneration merely, as is often asserted. The boxwood color 
 can be derived from the biliary secretion only, and the liver of the 
 Texas disease, and that of yellow fever, present precisely the same 
 appearance when examined a number of hours after death. The 
 yellow coloration in the Texas disease is undoubtedly due to an 
 admixture of blood with the bile at its source, or to a superabund- 
 ance of haematoidine from broken down blood-corpuscles in that 
 secretion, and such may be considered the cause of the peculiar 
 yellow coloration in whatever disease it may be found. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1145 
 
 Description of Plates of Microscopic Anatomy. 
 
 Plate No. 1. a, a, Normal blood discs, h, b, Shriveled and crenated blood- 
 corpuscles of the diseased blood, c, c, Flocculi from liquor sanguinis, d, A 
 crystal of cholesterine ( i) from serum. (1,000 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 2. Bile, a, a, Yellow granular flocculi of bile, b, A cast of a 
 branch of hepatic duct, c, c, Crystals of hasmatoidine. (500 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 3. Urine, a, a, Casts of tubuli uriniferi, consisting of coagulated 
 blood, b, Element of epithelium, c, c, Blood discs. (500 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 4. Section of the liver. (50 diameters.) a, a, Yellow translucent 
 center of acini, b, b. An opaque zone of mingled fatty degeneration and yellow 
 discoloration, c, Capsule of Glisson between acini. 
 
 Plate No. 4k- Appearance of a fragment of liver, a, a. Portions of retic- 
 ulum of bile ducts, b, b, Hepatic cells, filled with granules of fat. (400 
 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 5. Reticulum of bile ducts within an acinus injected with the yellow 
 tenacious bile peculiar to the disease, a, Reticulum, b, b, Hepatic cells con- 
 taining globules of fat. c, A separate hepatic cell with its portions of reticulum. 
 (500 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 6. Liver cells several hours after death. The coloring matter has 
 passed from the reticulum into the cells, a, Nuclei, b, Globules of fat. (1,000 
 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 7. Kidney, a, a. Tubuli uriniferi of kidney (their epithelium 
 filled with granules of fat), containing extravasated blood, b, Fragment of epi- 
 thelium. 
 
 Plate No. 8. Spleen cells and nuclei of splenic pulp, a, Normal element of 
 nuclear epithelium, b, b, The same enlarged, their nuclei filled with granules 
 of fat. c, c, Cells containing colored corpuscles, like blood-discs. (1,000 
 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 9. Elements of splenic pulp during convalescence. The cells are 
 regaining their natural size, a, a, Homogeneous yellow granules, b, b, Aggre- 
 gations of the same, c, A muscular fiber-cell, d, Element of nuclear epithelium 
 regaining its normal size, e. Element of epithelium filled with granules of fat. 
 f, Blood discs. (1,000 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 10. Micrococcus found in bile and blood. 1. Appearance in fresh 
 bile. 2, 3 and 4. Development of No. 1 in bile. 6. A variety of cryptococcus 
 containing crimson granules from bile. 5, 7 and 11. Development of cryptococcus 
 planted on a slice of apple ; formation of filaments. (1,500 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 11. a, a, Cryptococcus guttulatus from intestine of rabbit, b, b, 
 Development of the same when planted on a slice of apple. (1,500 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 12. Development of cryptococcus from bile on a slice of apple. 
 Penicillium. (1,500 diameters.) 
 
 Plate No. 13. Crystals of hsematoidine from diseased kidney — the same 
 existed in extravasations of blood into the cellular tissue surrounding the kidney. 
 (1,000 diameters.) 
 
1146 Annual Report of New York 
 
 [Note. — The interest that has been awakened by the announcement 
 of the first results reached in this line of investigation by Dr. 
 Stiles, is reasonable, and the importance of the ultimate truths and 
 results to which it relates, warrants the continuance of this investi- 
 gation. The following communications which Prof. Hallier sends to 
 us from Jena, present the first results he has reached, and fully sub- 
 stantiate the conclusions previously reached by Dr. Stiles. As such 
 elements of useful knowledge grow best by accretion and criticism, 
 none of them should be withheld from publication. The litho- 
 graphed figures upon the opposite page, are fac shniles of Prof. 
 Hallier's penciled sketches. In the course of correspondence, this 
 renowned Mycologist of the University of Jena, Prof. Hallier, early 
 in October last, made the following statement to us: 
 
 I scarcely know of anybody "whom I might entrust with scrutinies of such 
 importance as those mentioned in your letter. ***** ^he 
 method of cultivating these small plants, I discovered by very hard work, by a 
 gi'eat number of researches continued through years, and now I believe myself 
 able to discover the origin of every vegetable cell found in the human or animal 
 
 ********** 
 If you can send to me bile and blood of the infected cattle, I hope I shall be able 
 to find out the origin of the cryptococci or micrococci. * * * * 
 
 With my best regards, 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 (Signed) E. HALLIER. 
 
 In his second communication. Prof. Hallier writes as follows: 
 
 Jena, December 5th, 1868 
 To Elisha Harris, M. D., etc., etc.: 
 
 Sir — I am very greatly indebted to you for sending to me a vial filled with bile 
 of the infected cattle. I received it safely on the 22d of last month. I immedi- 
 ately examined the contents of the vial, and found two different kinds of vegetable 
 cells. 
 
 (1.) Micrococcus (of some kind of fungus) in large masses, many of them single 
 and globular (a), others single and long shaped (b), forming mycothrix chains 
 (mycothrix ketten), others in a state of division (c), and sometimes forming large 
 or small colonies (d), (micrococcus kolonin). 
 
 (2.) Cells of much larger dimensions, and of the shape of crj^ptococcus, or 
 rather, intermediate between cryptococcus and arthrococcus, most of them sprout- 
 ing like true cryptococcus, but sometimes dividing and forming two equal limbs . 
 
 After this examination, I began a series of cultivations with the vegetable (micro- 
 coccus) cells. 
 
 (1.) Cultivation upon an object glass (without a covering glass). The food 
 provided for the fungus was composed of boiled spring water, a portion of starch, 
 sugar, and an equal portion of phosphate of ammonium (phosphorsaure ammo- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1147 
 
 niak). The object glass was put into a culture apparatus (Hallier, Griihrungs 
 erschcinungen, p. 13, fig. 3). In this apparatus in my room, at a temperature of 
 20° centigrade,* the micrococcus was in rapid augmentation on the 24th of Novem- 
 ber.! 
 
 The micrococci were swelling and forming the larger cryptococcus-like cells. In 
 the first days of December, many of the larger cells germinated and formed long 
 filaments with many branches, and of a brownish color. 
 
 Similar results I have obtained in other cultivations. 
 
 (2.) Cultivation on a lemon (deprived of its shell) in a similar apparatus. 
 
 The micrococcus forms large cells in the same manner as in the first cultivation 
 (December 3d). 
 
 On many spots the micrococcus is augmenting to such a degree as to form large 
 colonies. Near the outline of these lobular colonies the micrococci swell and 
 become large cells of the same kind. In a few days the colonies only consist of these 
 cryptococcus-like cells. These colonies become rather hard, and at last have a 
 diameter of 0.001 m — 0.002 m. They are of a white color, and have the appear- 
 ance, and, according to my opinion, even the function of a sclerotium. As soon as 
 the sclerotium is formed, all the cells in it germinate in the same manner as the 
 single cells. Of course, they form great masses of filaments, or rather forests of 
 filaments, as seen in figure 7, with a low power of the microscope. The filaments 
 are of the same size and shape as in the first cultivation. In the midst of the fit tie 
 forest they form much larger cells, or rather fruits of that kind, which I called 
 " Schizosporangia," divided by sheetsf in one, two or three directions. 
 
 As you may see by looking at these few figures (No. 8), the shape of the schizos- 
 porangia is very various. The schizosporangia have the utmost resemblance to 
 those whose micrococcus I discovered in the blood of the glanders of horses, and 
 also in syphilis. Only look at the figures Nos, 11, 18 and 21. 
 
