OBSERVATIONS 
ON 
TEXAS CATTLE. 
AGE, WEIGHT, TEMPERATURE, LIVER AND SPLEEN. 
With compliments of the Author. 
By JOSEPH R. SMITH. 
Brevet Colonel and Surgeon U.S.A. 
MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS. MEMBER OF COMMITTEE ON CATTLE 
DISEASES, AM. PUB. HEALTH ASSO. 
\Reprinted fro)n American Public Health Association Reports, 1883.] 
CONCORD, N. H.: 
PRINTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION. 
1884. OBSERVATIONS 
ON 
TEXAS CATTLE. 
AGE, WEIGHT, TEMPERATURE, LIVER AND SPLEEN. 
By JOSEPH R. SMITH, 
Brevet Colonel and Surgeon U.S.A. 
MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS. MEMBER OF COMMITTEE ON CATTLE 
DISEASES, AM. PUB. HEALTH ASSO. 
\Reprinted from American Public Health Association Reports, 1883.] 
CONCORD, N. H.: 
PRINTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION. 
1884. OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE: AGE, WEIGHT, 
TEMPERATURE, LIVER, AND SPLEEN. 
By JOSEPH R. SMITH, Brevet Colonel and Surgeon U. S.A. 
San Antonio, Texas, November 8, 1883. 
Since my last report, made to this association a year since, a large 
number of facts have been observed bearing on the normal liver and 
spleen weight and temperature of Texas cattle ; incidentally, age and size 
have also been noticed and recorded. 
These figures, thus obtained, are tabulated below. The tables are 
similar to those appearing in my former report, contained in Vol. VIII 
of the association reports. 
The first table gives the weight of the liver and the spleen at different 
ages. 
Table I. 
Age. 
Average Weight 
of Animals. 
Average Weight 
of Liver. 
Average Weight 
of Spleen. 
• Remarks. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Under i year, 
174 
7 
I 6.37 
8 animals. 
i year 
240 
00 
00 
I 7.44 
128 “ 
2 years, . . . 
309 
8 2.69 
I 14.64 
87 “ 
3 “ • • • 
384 
8 9-79 
2 6.82 
69 
4 “ • • • 
422 
8 13.82 
2 4-31 
208 “ 
5 “ • • • 
445 
9 4.20 
2 5-65 
137 
6 “ ... 
488 
9 9.60 
2 7-54 
97 “ 
7 “ • • • 
S3i 
9 1.12 
2 6.00 
33 
8 “ ... 
578 
9 7-8o 
2 3-58 
40 “ 
9 “ • • • 
510 
9 6.59 
2 3-43 
7 
10 “ ... 
508 
10 2.67 
2 
3 
12 “ ... 
325 
8 4. 
1 “ 
»5 “ • • • 
540 
11 4. 
3 4- 
2 “ 4 
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
The second table gives the weight of the liver and the spleen in rela- 
tion to the weight of the animal. 
Table II. 
Net Weight of Animals. 
Number of Animals 
observed. 
Average Weight of 
Liver. 
Average Weight of 
Spleen. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
100 to 149 lbs., .... 
17 
6 1.71 
1 8.65 
150 to 199 “ .... 
43 
6 2.86 
x 4-95 
200 to 249 “ .... 
57 
7 8.23 
1 6. 
250 to 299 “ .... 
7i 
7 7-68 
1 11.68 
300 to 349 “ • • • • 
86 
7 15-65 
x 15-53 
350 to 399 “ .... 
x43 
8 10.58 
2 0.60 
400 to 449 “ .... 
x56 
9 4-33 
2 3.48 
450 to 499 “ • • • • 
x33 
9 9-98 
2 8.56 
500 to 549 “ .... 
83 
9 12.89 
2 11.29 
550 to 599 “ .... 
46 
9 10.24 
2 11.93 
600 to 649 “ .... 
35 
9 6.26 
2 11.09 
650 to 699 “ .... 
7 
9 15-43 
3 4- 
700 to 749 “ .... 
