Special report on diseases of cattle and on cattle feeding / Prepared under the direction of Dr. D.E. Salmon, chief of the Bureau of animal industry, by Drs. Murray, Atkinson, Harbaugh, Lowe, Law, Dickinson, Trumbower, Smith, and Prof. Henry.

  • United States. Bureau of Animal Industry.
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Special report on diseases of cattle and on cattle feeding / Prepared under the direction of Dr. D.E. Salmon, chief of the Bureau of animal industry, by Drs. Murray, Atkinson, Harbaugh, Lowe, Law, Dickinson, Trumbower, Smith, and Prof. Henry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    nutritive c^u8Llities? and animals wliicli are fed on such com lose weight, so it appears also to interfere with assimilation. In some instances the indigestion which smutty corn produces terminates in inflammation of the * fourth stomach and portions of the intestinal canal. In v hat is termed “cornstalk disease,” indigestion followed by delirium and coma is produced in cattle by feeding them on corn v, liieh is supposed by some writers to be intested by a minute parasitic fungus. These living organisms are found on the lower leaves ot the corn, v hich, w hen invaded by those parasites, has a dwarfed appearance. The diseased leaves become yellowish-green, then yellow, and then witliei avay. Upon closer examination it will usually be seen that there are certain spots, more especially about the base of the leaf; which is closely wrapped around the stalk, having a different discoloration. These are brown, watery-looking objects at first; then darker, and finally dead. Occasionally there are livid red spots and patches in the same situa- tion. These specially affected spots vary in size from mere points to those of several inches across, often longer, in the direction of the veins of the leaf or leaf sheath (Burrill). Whenever this disease ap- . pears in a cornfield it is advised that every stalk and leaf in the field should be burned, and that the field be seeded down to grass. The writer has observed during some years, and usually after a spell of dry, warm weather, that cattle grazing on pastures usually consideied as sound and healthy have become affected with indigestion, followed by delirium and coma, but he has been unable to satisfy himself as to the causation of such outbreaks of disease. The explanation of such facts remains a matter of future investigation. Grass growing on wet, marshy land is favorable to the production of dysentery, and we have sometimes seen animals die suddenly while grazing on such pastures, and have traced such deaths to a form of anthrax introduced through the digestive system. Frozen turnips and potatoes inoduce very dan- gerous attacks of indigestion when eaten by cattle, and grass which is wet by dew or rain, or covered with hoarfrost, should also be regarded as dangerous. The sudden chilling of the stomachs when a quantity of such food is eaten arrests digestion and will also occasion cramp ot the stomach and bowels. Causes.—In tracing out the causation of disease we find in not a tew instances that excess is the disturbing element, instead of quality. For example, when cattle are turned into a new and rather luxuriant pas- ture severe attacks of indigestion may result from tlieii eating too greedily, and it is well, under such circumstances, to allow them in such pastures for only a comparatively short time each day, until they become accustomed to their richer and more tempting heibage. The same idea may be applied to different kinds of food which, though wholesome when partaken ot moderately, become dangerous when used to excess. . . The manner of eating may also produce indigestion, as food hastily eaten and consequently imperfectly masticated is not properly prepared