 On the upper surface of the sclerotia are forests of filaments, and these filaments 
 never form schizosporangia, but a cladosporium fruit (see No. 9), also similar to a 
 correspondent form of the glanders and syphilis fungus. As soon as the soil begins 
 fermentation, the cladosporium branches alter and take the form of the same peni- 
 ciUium, which I met with in the syphilis exploration (Figs. 12 and 13.) It is 
 possible that our fungus is no other than the " coniothecium syphiliticum," whose 
 origin till now is unloiown. * * * -^g ^^j^ ^j. ^y^^ conclusion of 
 
 the diflFerent cultivations. These are: 
 
 (3.) Cultivation on the surface of a cork, disinfected by submersion in alcohol 
 for an hour. Till now the result is the formation of the same sclerotia, and just 
 now the cells of them begin to germinate. 
 
 (4.) Cultivation on the surface of a potato (the skin cut ofi"). Till now only 
 vast augmentation of the micrococci. 
 
 (5.) Cultivation in a solution of sugar and phosphate of ammonium. (The 
 apparatus I have not yet opened.) 
 
 (6.) Cultivation on albumen of eggs, with a small portion of sugar solution. 
 Great apparatus (Grosser isolation apparatus) [Gahrungserscheinungen, p. 14, 
 Fig. 2.] This cultivation has the purpose of discovering the type form (anserophy- 
 tische morphe§) of the fungus, and may require two months' time. 
 
 •68° Fahrenheit scale.— E. H. 
 
 ■j- The second day after Prof. Hallier's reception of this specimen from New York. 
 
 J Partition faces. 
 
 § Anserophytic form or mode. — E. H. 
 
1148 Annual Report of New York 
 
 I have already succeeded in discovering three forms of the fungus : 
 
 1. Schizosporangium. 
 
 2. ^rophytic spores (ripe), mature. 
 
 8. ^rophytic spores (unripe), immature or " mold " form. 
 There still must be discovered three other forms : 
 
 1. The unripe form of the schizosporangia (mucor or mold). 
 
 2. The anserophytic spores (ripe). 
 
 3. The anaerophytic spores (unripe), oidium form. 
 
 As soon as I succeed in getting any more results I shall write to you. I hope 
 you still succeed in getting the same forms in your cultivations. # * * 
 
 With my best regards, Most faithfully yours, 
 
 (Signed) ERNST HALLIER. 
 
 Manifestly, it is not a common and familiar form of oidium or 
 penicellmm that Dr. Stiles and Prof, Hallier have been studying, 
 or they would quickly have recognized and named these beautiful 
 fungi. The fact is instructive, that in the cool weather of October 
 we were able to send a specimen of the infected bile from New 
 York to Jena — four thousand miles — without change, and with the 
 spores alive, and evincing all the capabilities of higher develop- 
 ment into plant-like forms. 
 
 It is not the present habit of science to depend upon hypothesis, 
 because true knowledge patiently awaits demonstrations and abso- 
 lute facts; but every reader of Prof. Hallier's letter and Dr. Stiles' 
 report concerning this parasite will not fail to remark how per- 
 sistent and enduring is its own vitality. It survives and flourishes 
 for months after being taken from the gall bladder and the blood 
 of the infected bullock; and there is reason to believe that it would 
 live and grow in muddy streams on various kinds of algae. It is cer- 
 tainly an interesting and suggestive fact that, so far as the researches 
 of Dr. Stiles and Prof. Hallier have extended (to date of this report), 
 the type of fungus which they have found developed from these 
 spores is one that finds its home in the carex, the lolium, and the 
 wheat-like or tilletia grasses. Whatever results may be attained in 
 the researches now in progress, including the examination of grasses, 
 the cultivation of the fungus upon them and in fluids, as well as 
 the study of the development of the fungus in its several stages, 
 will be equally interesting to herd-farmers and to hygienists. The 
 results, whatever they may be, shall be given to the public through 
 the proper channels. E. H.] 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1149 
 
 [Note — After the manuscript for this report had been delivered 
 to the Board of Health, and arranged for the printer, the follow- 
 ing communication was received January 11th, from Professor 
 Hallier: 
 
 Jena, December ISth, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir — To-day I can give you the results of my cultivations of the fungus 
 which you sent to me. As I mentioned in my last letter to you, the fungus of 
 "which the micrococci and the cryptococcus-like cells take their origin, is a species 
 of the genus coniothecium. This form of coniothecium is the true brande form 
 (anaerophytische morphe) of the fungus, growing only in the interior of the strata, 
 or at least not under the iniiuence of the open air. You get it best by cultivating 
 the bile on a lemon deprived of the exterior portion of the pericarpium. 
 
 The germinating cells of the fungus form, on most parts of the lemon covering, 
 the penicillium form of which resembles very much the penicillium syphiliticum: 
 On the dryer spots of the lemon you will see filthy masses of a dark greenish 
 color. If you put these masses upon the object-glass, and put a drop of caustic 
 potassa to it, you will very clearly see the coniothecium fruits surrounded by many 
 filaments of ripe cladosporium with long spore chains. 
 
 Upon dry vegetable matters, like disinfected cork or potatoes, I have seen the 
 cells of the fungus (spores) germinating in the same manner as on the lemon ; but 
 instead of the coniothecium (in every one of my cultivations of these spores), the 
 filaments bore the true schizosporangia of which the following figures give you an 
 idea.* The schizosporangia are formed on the ends of brandies, not interstitial 
 like the coniothecium. The fruits are of very different forms, and of a dark brown 
 color ; they are scarcely to be seen by the naked eye, but with a lens you see black 
 spots on the cork or potato, and these spots are covered with fruit-bearing fila- 
 ments. On the potato the schizosporangiae occasionally do not ripen, and in this 
 case, if the potato is moist, the unripe or mucor-form appears. (See c, c.) 
 
 Notwithstanding the great similarity of the coniothecium syphiliticum and the 
 species here described, they are entirely different. I tried to cultivate the syphilitis 
 fungus at the same time (on the same days that I was cultivating the spores from 
 diseased cattle), and upon the same substances, but never got the schizosporangia 
 under the same circumstances as those observed in the cultivation of the fungus 
 fi-om the infected cattle in America. Our coniothecium from the bile of the infected 
 animals was unknown till now, and for this reason, allow me to give it the name 
 of Coniothecium Stilesiarium, in honor of the first discoverer of the parasite vege- 
 table-cells in the blood and bile of the infected cattle. 
 
 Of this coniothecium, we have now succeeded in getting all the ripe (mature) 
 and unripe (immature) forms. 
 
 • See plate 33, figs. 4 (b), 7, 12 and IS. 
 
1150 Anxual Report of New York 
 
 1. Type-form (anserophytic spores) ^ 2. Schizosporangia (Septosporium, ac- 
 [ ripe ] Coniothecium Stilesiarium.* > cording to the ancient system) Mucor 
 [ unripe ] Oidium-like filaments.! ) Coniothecii Stilesiani. 
 
 3. Aerophytic form : [ripe], Clodosporium ; [unripe], Oidium-like filaments 
 (according to the system, Coniothecium Stilesiarium). 
 
 Perhaps you may succeed in finding out the places where this coniothecium grotcs 
 in nature. At all events, it is a parasitical fungus, groioing on plants, and to be 
 looked for in the food of the wild bullocks. I began a new series of cultivations a 
 few days ago, and if the results in any point are different from the first cultivations, 
 I shall write to you another time about this matter. With my best compliments 
 to Prof. Stiles, I remain 
 
 Most respectfully yours, 
 
 ERNST HALLIER. 
 Db. E. HabriSj Metropolitan Board of Health, New York.} 
 
 * See plate 33, figs. 4 (b), 7, 12 and 13. 
 t See plate 33, fig. 4 (a). 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1151 
 
 n PEOF. CHANDLER'S REPORT UPON HIS CHEMICAL 
 INVESTIGATIONS. 
 