9 
9 °-79 
2 12.79 
75° to 799 “ • • • • 
7 
9 12.29 
2 12. 
800 to 849 “ .... 
3 
to 9-33 
2 9-33 
850 to 899 “ . '. . . 
2 
x3 7- 
2 9. 
rooo “ .... 
1 
16 4. 
3 4- 
The third table gives the spleen weight in relation to liver weight. OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
Table III. 
5 
In Cattle where Liver Weighed. 
Number of Animals 
observed. 
Average Weight of 
Spleen. 
Lbs. Oz. 
4 to 5 lbs., 
4 
14-75 
5 to 6 “ 
38 
1 8.13 
6 to 7 “ 
IIO 
l “-5S 
7 to 8 “ 
118 
I 14.51 
8 to 9 “ 
185 
I 15.63 
9 to io “ 
181 
2 4-75 
io to 11 “ 
158 
2 6.67 
II to 12 “ 
56 
2 14.09 
12 to 13 “ 
39 
2 11.36 
13 to 14 “ 
6 
2 6.83 
M to 15 “ 
4 
4 9- 
15 to 16 “ 
2 
3 I4- 
16 to 17 “ 
1 
3 4- 
Table IV gives the average age and the average net weight of animals 
killed at different places, and the average weight of livers and spleens. 
Table IV. 
Place. 
Average Age. 
Average Net 
Weight. 
Average Weight 
of Liver. 
Average Weight 
of Spleen. 
Years. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Fort Brown, ..... 
3% 
414 
10 5. 
2 
5.12 
Fort Clark, .... 
3% 
484 
8 10.19 
2 
15.69 
Fort Concho,.... 
3» 
36S 
7 1.60 
I 
12.80 
Fort Davis, .... 
4% 
492 
11 0.80 
2 
II.90 
Del Rio, 
5 
419 
9 14.86 
2 
2.66 
Fort Duncan 
2y3 
340 
8 12.33 
2 
9.28 
Fort McIntosh, . . . 
5iV 
398 
00 
0 
& 
2 
i-45 
Fort McKavett, . . . 
iy2 
174 
6 8.40 
I 
9.90 
Pena, Colorado, . . . 
2ih 
347 
9 4.80 
I 
15.XO 
Camp Rice, .... 
2% 
3l9 
7 ”-25 
I 
3-81 
Fort Ringgold, . . . 
4% 
423 
8 9.07 
2 
1.67 
Fort Stockton, . . . 
4 
5°3 
CO 
bo 
Co 
3 
9.78 
Throughout the state, . 
400 
8 11.69 
2 
2.75 6 
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
Table V gives the maximum, minimum, and average temperature 
observations for different points, and of all observations. 
Table V 
8 
8 
U 
<v 
H 
H 
a 
Place of Obser- 
a £ 
H 
vation. 
2 -2 
£ a • 
X £ 
d O, 
s 
Minimun 
peratu 
Average 
ature. 
Remarks. 
Brown, . . . 
103°. 
102°. 
I02°.4 
16 observations in rectum or blood-vessels on 
neck, by Dr. Maddox. 
Clark, . . . 
104 .8 
101 .8 
102 .69 
54 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Drs. Hainw and Maddox. 
Concho, . . . 
105 . 
102 .2 
103 .29 
43 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Dr. Finley. 
Del Rio, . . . 
102 .8 
100 .8 
101 .59 
107 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Drs. McLain and Cooper. 
Duncan, . . . 
104 .4 
101 .4 
102 .47 
27 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Dr. Buffington. 
McIntosh, . . 
00 
Tt- 
0 
101 . 
102 .38 
81 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Drs. Ainsworth and Robinson. 
McKavett, . . 
105 .6 
100 . 
101 .99 
92 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Dr. Buffington. 
Pena, Colorado, 
105 . 
100 .4 
102 .5 
76 observations in rectum or vagina, by 
Dr. S. S. Boyer. 
Rice, .... 
103 .2 
101 .5 
101 .88 
19 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Dr. Wolf. 
Ringgold, . . 
