CORN-STALK DISEASE IN CATTLE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1289, 12 November 1896, Page 5

CORN-STALK DISEASE IN CATTLE.

Some time ago, says the London Field, when American cattle which were landed in this country were certified to be affected with contagious lung plague - pleuro-pneutnonia it was commonly urged by the exporters that the animals were only suffering from " corn-stalk disease," a mysterious malady with which veterinarians in Europe did not appear to be familiar. The title would naturally suggest that a malady which was due to com stalks must be a dietetic disorder ; bub the allegation was made in reference to a disease of the lungs, and was not in any way intended to refer to the digestive organs, which were not implicated in pleuro-pneumonia. Inquiries as to the true nature of the corn stalk disease and its relation to disorders of the lungs did not elicit any useful information, and for a considerable period the matter remained in abeyance. Recently a report issued from the Department of Agriculture at Washington, U.S., unier the direction of Dv E. Halmon, Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry, leaves no room for further speculation on the subject, and indicates, besides, that no speculalion need have been recessuiy, as the disease was investigated by the late I'rofessor John Gamgee for the United States Department of Agriculture as long ago as 18G8. The report which was written on the results of the inquiry shared the fate of many more important documents. It was carefully preserved and forgotten. In the present bulletin (No. 10), dated January, 1896, the works of different investigators are referred to, and these, added to the late inquiry by Dr Veranus A. Moore, form a concise and complete history of a disease which is really what its name indicates, i.e., a disorder of a fatal character induced by eating diseased stalks of maize. First, it was observed by Gamgee that corn smut existed among the maize to an unusual extent in IS6S, and to test the action of the fungus he collected a large quantity of smut free from extraneous material, and employed it in feeding two cows, mixing with it some ground corn, and allowing the j cows as mucl* hay as they required..«

One cow had the corn meal with smut wetted and the other took the mixtme in a dry state. To begin with, 3oz were given daily to each cow, the quantity being increased to 12oz daily. The cow which had the wet meal increased in weight, the other one lost weight, but neither of them suffered any ill effects from eating the smut. From this experiment, it was concluded that smut was not a very active poison in combination with wholesome food.

In the report which was furnished at the conclusion of the inquiry the symptoms and jiost -mortem appearances nf the corn stalk disease were described in detail, and it is noticeable that in its chief features the malady bears a i remarkable resemblance to that which is'occasionally met with in the United Kingdom, especially in Ireland, under the name of grass staggers, or, locally, fardel bound ; the most marked morbid condition being empactment of the third stomach (omasum) with hard cakes of dry food, which are wedged tightly between the leaves or folds of the mucous lining, and adhere so strongly that, when torn away, they carry the epithelium of the mucous membrane on their surfaces. In the Isle of Man the " grass staggers " or "drying up" is in some seasons very prevalant and fatal, and in its symptoms and post-mortem appearances it resembles the corn-stalk disease in some important features. Symptoms are perhaps more important as evidence of the apparent relation between the disease in America and that occurring in the British Isles, because the chief morbid condition which has been referred to, the presence of hard cakes of food between the folds of the third stomach, is met with in other disorders, but the similarity of symptoms in the beginning, taken in con-

nection with the post mortem appearances, is very striking. Constipation is the first sign which is noticed, with a general unthrifty look ; staring coat and dry muzzle, trembling, shivering, head depressed, and an anxious expression of countenanceareamong the symptoms described, and then follow excitement and delirium. All these signs would be recognised by a stockowner whose cattle had suffered from " grass staggers." Professor Gamgee remarks on the curiously diverse effects of empaction of the third stomach on the nerve centre, in one case causing stupor, with listlessness, vertigo, and depression, while in the other form there is excitement and often violent convulsions at the last. From 186 S to 1869 no further inquiry seems to have been made, but in the latter year Dr F. S. Billings made some observations and experi ments which led him to conclude that corn-stalk disease was the consequence of a disease in the decaying corn-stalks, in which he found a microorganism—bacillus, which was also present in the blood and organs of cattle which had died from eating the diseased corn stalks.

Dr Billings succeeded in getting pure cultivations of the bacillus, which he used for inoculating rabbits, and finally cattle, with the result that (he same malady was induced with fatal effects, and the organism was recovered from the blood and organs of the inoculated animals.

Dr Billings suggests as a means of prevention that all diseased corn stalks should be destroyed, and also that animals which die of the disease should be burned or buried.

Dr Veranus A. Moore's inquiry appears to have included the ground traversed by the previous investigators, and his conclusions, based on experimental evidence, do not always accord with theirs. For example, the microorganisms found in diseased and decayed corn stalks were not proved to be of a specific character, and any effects on the animals which were fed on them could be explained by reference to their septic qualities. That cattle feeding on corn stalks do suffer from derangement of the digestive organs, with indications of disturbed brain functions, is beyond question, as is also the fact that cases of sudden death are not uncommon among cattle under such circumstances; but it is pointed out that cattle feeding on corn stalks and becoming affected with any disease would, by the ordinary observer, be assumed to have corn-stalk disease. Many deaths occur a few hours after cattle have been turned into the cornstalk fields, and in such case the cause, it is suggested, may be purely mechanical, resulting in hoven, empactment of the rumen, with elimination of gases due to fermentation, a condition which is rapidly fatal, It is admitted, however, that a genuine corn-stalk disease

does exist, and is probably due to some toxic agent in the diseased corn stalk. jßut it is asserted, as the result of an exhaustive inquiry, that the disease is not contagious, and does not threaten the cattle in America, nor those of any country to which American cattle may be senu —in short, that it has no special economic importance.

So far as the symptoms and morbid appearances are concerned, nothing has been added to Professor Gamgee's conclusions as stated in his report in 1868.