 School of Mines, Coluimbia College, 
 
 New Yoek, December 1st, 1868. 
 To E. Harris, M. D.: 
 
 Dear Sir — I have the honor to report, herewith, the results of 
 my investigations of the blood, bile, etc., of diseased cattle, which 
 you have sent to me from time to time. The analyses are as accu- 
 rate as can be expected of such comj)lex and putrescent fluids, 
 during the warm summer months. The first samples spoiled on our 
 hands, so that the analyses could not be completed. 
 
 I avail myself of this opportunity to call your attention to the 
 valuable services of my assistants, Dr. Paul Schwitzer, Mr. F. A. 
 Cairns, and M. D. Wheeler, Jr., A. M., E. M., who have been my 
 co-laborers in this investigation. 
 
 Eesj)ectfully yours, 
 
 C. F. CHANDLER, Ph, D. 
 
1152 
 
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State Agricultural Society. 
 SERUM FROM ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 
 
 1153 
 
 DATE. 
 
 Water. 
 
 Solids. 
 
 Fibrin, 
 
 Blood 
 Cor- 
 puscles 
 
 Albu- 
 men. 
 
 Fat. 
 
 Extract- 
 ive mat- 
 ter. 
 
 Salts. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Aug. 30 
 Sept. 4 
 Sept. 9 
 Oct. 11 
 
 940.8 
 963.8 
 787.7 
 815.6 
 
 59.2 
 
 36.2 
 229.9 
 184.4 
 
 7.7 
 
 
 40.6 
 
 27.9 
 
 157.6 
 
 IfiS fi— 
 
 "h'.K 
 
 3.1 
 
 5.9 
 
 7.8 
 
 2.0 
 
 39.1 
 
 7.4 
 
 1000.0 
 
 1000.0 
 
 ,1007.6 
 
 1005 4 
 
 10.7 
 9.3 
 
 21.9 
 
 
 
 
 THE BILE. 
 
 DATE. 
 
 Water. 
 
 Solids. 
 
 Specific 
 gravity. 
 
 Fats. 
 
 Mucus. 
 
 Chelates 
 etc. 
 
 Salts. 
 
 Total. 
 
 August 26 
 Sept... 4 
 Sept... 4 
 Sept... 9 
 Sept... 11 
 Sept... 14 
 Sept... 25 
 October 1 
 October 12 
 
 928.7 
 941.9 
 920.2 
 915.5 
 944.8 
 886.9 
 865.4 
 883.5 
 842.1 
 
 71.3 
 
 58.1 
 
 79.8 
 
 80.5 
 
 55.2 
 
 113.1 
 
 134.6 
 
 116.5 
 
 157.9 
 
 
 2.15 
 2.44 
 
 6.37 
 1.51 
 
 62.8 
 54.1 
 
 'ii'.46* 
 'i4!76" 
 
 13.10 
 13.70 
 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 
 'ioieio* 
 *i63o!5' 
 
 1043.4 
 1053.6 
 
 3.16 
 
 11. IC 
 
 66.2 
 
 1.04 
 
 17.05 
 
 94.9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE URINE. 
 
 DATE. 
 
 Water. 
 
 Solids. 
 
 Specific 
 gravity. 
 
 Albu- 
 men. 
 
 Salts. 
 
 Bile. 
 
 Reaction. 
 
 Total. 
 
 ' 
 
 932^5 
 974.5 
 953.5 
 
 67^5 
 25.5 
 46.5 
 
 1028.0 
 1027.0 
 1014.0 
 1030.1 
 
 none 
 
 42.90 
 
 7.90 
 
 0.06 
 
 "5!9' 
 
 2.7 
 0.7 
 
 none 
 none 
 none 
 none 
 
 alkaline 
 alkaline 
 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 
 Sept... 9 
 Sept... 11 
 Oct.... 11 
 
 THE LIVER. 
 
 DATE. 
 
 Water. 
 
 Solids. 
 
 Fats. 
 
 Salts. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 October 11 
 
 740.5 
 766.8 
 773.1 
 707.1 
 
 259.5 
 233.2 
 226.9 
 292.9 
 
 62.5 
 66.1 
 90.1 
 88.6 
 
 41.1 
 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 1000 
 
 
 October 11 
 
 Large lobe. 
 Small lobe. 
 
 October 11 
 
 October 23 
 
 
 
 [AG.] 
 
 73 
 
1154 Annual Report of New York 
 
 VII. TITLES AND DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 
 
 Plate I. ' 
 
 : Appearance of animals in the acute or obvious stage of the Texas cattle disease. 
 
 Fig. 1. Sliowing the feeble animal supporting himself by locking his horns in a 
 fence ; back arched, hind legs wide apart, throwing the weight of the body forward, 
 taU retracted, and ears drooping. 
 
 Figs. 2 and 3. Showing the drooping head, protruded tongue, arched back and 
 yielding hind-quarters. 
 
 Fig. 4. The fallen animal in the last stages of the disease preventing himself 
 from rolling on his side, by twisting his head spasmodically in the opposite direc- 
 tion. 
 
 Plate II. 
 
 Carcass of a bullock in the last stage of the Texas cattle disease laid open, in 
 order to show the color of the muscular and adipose tissues. [This is a sketch of 
 one of Mr. Thomas' herd from Indiana.] 
 
 Plate III. 
 
 Sections of mucous membrane of abomasum, showing ulceration and intense con- 
 gestion. 
 
 Fig. 1. Pyloric portion of abomasum showing erosions of the surface covered 
 with blood, blackened by the action of the secretions of the stomach. 
 
 Fig. 2. Section of a folding portion of another rennet stomach, showing a more, 
 chronic ulceration, and a higher grade of surrounding inflammation. 
 
 Fig. 3. Folding portion of abomasum showing chroaic erosions and intense con- 
 gestion. 
 
 These three figures are taken from Texas cattle. 
 
 Plate IV. 
 Omasum and abomasum showing slight congestion of the layers of the former,; 
 and intense inflammation of the folds of the latter. 
 
 a. Omasum ; b, layers or maniplies ; c, abomasum ; d, small intestine. 
 
 Plate V. 
 Pyloric portion of abomasum and commencement of small intestine, showing 
 inflammation and ulceration of mucous membrane of the former. 
 
 Plate VI. 
 Sections of pyloric portion of abomasum, showing congestion and ulceration. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1155 
 
 Plate VII. 
 The fourth stomach, showing congestion and deep blackened erosions. 
 
 Plate VIII. 
 Accidental ulcer of upper lip and portion of rectum 
 Fig. 1. a. Ulcer of upper lip; h, b, rami of lower jaw. 
 
 Fig. 2. a. Mucous membrane of rectum, its longitudinal folds inflamed and 
 covered with minute extravasations ; h, b, adipose tissue. 
 
 Plate IX- 
 
 Mucous membrane of coecum and sections of abomasum showing hypertrophy 
 of the follicles. 
 
 Fig. I. Mucous membrane of coecum, presenting patches and striations of 
 congestion and extravasation of blood. 
 
 Figs. 2 and 3. Sections of mucous membrane of folds of abomasum showing 
 the closed follicles enlarged and prominent on a surface of congestion. 
 
 Plate X. 
 Bladder everted, mucous membrane covered with petechise and extravasations. 
 a, Urethral portion inflammed and oedematous; b, fundus marked by deeper 
 congestion and larger extravasations. 
 
 Plate XI. 
 Sections of inflamed duodenum and rectum. 
 
 Fig. 1. Mucous membrane of duodenum intensely congested and cedematous. 
 Fig. 2. Mucous membrane of rectum intensely inflamed, its longitudinal rugas 
 cedematous commencing gangrene. 
 
 Plate XII. 
 
 Sections of mucous membrane of abomasum inflamed, and recovering from 
 sloughs, &e. 
 
 Fig. 1. Mucous membrane inflamed and covered with blood that has been extra- 
 vasated upon the surface, and blackened by the gastric secretions. 
 
 Fig. 2. Mucous membrane of abomasum of a Texan highly inflamed, the edges 
 of its folds sloughed and thickened. 
 
 Plate XIII. 
 Pyloric portion of abomasum showing extensive slough. 
 
 Plate XIV. 
 
 Sections of mucous membrane of ileumj showing congestion of longitudinal and 
 tranverse folds. 
 