104 .6 
99 • 
101 .85 
i86observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Drs. Roane, Tesson, Robertson. 
Stockton, . . 
104 .6 
101 .4 
102 .31 
34 observations in rectum or blood-vessels of 
neck, by Drs. Carter and Fegan. 
Whole state, . 
102 .16 
The sixth table gives the proportionate weight of spleen and liver to 
each other, and to the weight of the animal, at different ages. 
Table VI. 
Age of Animals. 
Proportion of Liver 
to Whole Body. 
Proportion of Spleen 
to Whole Body. 
Proportion of Spleen 
to Liver. 
Below i year, .... 
1/26 
1/124 
198/1000 
1-2 “ .... 
I/32 
1/164 
I94/1000 
2-3 “ .... 
1/38 
1/161 
234/1000 
3-4 “ .... 
1/44 
I/i53 
284/1000 
4-5 “ .... 
i/47 
1/184 
259/1000 
5-6 “ .... 
1/48 
1/188 
253/1000 
6-7 “ .... 
i/5° 
1/204 
248/1000 
7-8 “ .... 
1/58 
1/222 
262/1000 
8-9 “ .... 
1/61 
1/260 
234/1000 
9-10 “ .... 
i/54 
1/231 
235/1000 
IO-II “ .... 
1/50 
1/254 
197/1000 
15-16 “ .... 
i/47 
1/163 
288/1000 OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
7 
Table VII gives the proportionate weight of the liver and the spleen 
to each other, and to the weight of the animal, in animals of different 
weight. 
Table VII. 
Weight. 
Percentage of Liver 
Weight to Weight 
of Animals. 
Percentage of Spleen 
Weight to Weight 
of Animals. 
Percentage of Spleen 
Weight to Liver 
Weight. 
100 to 149 lbs., .... 
4.41 
1.113 
25.24 
150 to 199 “ . . . . 
3-64 
0.767 
21.05 
200 to 249 “ . . . . 
3-34 
0.669 
18.21 
250 to 299 “ . . . . 
2.26 
0.645 
23.16 
300 to 349 “ . 
2-53 
0.615 
24-34 
350 to 399 “ . . . . 
2-35 
0-S52 
24.29 
400 to 449 “ . . . . 
2.25 
o-535 
27.79 
450 to 499 “ . . . . 
2.07 
0.546 
26.33 
500 to 549 “ . . . . 
1.92 
0.574 
27.68 
550 to 599 “ ... . 
1.71 
0.470 
27-54 
600 to 649 “ . . . . 
i-54 
0.441 
28.57 
650 to 699 “ . . . . 
1.52 
0.497 
32.62 
700 to 749 “ . . . . 
1.28 
o-395 
30.98 
750 to 799 “ . . . . 
1.30 
0.366 
28.15 
800 to 849 “ . . . . 
1.32 
0.307 
23-23 
850 to 899 “ . . . . 
1.58 
0.304 . 
19.26 
1000 to “ . . . . 
1.62 
0.325 
20. 
Tables i, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 embrace figures from observations on 944 
animals. 
Concerning 904 of these animals are recorded the age, weight, liver 
weight, and spleen weight. 
Of the remaining 40, all observations give the age ; eight the age and 
weight only ; and ten the age, the body weight, and the liver weight. 
LIVER. 
The average weight of the 934 livers weighed was 8 lbs. 1 oz. 
The average weight of the livers weighed in 1882 was 9 lbs. 7^j3j oz ; of 
those weighed in 1871, 7.54 lbs. 
The average weight of all the livers reported by me is 8 lbs. oz. 
The liver of greatest weight was reported from Fort Stockton, and 
weighed 15 lbs. 8 oz. 
The smallest liver weighed 4 lbs., and was noticed at McKavett. 8 
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
But one liver was reported as presenting any pathological appearances. 
In this case, observed at Pena, Colorado, Dr. Boyer says,—“ Tumor 
found on liver about the size of a large orange. It was situated over the 
convex surface of that organ, having its base at the inferior margin, its 
sac being formed from the fibrous tissue of one of the ligaments ; contents 
of a white color, odorless, and of the consistence of thick cream. No 
constitutional symptoms appeared.” 
