Investigations into the Nature, Causation, and Prevention of Texas or Southern Cattle Fever Page: 118
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TEXAS OR SOUTHERN CATTLE FEVER.
other of these hypotheses can be predicated with any degree of cer-
tainty.
It should be stated that the contents of the bodies of ticks in various
stages of growth have been examined microscopically with considera-
ble care. The abundant particles resulting from the breaking up of
the ingested blood corpuscles obscured the search so that nothing defi-
nite has thus far resulted from it. The very minute size of the micro-
irganism renders its identification well-nigh impossible, an(d any at-
tempts will be fraught with great difficulties.
A question of much interest, but one upon which we have no informa-
tion, is the relation of the. cattle tick to the enzoiitic Texas fever area.
Is the distribution of the tick coextensive with that of the Texas fever
micro-parasite, or does their distribution obey different laws? This
question could be solved by a thorough investigation of a small portion
of the border line of the enzoitic territory. This border line probably
depends on the mean annual temperature, and hence we can not expect
to find it very sharply defined. Ticks may extend farther north during
some seasons than others, and hence there may be a belt or strip on
which cattle are partially insusceptible because of former repeated
attacks, although for the time being ticks may be absent. The entire
subject is at present speculative, and is simply referred to here to arouse
the attention of those who are in a position to record observations
concerning it.
THE RELATION OF SOUTHERN CATTLE TO THE TEXAS-FEVER IN-
FECTION.
What has already been said concerning the tick makes it certain that
all Southern cattle are dangerous when they bear the cattle tick, whether
they are sick or healthy. On the experiment-station fields, the North
Carolina and Texan cattle which called forth Texas fever during the
four years of the investigation were, in general, healthy. Two cows (Nos.
63 and 112) were killed. One of these had impoverished blood, although
positive signs of Texas fever were not detected. Another died of peri-
tonitis. The remainder were healthy, improved on the pastures, and
were sold at the beginning of winter or before.
In the foregoing pages it has been assumed that the tick obtains the
micro-parasite from Southern cattle. Without demonstration it might
be claimed with equal propriety that the micro-parasite belongs essen-
tially to the cattle tick, and that its multiplication in the body of sus-
ceptible cattle is perhaps an accidental phenomenon against which
southern cattle have been amply protected by frequent infection. Ex-
periments made latterly, as well as the microscopic examination of the
blood, prove that the micro-parasite is harbored by Southern cattle in
a state of health. These interesting experiments, as far as they have
been carried up to the present, are briefly summarized here. The coin-
plete record will be found in the appendix under each case.118
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Smith, Theobold & Kilborne, Fred Lucius. Investigations into the Nature, Causation, and Prevention of Texas or Southern Cattle Fever, book, 1893; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143538/m1/118/?q=%221863%22&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.