 Plate XV. • 
 
 Mucous membrane of omasum, abomasum and bladder ; intense congestion and 
 petechial extravasation. 
 
 Fig. 1. Mucous membrane of omasum, with ecehymosis and papillary projections. 
 
 Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Mucous membrane of small intestine reddened by congestion. 
 
 Fig. 5. Bladder in miniature, showing petechia on a ground of diffused conges- 
 tion and extravasation, a, Urethra. 
 
 Fig. 6. Mucous membrane of No. 5, on natural scale, appearance of petechias. 
 
1156 Annual Report of New York 
 
 Plate XVI. 
 
 Posterior surface of liver atid gall bladder (reduced in size), showing distended 
 gall bladder. 
 
 Plate XVII. 
 
 Appearance of enlarged and distorted liver; diaphragmatic surface (weight 23 
 pounds. 
 
 a. Section showing color of parenchyma immediately upon being cut. 
 
 Platr XVIII. 
 
 Spleen entire, reduced, and sections. 
 
 Fig. 1. Spleen (reduced) showing the mottled greenish color of the peritoneal 
 surface. 
 
 Fig. 2. Section of spleen (natural scale) and actual appearance of the surface. 
 
 Fig. 3. Portion of spleen of another animal, showing congestion of capsule, and 
 gashed to show the pulp. 
 
 Plate XIX. 
 
 Kidney laid open, in order to disclose the interior congestion and discoloration, 
 and showing cortical portion, tubular portion, and pelvis with surrounding fat; aU 
 these parts blackened and intense congestion. 
 
 Plate XX. 
 Kidneys entire (reduced) in different stages of congestion. 
 Fig. 1. Same animal as Plate XVII. 
 
 Plate XXI. 
 Section of pyloric portion of abomasum, several weeks convalescent, and of 
 rectum, showing congestion and ulceration. 
 
 Plate XXII. 
 A congested and ulcerated abomasum. 
 
 Plate XXIII. 
 
 Sections of skin, liver and spleen. 
 
 Fig. 1. Portion of skin shaved, in order to show its jaundiced hue. 
 
 Fig. 2. Fragment of liver showing color of surface, and the ramifications of the 
 distended biliary ducts. 
 
 Fig. 3. Portion of spleen showing congestion of superficial blood vessels and 
 coloration of parenchyma. 
 
 Plates illustrating the microscopical researches, seven in number, already 
 described. Plate XXXII illustrates Prof. Hallier's study of the fungus parasite 
 of the blood and bile in the cattle disease. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1157 
 
 ym. WITH WHAT WELL DESCRIBED DISEASES IS 
 THIS TEXAS CATTLE DISEASE ALLIED ! 
 
 Having alluded to the fact that the first groups of the diseased 
 animals that arrived at the Metropolitan herd yards exhibited 
 sjmaptoms which led us to believe that the malady perhaps belonged 
 to the brood of contagions known as anthrax fevers, some pains 
 have been taken to inquire carefully into its chiaf points of resem- 
 blance and difference, compared with those fevers, and with the 
 milzbrand and kindred disorders which prevail on the continent of 
 Europe. 
 
 The very first dissections that were made clearly demonstrated 
 that it was not the intestinal typhus, for the small intestines were 
 in no cases marked by any of the lesions of typhoid enteritis which 
 is prevalent in the lowlands of Holland, Belgium and Hungary. 
 Considered in regard to all the phenomena and pathological changes 
 noticed in the first two groups of diseased cattle, this disease seemed 
 to require a description that had hitherto not been given in any 
 treatise on epizootics. From the Western newspapers the fact was 
 learned, that Prof. Gamgee and others regarded it as similar to the 
 "darn" of Aberdeenshire. Prof. Liautard, with whom we fre- 
 quently conferred during the autumn, did not attempt to give any 
 name to the disease. The same was true of Prof. James Law, the 
 accomplished professor of veterinary science at the Cornell Univer- 
 sity, Ithaca,. N. Y., whose attendance we had the good fortune to 
 secure at one of the last post mortem examinations made at the 
 National drove yards, One Hundredth street The latter gentle- 
 man has, with characteristic thoughtfulness, kindly forwarded to 
 us the subjoined communication relating to the points we are here 
 examining: 
 
 The " darn" as seen by us in Great Britain [Prof. Law is a native of Scotland] 
 is usually a very mild affection. Its cause is agreed on all hands to be the inges- 
 tion of irritant, resinous and astringent plants, as its common names — in England, 
 
1158 Annual Report of New York 
 
 wood-evil ; in Germany, holzkrankheit ; and in France, maladie de bois — would 
 indicate. The symptoms are those of intestinal irritation, the colicy pains being 
 often severe, with constipation ; the faeces, if passed, being coated with mucus or 
 even blood, and in bad cases forming a tarry mass evidently due to altered and 
 effused blood The urine, red or black, contains large quantities of blood-coloring 
 matter and albumen. 
 
 If seen in the early stages, measures directed to the obtaining of free evacuations 
 from the bowels are almost always followed by a speedy restoration to health, so 
 that I have never seen a fatal case. 
 
 It is worthy of note, that it often prevails on the same lands with the anthrax 
 or carbuncular affections, and appears then to be complicated by this disease, or 
 modified by a similar cause. Roll, of Vienna, says there will sometimes appear 
 " a gelatinous exudation into the sub-cutaneous areolar tissue, and extravasation 
 beneath the serous membranes, showing a complication with anthrax. The malady 
 begins with the appearance of gastro-enteritis, accompanied by renal irritation, 
 scanty, red or bloody urine, great sensibility of the loins and intense fever, mucous 
 and bloody fgeces, foetid and bitter milk, with not unfrequently spasms or convul- 
 sions. The complication with splenic apoplexy (milzbrand) is seen, and may be 
 shown by swelling and emphysema on the surface of the body." 
 
 Hering and others speak in analogous terms, indicating its close connection with 
 the anthrax affections, though whether only as a complication or a full develop- 
 ment of the original affection, is open to question. Our English form rarely 
 assumes this aggravated type, and seems quite wanting in the malignant proper- 
 ties of carbuncular fevers, having, moreover, no specific virus like these latter. 
 I ought to add, however, that in those European cases that prove so fatal, the 
 autopsy shows points of resemblance to the Texas fever. Hering says there is 
 '' inflammation and petechial patches in the stomach and intestines, the ingesta is 
 dried, the mucous membrane cedematous, the liver and spleen enlarged, sometimes 
 even to rupture ; the gall bladder distended, the kidneys contracted, a turbid effu- 
 sion in the thorax, inflammation and petechige in the pulmonary organs, and a 
 jelly-like effusion into the cellular tissue." 
 
 The accounts, however, are too meagre, and as you will notice, the means avail- 
 able in the present day have not been brought into requisition in the case of these 
 diseases, so as to furnish data sufl5ciently numerous and accurate for purposes of 
 comparison. 
 
 I have already mentioned to you the general similarity of the Texas fever and 
 the carbuncular fevers of Europe. I mentioned 'that one great distinguishing 
 feature of the former was the absence of bacteria in the blood, though as these have 
 been found in the blood of animals suffering from influenza and other affections, 
 attended with a typhus diathesis, their presence is probably not an essential 
 condition of the disease. What leads me to make special reference to this again, 
 is the statement by Davaino, in his communication read before the j^cademie de 
 Medicine (July 27th, 1860), that in addition to bacteria, the blood of anthrax 
 patients contained special globular elements. " Globules, of a peculiar kind, are 
 sometimes found ; they are regularly rounded off", and larger than the normal white 
 globules, of which they have the appearance. They are united in small clusters 
 in great abundance, and are composed of an outer cell of a bulbous appearance, 
 reflecting in some a violet tint. In the center of this cell there are found several 
 nuclei, the double outline of which is well marked. In some, these nuclei have 
 degenerated into the sandy or granulous form, peculiar to the nuclei which are pro- 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1159 
 
 duced by fission, so that evidently we have under our eye an alteration of the 
 elements, which are in a fair way of multiplication." 
 