This tumor occurred in an animal aged one year, with a net weight of 
249 lbs., its liver weighing 8 lbs. 8 oz., and its spleen 1 lb. 
Three cases by Dr. Roane are reported, however, as Hepar varie- 
gatum. 
(In tables A and B are consolidated the observations of this and 
former years.) 
These tables show that the volume of the liver increases with both 
age and weight, increased weight of the animals being generally concom- 
itant with increased age. 
* Tables VI and VII confirm the conclusions formulated last year, viz., 
that this viscus does not increase proportionately with the age or size of 
the animal. In animals aged less than one year, the liver weight was 
1/26 of the whole body weight, and in animals aged one to two years the 
liver weight was 1/32 of the whole body weight, while from six years of 
age upwards the liver weight was less than 1/50 of the whole body 
weight. In animals weighing from 100 to 150 lbs., the liver constituted 
4.41 per cent, of the whole body by weight, and this proportion regularly 
decreased, until in animals weighing more than 500 lbs. the liver consti- 
tuted less than 2 per cent, of the whole weight of the animal. 
SPLEEN. 
Nine hundred and four spleens were weighed, giving an average 
weight of 2 lbs. 2.75 oz. No pathological appearances are reported in 
any of these spleens, and, concerning the majority of them, it was posi- 
tively stated that they were healthy. 
The smallest spleen reported weighed but 9 oz., and was observed in 
the valley of the Rio Grande near El Paso. The animal from which it 
was taken was two years old, and weighed 260 lbs. net weight. Its liver 
weighed 5 lbs. 8 oz. 
The animals killed at this point habitually were young and of light 
weight, and of 101 examined the spleens of 27 weighed less than one 
pound each. 
A spleen was reported from Fort Stockton weighing 7 lbs. 8 oz. This 
was the heaviest spleen reported anywhere, and was found in an animal 
aged six years, weighing 550 lbs. net weight, and with a liver weighing 
14 lbs. 8 oz. I could not but feel some suspicion as to the accuracy of 
this observation, although the spleen weights at this point were habitu- 
ally found much greater than elsewhere in this state. Yet in every case 
it was distinctly stated that no pathological appearances were found, or 
that the organs were normal. OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
9 
Barring the spleens from Stockton, the heaviest spleen reported was 
found at Ringgold, and weighed 4 lbs. 12 oz. The animal from which 
it was taken was aged six years, weighed 500 lbs., and presented a liver 
weighing 9 lbs. The observer in this case, Dr. Jas. Roane, gave much 
care and attention to these observations, and his accuracy may be relied 
upon. 
The average weight of all spleens reported in my tables for this and 
previous years is 2 lbs. 2.22 oz. 
Generally the older and larger the animal, the heavier the spleen ; but 
like the liver, the increase of the spleen was not in the ratio with the 
increase of years or body weight. 
Below one year the spleens observed constituted 1/124 by weight of 
the animals, while after six years it was less than 1 /200. 
So as regards different weights, while in animals weighing between 
100 and 150 lbs. the spleen constituted more than 1 per cent, of the net 
weight, in animals weighing 800 lbs. and upwards this organ constitutes, 
less than one third of one per cent. (0.333). 
The spleens generally weighed a little more than one quarter the 
weight of the livers (27 per cent.). 
No case of diseased spleen has been reported in these numbers. 
AGE. 
The oldest animal, reported as killed for beef, was aged fifteen years, 
and the youngest, six months. The average age of those thus killed was 
a small fraction less than four years. 
WEIGHT. 
The weights of cattle killed for beef varied from a maximum of 1,000 
lbs. to a minimum of 125 lbs., net weight. The average weight of all 
killed was almost exactly 400 lbs. 
This year the heaviest animals were found from eight to nine years of 
age. Forty are reported killed at that age, their average weight being 
598 lbs. ; the next heaviest being between seven and eight, of whom 
thirty-three averaged 531 lbs. From this age up the weight, according 
to these observations, sensibly diminished. 