 This spore cell production I had altogether overlooked ; but now the question 
 arises :. May not this be the same microphyte as you have so admirably shown in 
 the blood of Texas fever, or, what would probably amount to much the same thing, 
 a fungus, which demands much the same condition of blood for its development ? 
 The want of any testimony to its presence in the bile, and the ignorance concerning 
 the special action of the bile in breaking up the blood globules, affords no pre- 
 sumptive evidence of the non-existence of these conditions, since the presumption 
 is that no test was applied. 
 
 In contagious properties, again, they agree in some remarkable points. The 
 carbuncular fevers are inoculable, and usually contagious, but the contagium is 
 rarely or never conveyed through any other medium than the blood, tissues and 
 discharges of the diseased animals — rarely showing what the French call a vivius 
 volatil — and evidently requiring some, not well defined conditions, for its trans- 
 taission ; hence, in many cases — indeed, the majority of cases in Great Britain — it 
 gives no evidence of a contagium unless inoculation is resorted to. * * * 
 
 With much esteem. 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 (Signed) JAMES LAW. 
 
 To E. Harris, M. D., Metropolitan Board of Health. 
 
 Plainly enough, it Avill be easy for European medical observers 
 of milzbrancl, and the whole group of ailthracoid diseases of cattle, 
 to ascertain whether these destructive maladies which they witness^ 
 are or are not similar to the Texas cattle disease. Prof. Virchow^ 
 of Berlin, Dr. William Budd, of Bristol, and the ablest pathologists 
 in Europe, think they are able to trace a direct relation between the 
 carbuncular or anthracoid fevers of domestic cattle and the malig- 
 nant pustule in man. Such a relation is now admitted to be the 
 source of this terribly fatal malady. But in reference to the Texas 
 cattle disease, the fact seems well established that it does not pro- 
 duce malignant pustule, and that while it corresponds with the 
 destructive epizootic fevers which Professor Law has carefully 
 described in the foregoing letter, it nevertheless seems to differ in 
 some essential points from them. It is highly desirable that all 
 the anthracic or carbuncular fevers should be studied with the same 
 care and exactness as the Texas fever. Professor Law'^s statement 
 concerning the actual analogy between the milzbrand, of Europe,, 
 and the Texas fever, are eminently suggestive; and we feel greatly 
 obliged to that learned writer for this valuable contribution from 
 his pen. It may yet be found that the marshes of Hungary and 
 the swamps of the Vistula occasionally produce a disease quite- 
 similar to the Texas cattle fever. 
 
1160 Annual Report of New York 
 
 IX. FACTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS ADDED TO PHYSIO- 
 LOGICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 First. — Hie demonstration of the rapid dissolution of the red 
 hlood-globules in the last stage of the disease and immediately after 
 death. This was plainly true in the first cases examined by Dr. 
 Stiles; and on the 10th of August, he remarked that after the 
 blood, flowing from the carotids of infected bullocks, had stood for 
 a few hours in stoppered vials, scarcely a trace of blood-globules 
 could be found, excepting such broken and shrivelled as he has 
 described in the first plate of his microscopy of the blood. And, 
 while experimenting with a solution of the morbid bile from the 
 same diseased bullocks, Dr. Stiles noticed the fact that the red 
 globules of the blood were swept into solution almost as suddenly 
 as snow flakes would be when falling into water. 
 
 Second. — Facts connected with the ultimate reticulum of biliary 
 ducts and the morbid cha-nges in the liver and bile. The discovery 
 that was made by Dr. Stiles (when working in the field with the 
 microscope, on the 13th of August), of the reticulated structure 
 and distribution of the ultimate biliary ducts of the liver, not only 
 added a fact of great interest and importance in progressive physio- 
 logical knowledge, but this discovery was ,from the first associated 
 with pathological conditions, the later studies and better under- 
 standing of which have led to comprehensive, exact and highly 
 important practical conclusions in regard to symptoms and patho- 
 logical changes which had hitherto been most important, but at the 
 same time most difficult, if not impossible, to understand. We 
 refer to the mechanical and pathological conditions which in thit' 
 disease manifestly produce cholsemia, and to certain demonstrations 
 here alluded to concerning the morbid condition and destructive 
 efiects of the bile as witnessed in this disease. The studies which 
 Frerichs and other high authorities have given to this class of facts 
 without such means of demonstrations, have been corroborated 
 
State Aqricxiltural Society. 1161 
 
 and placed upon a more definite practical footing by the results of 
 these researches. 
 
 Third. — TJie demonstration of consecutive jpathological changes, 
 and of their relations to the fatal result. No other pestilential or 
 febrile disease, whether epidemic or epizootic, has furnished to 
 medical observers such a complete and consecutive series of demon- 
 strations of the steps by which disease progresses from its incubative 
 beginnings to perilous and destructive changes in tissues and proxi- 
 mate elements to obvious symptoms and exclusive phenomena, 
 until death terminates the pathological record of events. Con- 
 sidered with reference to the progress of medical knowledge and 
 hygienic measures, in regard to epizootics and enzootics, as well as 
 in regard to epidemics and certain of the spreading pestilences that 
 depend upon contingent circumstances that hitherto have not been 
 well demonstrated, the results reached in these investigations may 
 justly be regarded as in the highest degree encouraging and 
 instructive. The successful study of the essential morbid changes 
 that occur during the progress of this disease in the blood, the 
 bile, the liver, the most vascular and constricted portion of the 
 stomach and the spleen, and lastly, the explosive phenomena, 
 the destruction of the blood-corpuscles, the waste of blood elements 
 of the kidneys, and the morbid alterations that occur in those 
 organs, and in conclusion, the phenomena and circumstances of 
 death, together with that impressive, and truth-telling signet which 
 the damaged and broken blood-corpuscles leave in the tissues, 
 cavities and fluids into which the spoiled and stagnant blood has 
 oozed and left crystals of hsematoidine, singly, and in this associa- 
 tion, constitute such a series of consecutive and well coordinated 
 events in the disease as rarely has rewarded the toil of medical 
 researches. And notAvithstanding more remains to be learned than 
 all that hitherto has been demonstrated, it is certain that some 
 substantial progress has been made in that kind of knowledge by 
 which the mysteries of transportable pestilences will ere long be 
 unmasked and exterminated or effectually controlled. And when 
 we consider that, had it been a human pestilence, this disease could 
 not have been studied in this manner without violating the common 
 sentiment of regard for the dying and the dead, the medical men 
 who pursue such investigations upon the food-animals, may justly 
 claim that by such studies as these they confer a three-fold benefit 
 upon mankind; for in addition to the protection of human foods 
 
1162 Annual Report of New Yore 
 
 aiid myriads of valuable cattle, a correct and controlling knowledge 
 of human pestilences is promoted, as it could be in no other way. 
 Fourth. — The re-demonstration of the so.ine law of ground-incu- 
 hation, or defvelojpment of a contagium deposited upon the soil 
 from the bowels. This very important law or truth concerning cer- 
 tain infective principles or substances was first demonstrated by 
 Prof. Pettenkofer, of Munich; and the demonstration, as the Metro- 
 politan Board of Health very well knows, related to the propagating 
 principle of the Asiatic cholera. Dr. Wm. Budd and Dr. Snow, in 
 England, practically taught this doctrine, without full demonstra- 
 tions, at the same time that Pettenkofer was tracing out the complete 
 evidence upon which this law is now founded. As in regard to the 
 infective cause of cholera, so in regard to the Texas cattle disease, 
 the bowels of the living, and in some instances apparently healthy, 
 individual carrier of the pestilential germs, may evacuate — with 
 excrement, those germs so completely developed that they may at 
 once begin the fatal and incubative work of infecting other indi- 
 viduals; or, on the other hand, the germ development in such excre- 
 ment may be so incomplete or immature ("unripe," as Professor 
 Hallier says of the aneerophytic spores), that the surface of the soil, 
 or the herbage on which the excrement is dropped, must serve as 
 the nursery and " hot-bed " for nourishing them into the advanced 
 or infective and poisonous stage of development (the " ripe " state, 
 Prof. Hallier), before the blood and tissues of the exposed and 
 healthy individuals can become infected. In the present state of 
 advancing demonstrations in regard to the pestilential contagium 
 of cholera, this would scarcely be regarded as theoretical language, 
 much less does it now seem to be merely theoretical in regard to 
 the Texas cattle disease. Upon this subject we need only refer 
 to the abstract of correspondence and of authenticated evidence in 
 preceding sections of this report. In the States of Illinois and 
 Indiana, the proofs upon this point concerning the incubation or 
 maturing of the excrement contagium during an interval of greater 
 or less duration after it was dropped upon the ground, are so 
 abundant and convincing, that many of the farmers seized upon the 
 logical interpretation of their own peculiar experience and classes, 
 and emphatically though, somewhat rudely gave expression to this 
 wonderful yet now easily understood doctrine, that Pettenkofer 
 demonstrated when analyzing the history of cholera in Bavaria in the 
 autumn of 1848. A vast quantity of evidence (experience and 
 record) relating to this anomalous habit of the infective cause of 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1163 
 
 the Texas cattle disease, is constantly coming into our hands, and 
 it will in due time be analyzed and the results made public. 
 
 Fifth — Aid in elucidating important physiological and patho- 
 logical questions connected with yellow fever. While summing up 
 and analyzing the results of these investigations concerning the 
 "Texas cattle disease," we have been deeply interested in the con- 
 tribution which these results make to practical knowledge of some 
 of the most essential questions that have, in the past fifteen years, 
 been started by physicians in the study of yellow fever. The com- 
 piler of this report having witnessed and professionally examined 
 several hundred cases of this pestilence, and made dissections of 
 nearly one hundred persons that died of it, was prepared to notice 
 the j)oints at which the results of the present investigations apply 
 to the questions that have arisen in the study of yellow fever. In 
 regard to these questions we will here notice the following points: 
 
 In 1853, Prof. Alonzo Clark, of New York, discovered and 
 described the characteristics of the fatty change and the peculiar 
 coloration that occur in the liver in cases of yellow fever. He 
 also described the nature and cause of the strange coloration which 
 characterizes the liver in malignant remittent fever. Dr. T. H. 
 Bache and Dr. Stowardson, of Philadelphia, made similar researches 
 and reached similar results. The microscopical investigations by 
 Dr. Lyon in the last epidemic of ^'■ellow fever in Lisbon, and simi- 
 lar studies by Dr. S, Fleet Speir, of Brooklyn, confirmed the medical 
 opinion of the profession that the most constant of any of the 
 anatomical changes in the latter malady, is found in the liver, and 
 in a certain kind of coloration which attends the malady as a 
 resultant of the dissolution of blood globules. Whoever peruses 
 this report, should, if possible, read the Prize Essay of Dr. Speir 
 in the Transactions of the American Medical Association (vol. xv, 
 1864), and consult the letter from Prof. Clark in the first volume 
 of Dr. La Roche, on yellow fever, and the report on yellow fever 
 in Lisbon in 1858, by Dr. Robert Lyon. These distinguished 
 pathologists found that the pestilential destruction of blood-globules, 
 the presence of the resulting hcematoidine, or of hsematine, from 
 w^hich it is derived, and the acute fatty change in the ultimate 
 structure of the liver, are the most essential pathological events 
 in that malady. But the 0]Dportunity for studying the structural 
 (morphological) alterations in the liver, the blood, the spleen and 
 the kidneys in fatal cases of yellow fever, have not given the facili- 
 ties for precision in results of microscopical inquiry (because 
 
1164 Annual Report of New York 
 
 not made in every stage of the disease and of convalesence, and 
 before any jpost mortem change was possible) which have been 
 afforded by the infected cattle for the examination of these vital 
 structures. And it is one of the rewards of the latter class of 
 labors that they elucidate and verify the chief deductions that have 
 been made by the learned physicians whose researches in yellow 
 fever are here mentioned. 
 
 In concluding this brief note upon the aid given to clearer demon- 
 strations in pathology by these investigations, we would not omit 
 to notice the very instructive researches of the late Dr. Daniel 
 Blair, chief medical officer of the British military establishment in 
 Demerara; for when he died in the midst of great efforts to dis- 
 cover the true cause of yellow fever, sanitary science lost its most 
 ardent inquirer into the natural causes of this pestilence. The 
 latest of his observations was so directly in the line of the demon- 
 strations that have resulted from Dr. Stiles' investigations that we 
 mention them in this place. Truly, scientific physicians are jealous 
 only for the truth; and it will be noticed that Dr. Blair reached 
 the verge of that important discovery which Dr. Stiles has made 
 in regard to the actual ultimate structure of the biliary system. It 
 was in a living patient in his hospital, and in some vomited bilious 
 and bloody matter which Dr. Blair believed contained by chance 
 some particles from the diseased liver cells that had floated into the 
 duodenum and into the stomach with the bile. In April, 1856, Dr. 
 Blair wrote to his friend. Dr. John Davy, of London, as follows 
 concerning his microscopical examination of that fancied and but 
 barely possible presence of debris of the liver: 
 
 It (nitric acid, upon a certain specimen) enabled me to trace some of the tubules 
 into the centre of the specimen; still more important, it enabled me to detect within 
 them liver-cells, with their minute oil globules. * * * I think there can be 
 little doubt that these tubules are the radical secreting ducts of the liver. May not 
 these observations throw some light upon what I believe is still an undecided point 
 in anatomy, viz., the precise manner in which the radicals originate in the lobules? 
 To me, what I have seen seems a demonstration of the induction of Kiernan on 
 this point. 
 
 . Dr. Blair was describing a substance that his patient had ejected 
 with some bile or vomit; and this observation came near being 
 buried with its author. It was not a demonstration; nor would a 
 thousand such observations have been a worthy basis for belief or 
 assertion; but it has value as an observation, that we mention this 
 fact here, because it belongs to the record of a most important dis- 
 
State Agricultural Society, 1165 
 
 coveiy and actual demonstration of essential facts in the anatomy 
 and pathology of the liver, and particularly because this curious 
 observation by Dr. Blair shows how difficult and obscure was the 
 kind of knowledge which he sought by the bed of the dying and 
 in the corpse of dead of yellow fever. (For a fuller account of Dr. 
 Blair's latest observations, see his letters appended to the April 
 and July numbers of the Medico Chirurgical Review, 1856.) 
 
1166 Annual Report of New York 
 
 L CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 The field in which the investigations have been commenced is 
 too large to admit of final conclnsions upon all the points of 
 inquiry, in so brief a period, for analyzing the results of so numer- 
 ous and varied an .assemblage of facts. Our deductions, therefore, 
 must be regarded rather as landmarks and soundings, than as boun- 
 dary lines, upon the shore of great truths. The conclusions that 
 appear best established have important relations to practical ques- 
 tions in hygiene and to the interests of herd farmers. 
 
 FiKST. — The nature and jpathologtcal effects of the disease in 
 beef cattle. The investigations prove that the disease is caused 
 by a slowly incubating poison which operates in a fatal way upon 
 the blood, and which also produces important structural altera- 
 tions in the essential organization of the liver, the spleen, and the 
 kidneys. 
 
 Second. — The precise nature of the diseased sti-uctural altera- 
 tions. The blood sufiers an impairment, and, in the fatal stage, an 
 almost entire destruction of its most vital portion — the red glo- 
 bules. It also suffers in its natural quality and richness, by the 
 loss of albumen through the kidnej^s, and by other very serious 
 kinds of impairment which are not yet understood, but which result 
 iD actual destruction of the blood as a living element of the animal 
 system. This spoliation and death of the blood {necrcemia) appears 
 to be complete. No disease or poison known to medical men has 
 ever presented a more striking example of an incubating blood- 
 poison {toxoemia), and an ultimate termination by necr£emia or 
 death of the blood. 
 