TEMPERATURE. 
Seven hundred and thirty-five observations for temperature are re- 
corded and tabulated. Of these, 204 were taken in the rectum or vagina, 
and 5»i in the blood of the great arteries of the neck. 
The average of observations in rectum or vagina was io2°.34 ; of those 
in the blood, io2°.c>9; of both combined, 102°. 16. 
The average of all observations for temperature recorded in these and 
former tables by me is io2°.i8. 
The highest temperature observed in rectum or vagina was io5°.2 ; in 
blood, io5°.6. 10 
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
The lowest temperature observed in rectum or vagina was ioo° ; in 
blood, 990. 
The highest temperatures generally are noted to have been in animals 
which had been irritated—struggling and furious—to an unusual degree. 
In seventy-three animals observations were made both in rectum or 
vagina, and in the blood. In seven of these animals both thermometers 
registered the same in blood-vessel and in rectum. In six of them the' 
blood temperature was the least by about .37 of a degree for each obser- 
vation. In sixty of them the blood temperature was the greatest, aver- 
aging for each case i°. 
Nevertheless, on the more extended scale, the average blood tempera- 
ture, in a set of 531 animals, was found higher than the average rectal or 
vaginal temperature in another set of 204 animals. 
Among these observations are included thirty-four taken by Dr. S. M. 
Finley at Fort Concho, in rectum of thirty-four calves, resulting as fol- 
lows : 
Average temperature of 5 calves under 1 month of age, 103.16 
“ “12 “ aged 1-2 “ “ 103.05 
“ “ 6 “ “2-3 “ “ 103.16 
“ “ 6 “ “ 3-4 “ “ 103.47 
“ “ 4 “ “ 4-5 “ “ 103. 2 
“ “ 1 “ “6 “ “ 104. 
These calves were all very gentle. The differences of temperature, 
obtained at different places by different observers, are expressed in 
Table V. 
Dr. McLain, at Del Rio, in 107 observations, obtained an average of 
101.59. 
Dr. Finley, at Concho, in 43 observations, obtained an average of 
103.29. In these are included the preceding observations on calves. 
In addition to the above 735 observations, 26 observations of blood 
temperature are recorded by Dr. Robertson, of Ringgold, in mass, and 
not in detail. 
Dr. Robertson reports their average as ioi°.92, and their correctness I 
do not doubt. 
If those are added to all other observations of temperature in these 
tables, there will be found 956 observations, giving an average tempera- 
ture of 102°. 11. 
I append two tables, A and B, giving the liver and spleen weight 
according to age and weight of animals, deduced from all observations 
heretofore made : OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
11 
Table A. 
Age. 
Liver Weight. 
Spleen Weight. 
Years. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Under i, 
7 
1 6.37 
i to 2, 
7 I3-86 
1 7.68 
2 to 3, •. . . . 
8 11.69 
2 
3 to 4 
8 12.55 
2 5.26 
4 to 5, 
9 2.51 
2 4-73 
Sto 6, 
9 2.61 
2 5-25 
6 to 7 
9 7-87 
2 7.46 
7 to 8, 
9 °-63 
2 5-47 
8 to 9, 
9 11.85 
2 4.91 
9 to io, 
10 2.83 
2 6.50 
io to II, 
9 6.30 
2 2. 
II to 12, 
9 
2 
12 to 13, 
8 4- 
Not taken. 
13 to 14, 
7 14- 
1 8.5 
15 to 16, 
11 4. 
3 4- 
Table B. 
Weight. 
Liver Weight. 
Spleen Weight. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
100-49, 
6 
9.17 
I 
8.61 
150-99 
6 
2.49 
1 
4-85 
200-49, 
6 
2.69 
1 
7-36 
250-99, 
7 
8-34 
I 
11.64 
300-49 
8 
346 
I 
15.24 
8 
14.40 
2 
1.46 
400-49 
9 
5-°5 
2 
3-31 
450-99, 
9 
12.36 
2 
7.40 
500-49, 
10 
2.62 
2 
11.40 
550-99, 
10 
1.72 
2 
12.90 
600-49, 
10 
0.32 
2 
14.84 
650-99, 
11 
11.29 
3 
4.21 
700-49, 
10 
8.80 
2 
14.80 12 
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
Tabic B—continued. 
Weight. 
Liver Weight. 
Spleen Weight. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
750-99 
9 12.29 
2 12. 
800-49, 
10 9-33 
2 9-33 
l3 7• 
2 9. 
1000 
16 4. 
3 4- 
The following are deduced from all observations hitherto made for 
these reports: 
Average Reported 
Age of all Ani- 
mals Killed. 
Average Reported 
W eight. 
Average Reported 
Weight of all 
Livers. 
Average Reported 
Weight of all 
Spleens. 
Average Temper- 
ature of all Ob- 
servations. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. Oz. 
Lbs. Oz. 
4% years, . . 
395 
8 15.96 
2 2.22 
102°.11 
Concerning the accuracy of the figures embraced in the foregoing, it 
may be said that the livers and spleens have been weighed carefully by 
competent and conscientious observers, and of their general correctness 
there can be no doubt. The same may be said of the correctness of the 
temperature observations. 
Concerning the age and weight, some of the figures have been given 
by the butchers, and possibly may not be accurate as to days and months, 
or to pounds and ounces. But I believe that such inaccuracies are not 
sufficiently numerous or great to vitiate the conclusions drawn from the 
figures. 
Since my report, made last November, the cattle in Texas have re- 
mained healthy, and no disease has become epidemic through the state. 
Blooded stock imported from the North have, in many instances as 
heretofore, succumbed to disease, and this in cases where carefully pre- 
vented from intermixture with native herds, or from contamination by 
passing over their pastures or trails. 
In reverting to the question of Texas fever (so-called), it must be con- 
fessed that much mystery still shrouds its ultimate cause and mode of 
dissemination. Is it true that Texas fever, or any other definite disease, is 
produced among healthy herds of cattle in the North by one mode only, 
viz., the passage of these herds over trails or into pastures where have 
recently passed or pastured herds of Texas cattle, themselves exhibiting 
no signs of disease, nor communicating disease of any kind to their com- 
rades? Many cattle dealers and others believe that this question must 
be answered in the affirmative. OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
13 
One of the reporters to the Department of Agriculture, in the “ Report 
on Contagious Diseases of Domesticated Animals,” issued by that 
department during the present year, speaks of it (page 106) as ‘‘a fact, 
undisputed by those who have had any experience with Texas or cattle 
fever, that native Texas cattle never contract the fever, or show plain 
symptoms of the same, so long as they remain undisturbed on their native 
range ; that, however, if driven North at certain seasons of the year, 
though they themselves remain apparently healthy, they will infect their 
trails, pastures, watering-places, etc., and thus communicate the disease 
to such Northern cattle as may pass over the same road, graze on the 
same range, or use their watering-places after them ; that in south-west- 
ern Texas, both on the cattle ranges and the farms, only such cattle 
contract the fever as are imported from some place farther north ; and 
that an animal affected with the Southern cattle fever never directly or 
by contact communicates the disease to other healthy cattle.” 
Dr. Salmon, whose report to the Commissioner of Agriculture of his 
“ Investigation of Texas Cattle Fever and Fowl Cholera ” is an admirable 
paper, writes (p. 25, op. cit.) concerning Texas fever,—“ The native 
cattle in the infected districts seldom, if ever, suffered from it. Milch 
cows, fat cattle, and working oxen were the classes of animals generally 
affected, while calves, as a rule, escaped. The disease was spread by 
apparently healthy cattle, and these cattle infected pastures for weeks and 
months after leaving their native country. It was only contracted from 
infected grounds. Sick animals seldom, if ever, spread the contagion. 