 The anatomical lesions, or structural alterations in the liver, are 
 unquestionably the first in the order of beginning, and of relation- 
 ship and importance. The particular kind of morbid conditions 
 in the secreting and circulatory organism of the liver would inev- 
 itably contribute to the gradual aud final destruction of the blood, 
 and also would induce the morbid changes that are observed it. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1167 
 
 the spleen. Physiological principles seem fully to account for the 
 engorgement, erosion and sloughing which occur in the tubular 
 portion of the fourth stomach or abomasum. The spleen, in its 
 engorged, diseased condition, would necessarily aid in producing 
 the stomach lesion (erosion and sloughing) by its own failure to 
 furnish outlet and relief to the engorgement of the vessels of 
 mucous membrane of the rennet, and it could contribute in several 
 ways to hasten the final dissolution of the blood. The engorge- 
 ment and the acute fatty degeneration or change noticed in the 
 kidneys, is one of the chief causes of the rapid waste of albumen 
 from the blood; but the disease may, and not unfrequently does, 
 go on to a fatal termination without being attended by any consid- 
 erable amount of disease or change in the kidneys. The lesions or 
 changes that have been observed in the other tissues and organs 
 of the infected animals seem to be merely results of blood-changes 
 and impaired vitality. Those lesions which are merely incidental 
 to the really essential changes in the blood and in the liver and 
 spleen, may, nevertheless, be recognized as aids in diagnosis of the 
 disease in certain cases. They are, therefore, worthy of attention 
 and description, such as we have attempted to give in several of 
 the illustrations given in this report. 
 
 Thied. — The jparasite that is found in the blood and bile of infec- 
 ted cattle. Whether we regard it as a propagating and destructive 
 cause of the disease, or simply as a concomitant, it is necessarily 
 an important attribute of the pathological or destructive agency 
 that operates upon the blood. The prolific brooding and growth 
 of the fungus (micrococcus) is wholly dependent upon the living 
 elements of the blood for its " soil and food " to grow upon. But 
 the real significance and value of the results that have been reached 
 in the researches upon this collateral element of the inquiry into 
 the disease, promise much for practical hygiene as well as for herd 
 farming; for, such complete demonstrations will lead to a kind of 
 absolute knowledge that is much needed concerning the pestilential 
 epidemics, as well as the destructive epizootics, and will lead to 
 their entire prevention. 
 
 Fourth. — The unfitness of the dying and the infected cattle for 
 human food. If this question is raised by any persons, or on behalf 
 of any commercial interest, it should at once be answered in gene- 
 ral terms, that both the animals that are dying, and those that have 
 lingered under the operation of the infection until the blood and 
 viscera are diseased, are unfit for food. Practically the human 
 
XI 6 8 Annual Report of New York 
 
 stomach can overcome most of the immediately poisonous effects 
 of diseased flesh and animal juices used as food; but experience 
 and teachings of physiology and hygiene unite in pronouncing 
 unfit for food, all the cattle that reach the fatal stage of the ''Texas 
 cattle disease," and all that have incubated the infection until the 
 blood and tissues exhibit the morbid alterations which that poison 
 produces. And as regards certain freshly arrived Texas cattle that 
 are suffering the disease (as we now diagnosticate it by the post 
 mortem evidences in them when slaughtered, and by emaciation, 
 feebleness and their indescribably offensive breath and effluvium 
 while living"), we can best express the conclusion that has been 
 reached by the more precise kind of investigation, without here 
 mentioning the details of evidence on this subject, by simply quoting 
 the remark of an educated observer of the Texas cattle disease in 
 Western Missouri. He says: " Who would knowingly eat the beef 
 of cattle with such a pestiferous breath as these sick Texas cattle 
 have? It can be no favor to the consumers of beef to have that 
 article cheapened in the market by the introduction of such very 
 doubtful, not to say injurious character." In plain words, cattle 
 while suffering either from the chronic or the acute type of this 
 disease ought to be withheld from the meat markets. 
 
 Fifth. — The period or term of incubation. The term of incuba- 
 tion or latent development of the fever poison in the second or 
 northern groups of cattle that receive the infection, is clearly proved 
 to be a period of variable duration, and that it varies from fourteen to 
 thirty or forty days; but, that in the majority of instances, the full 
 incubation and development of the disease is accomplished in about 
 twenty days.* High temperature manifestly hastens the develop- 
 ment of the disease. And the hunger, thirst and excitement of 
 raihvay transportation aggravates it. But that even where the 
 cattle become infected in good pasture, and under circumstances 
 
 * This is a little more than four times the average and usual period of incubation of 
 yellow fever in man. The troops that continued to be sent from France to the port of Vera 
 Cruz during the recent occupation of Mexico by the French, were attacked by yellow fever 
 under such exact conditions and periods of exposure by medical observation at the times 
 of their arrival in port, that the medical ofi5cer8 had no difficulty in reaching the conclu- 
 sion that the period of incubation of the infection (contagium) "was never less than 
 forty-eight hours, and seldom more than four days." (Surgeon M. Croullebois on Epi- 
 demic Yellow Fever at Vera Cruz in 1863. Recueil de Memoirs de Medicine, de Chirurge 
 et de Pharmacie Militaire, Paris, December, 1868.) This result of observations by the 
 French military surgeons, accords with observations upon the same pestilence in the harbor 
 quarantine hospitals of New York, with this exception, that in this latitude we find that 
 the period of incubation ranges from three to seven days, and that in cool weather the 
 iaeubation term is longer than iu very hot weather. 
 
State Agricultural Society. 1169 
 
 that are favorable to the best health, the incubation is certain and 
 aestructive; and, that with such conditions, it requires four weeks, 
 less or more, to bring the malady forward to its stage of obvious 
 symptoms and death. 
 
 Sixth. — The sascej^tihility of different kinds of cattle. The fact 
 seems well established that well bred and full fleshed cattle are 
 extremely susceptible to the operation of the contagium, and that 
 in them its highest rate of mortality is produced. The fact also is 
 indisputable that in the herds that have the misfortune to bring the 
 disease or contagium from Texas, only a small percentage become 
 fatally sick; but in such herds many that do not die of the disease 
 linger many weeks in an emaciated and diseased condition. 
 
 Seventh. — Acclimatization and insusceptibility to the cause of 
 the disease. This kind of security seems to be enjoyed only by 
 cattle that have been bred or pastured south of the Osage and 
 Arkansas rivers; but whether this partial security against the 
 malady is due to the peculiarities of wild cattle, or to a gradually 
 acquired physiological power to resist the fatal operation of the 
 primary cause of the disease while grazing at its very sources, does 
 not appear to be proved. 
 
 Eighth. — Is the disease due to crowding and abuses of cattle 9 
 Plainly, it does not originate from such causes; but there is evi- 
 dence that the Texas cattle that are crowded upon the "boiler 
 deck " of the Mississippi steamboats, and subjected to thirst and 
 fasting on the voyage up the river, have thus far been themselves 
 the greatest sufferers bj disease, and have proved to be the most 
 frequent carriers of the cause which last summer destroyed native 
 herds in Illinois and Indiana. 
 
 Nijsth. — 8uscejptibility of other animals than those of the bovine 
 sjpedes to the disease. The fact seems to be well established that 
 several kinds of herbiverous animal do suffer and die from the 
 disease. 
 
 Tenth. — Is the disease of cryptogamic origin ? With the amount 
 and kind of evidence now in our possession, it seems probable 
 that this malady owes its origin to a species of fungus parasite 
 which has now been demonstrated to infest infected cattle; and 
 that this conclusion rests upon other and much stronger reasons 
 than that such a parasite simply is found in the blood and bile. It 
 also seems highly probable that the actual contagium, or means by 
 which the disease is repropagated by cattle, will ultimately be 
 demonstrated to depend upon this minute spore-growth {micro- 
 
 [Ag.] 74 
 
1170 Annual Report of New York 
 
 coccus matter, of Professor Hallier), which is found in the diseased 
 cattle and upon the higher stages of the development when depos- 
 ited with the excremental droppings upon the soil, etc. And, 
 that ultimately it may, and probably will be discovered, that the 
 native habitat and source of this parasite is in limited districts of 
 country south of Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas; and that it is a 
 parasite of the indigenous herbage of those districts. Upon all 
 these points the evidence is cumulative, harmonious and logical; 
 yet, in the more advanced state of knowledge concerning the 
 causation of this and other infectious diseases, it may be found that 
 this or some other essential attribute of the disease and the conta- 
 gium is only an essential factor, the presence of which, with other 
 morbid and unhealthful conditions, insures the production and fatal 
 operations of the malady. Finally, in regard to this exact kind of 
 discrimination concerning the nature and destructive operation 
 of the propagating cause of pestilential diseases, the facts that have 
 been demonstrated concerning the Texas cattle disease add very 
 largely to a kind of knowledge which is of the highest importance 
 to sanitary science and its protective applications in the human 
 family and to the useful animals which the Creator has given to 
 man. 
 