A fence was sufficient to arrest the disease. The only kind of cattle 
that could be imported into the infected district with any safety was 
young calves. The disease almost invariably occurred in summer and 
fall, and was arrested by a frost.” Surely the writer was justified in his 
next sentence in saying,—“ This list of characters is so extraordinary, so 
different from what is seen with any other disease.” 
I am unable to find in Dr. Salmon’s able report, or elsewhere, the 
proof of the existence of all these characters. 
I find numerous detailed instances where disease appeared in herds of 
cattle, no satisfactory cause being apparent. Some, but not all, of these 
herds were affected after the proximity of Texas herds, but in no case is 
it conclusively shown that other causes than the vicinity of a herd of 
cattle from Texas were not present to originate the disease described. 
Here an experimentum cruets should show,— 
1st. A healthy herd of Northern cattle (not Texas) in an uninfected 
district. 
2d. The passage of a herd of healthy cattle from Texas near the first 
named herd. 
3d. The appearance of disease in the herd of healthy Northern cattle 
within a short time (perhaps a period of incubation) after the passage of 
the healthy Texas herd. 
4th. The absence of any other cause that might have induced the dis- 
ease in the Northern herd. 14 
OBSERVATIONS ON TEXAS CATTLE. 
In the absence of demonstration of a materies morbi, or a connecting 
link of causation between the two herds, not one experiment alone, even 
as above conditioned, would suffice, but a sufficient number must be re- 
corded to create a probability. The importance of, nay, the necessity 
of, establishing such connection, will be more manifest when it is consid- 
ered that for large portions of the year some Texas cattle are almost con- 
tinually on the drive or cattle trail, so that it would be impossible for the 
disease in question, or any other disease, to make its appearance, except 
at a period quite proximate to the passage of a Texas herd. Surely a 
proximity of place or time alone cannot be logically considered a cause 
of disease. 
If certain known causes in certain instances produced the disease in 
question, the possible existence of these causes, at least, must be disproved 
before the disease is attributed to something else, more especially when 
this something else is something so improbable in itself as the fact of the 
mere passage over the trail where a healthy herd have moved,—a some- 
thing so improbable in itself as a cause as to be spoken of by one of its 
believers as “very paradoxical, and contradictory to all known laws 
which govern the spreading of contagious diseases” (p. 106, op. cit.), 
while Dr. Salmon (p. 14 of this report, before cited) says,—“Many of 
these facts are widely, and, I might say, almost universally, contested by 
those who pretend to understand this disease.” 
Dr. E. M. Hunt, the president of this association, in his report to the 
Commissioner of Agriculture (p. 230, op. cit.), writes,—“The states 
have great occasion to ask that a series of crucial experiments shall de- 
cide whether (a) a Texas animal sick with the fever imparts the disease, 
(b) or whether a well Texas animal may be the host of the virulent par- 
ticle, (c) or what relation animals that contract the disease from either of 
these bear to its propagation.” 
For myself, approaching the subject four years ago without any skep- 
ticism and free from bias, I have been forced, from very extensive corre- 
spondence, study, and observation, to come to the conclusion that it is not 
proven that “ Texas fever is disseminated habitually, or at all, by the 
passage of healthy Texas cattle through a previously uninfected district, 
or that this disease presents any exception to the ordinary rules govern- 
ing the spread of disease of the class to which it belongs.” 
Several gentlemen have interested themselves, and given me aid in 
collecting material for this report. 
Dr. Farwood, on the staff of Lieut. General Sheridan, and Dr. Appel, 
Post Surgeon at Fort Elliott, have written very interesting communica- 
tions concerning the dissemination of Texas fever among the herds near 
Forts Sill and Elliott, and Camp Supply, Tex. Drs. Gardner, Tesson, 
and Boyer have written of the Texas fever appearing near Fort Davis. 
The bulk of observations made for these tables has been made by 
Drs. Ainsworth, Tesson, Carter, Maddox, Roane, Buffington, McLain, 
Boyer, Finley, Harmer, Wolf, Robinson, Robertson, and Hospital 
Steward Fegan, all of the U. S. A.