 ELISHA HAEKIS. 
 
PLATE n. 
 
 Clw*rUtaViinH«nThiwstn\ : 
 
PLATE HI 
 
 SH(!tioii;; {}[' the Ab^ 
 
 in i'{\\\\/ri\f^o.op 
 
 .■!un-K-rMV.mBfTLtluTv.s<.w\'^c.nR 
 
PLATE A^ 
 
 AiJ]j«ararLce of 3^''' and 4'J^utumachs, 
 
 in thetegimiing of die acme stage 
 
 Sec Plata 1 .Fiq.Z. 
 
 CK.iik-s Vm> Bcutlvuv.'.ci 
 
PI. lit. \ 
 
 iVloi K ptMlioiiol \l)Oiiiaoiim 
 
 /.'. lu, /,/,',■ /.■>/ 
 
 J,ifJi.C\ii/i JtriilJii/l/Te/i ,( Xn/is, .l//„iiit/ ,X )' 
 
PLATE VI. 
 
 -vbomas-um. 
 
 Charles Vaj\,BpntKiiysei\ fk ^'i- 
 
t'LATEA-H 
 
 Erosions m.Lhe AboiTLcisum. 
 

 Plate VflJ 
 
 Fi^ 1 
 
 Mucous TJiernliraiie of rectum 
 
 Accidental ulcer on lip. 
 
 ff.Jlc/Ur,' /e,, 
 
 Xi/Ji.f.\'ali //rjiMiyl/sm -f Smix .1//,,,/,,/ . .Y. }'. 
 
Plaip. IX. 
 
 y^. i{o/,/c-,- /^v/ 
 
 fJtJi .Cl'ttii ttfiii/Mi/Sfii X Snris;/U/injii/,.Y.y. 
 
:i^»* t 
 
 Plate X 
 MuccMis ineiiil:iTane of bladder 
 
 I 
 
 r * 
 
 «*:;.:■ I'a^,.^' 
 
 3^ 
 
 V 
 
 /?. MaA/r,- /'v/ 
 
,ATE XI 
 
 Appearances of Duodenum, dn d Rectuin 
 
piuATE xn. 
 
 Fii^.2 
 
 R. KbeWer.feclr., 
 
 Folds of Ab omasum, 
 
 (Texas Steers.) 
 
 CJifirlesVan Bemto^eri f*. Sons. 
 
PLATE Xni 
 

Plate XIV. 
 
 /.'. /u^/,/r,- /,r 
 
 (j urtesiine 
 
 ///A .c'.i '/if J /if/it/ttjt/A-f/t «f S'tt/is, .-i/zj/t/tt/ , . r )' 
 
PLATE :w 
 
 Pig. 4. 
 
 Sections of Mucous Membrane, 
 
 nharles V.ui Bemhx^iSi 
 
 ..r-l-^.'infi-r.r., rl;ffo- 
 
HLATK XVI 
 
 Liver and Gall Bladder, 
 
 (weighl,18'^lbs.j 
 
 ChailesVan Beti*viys6Ti & Sojis. 
 
PLATE XVn. 
 
 View of Liver layi! .; i . 
 
 (waxy, f cLtty,-weigte.2jl:lj)S) 
 
 RiCoeWei.fecii 
 
PLATE XVin . 
 
 CKarlea VanBentWyseriA. Sw 
 
 M'spleen«iste5«te, Fig,2, Section of surface ofsameweduced. Fi^-.B. Section of Mp 
 
PLATE XK 
 
 Kidney laid open, 
 (haematoidme stain . and fat .) 
 
 R.Koehler, fecit 
 
 Ch-nrlefiV<>n Benthuysen A Sons 
 
R.KoeMer, feat 
 
 Gh-iilesVcUiBenihT^en Sms 
 
 Fig.l. Kidney 
 
 (same animal as pla.te 17.) 
 
 Fig. 2. Kidney of convalescent, 
 
 (one week convalescent.) 
 
PLATE XXI. 
 
 Fig.l. Secti.011 Ui ryiuiii; ijuiiiuu ui AouiiLdSiiiu 
 (.sevp.ial weeks c(niVdi.e;:c'("iT) 
 
 h .rl«::V.mBct,Umys.jnir 
 
 jb'i^'.^ ottoliun of Rectum. 
 
 i,",pp. plate, 17.) 
 
PLATE XXI. 
 
 Fi^; 1 Gection oi Pyloric; poiuoii or Aboraasuro. 
 
 (sweral weete conv.-i in;;, ■.mT 'i 
 
 . .il.j;jV.mBem1\uysoii& 
 
 ¥i^ Z oBotiurrof Rectum, 
 
^-^ 
 
 y\l)(iii].i.siiiii one wcciv coi ivnlcscci il 
 
 f.ll/,'}:\t,il liriil/itil/.yil .< S,<iix..ll/>r,>ii/..\ i: 
 
PLATE XXm. 
 
 "t- J 
 
 leotion of Hrcle, Liver and Spleen, 
 
 m Ox several days after acute sta^e. 
 
 ChorlesVanBentlixiyseii^. Sans. 
 
•. 
 
 w 
 
 ^ 
 
 v- 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 o 
 
 
 _l 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 C 
 
 D 
 
 
 QQ 
 
 „ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 UJ 
 
 1^ 
 
 > 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 1- 
 
 '" 
 
 < 
 
 c 
 
 Z 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 z 
 
 i 
 
 H 
 
 tl 
 
 _l 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 UJ 
 
 c 
 
 z 
 
 c 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 (X 
 
 
 Cf 
 
 s 
 
 or 
 
 O 
 
 ^ 
 
 q: 
 
 a 
 
 U- 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 z 
 
 C 
 
 LU 
 
 4> 
 
 J 
 
 C 
 
 0. 
 
 l> 
 
 CO 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 a> 
 
 
 ^ 
 
Urine and Liver. 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 l.Tth. C.YaE-Be-nth-aysen&SoTis .^bariy .TJ T 
 
PleticuiiiiTi of Bile -ducts 
 
 4-^a 
 
 I': Van L'",[,v i.v;"--r, .k 3oiif , All Tiny , "N Y 
 
Liver sLiad Kidney. 
 6 
 
 Litli . C , Var^ B enth-ays en & S ons , jM "b any , N , Y 
 
Spleen of disease Sc convalescence 
 
 8 
 
 Litii. C.YaaBenthuysen&Sons , -Albany .U Y 
 
Micrococcus o£ Bile 
 10 
 
 n 
 
 Litli . C . Yan- B enthuys enlkS oris , Aih any ,Ji X 
 
Haematoidme 
 
 Fig, 12 
 
 Fig.l3. 
 
 Liih., CYanBenthuysen&SoTis , Alt any ,15. X 
 
PLATE XXXII. 
 
 J- , Zitho^raphed frovx. Sketches of ConiothecCum hy E . HalLier . 
 
 ''">.-.•», «lVf?:.d o ,oo No. 5. 
 
 
 OO 
 
 No. 2 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 g <^^ 
 
 '.'."■^ 
 
 
 
 d>^ 
 
 No.6.(a 
 
 No. 6/^1,; 
 
'^^- 
 
 i . **^': 
 
 m^ .. 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 ^' 
 
 ^:^s%: 
 
 
 O- ::.:.. 
 
 W^. 
 
 --f^ 
 
 mh 
 
 ±J^^^'