[Circular. Quarantine of cattle.] TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, To collectors of customs and others: Circular No. 179, of December 27, 1879, which requires a quarantine of neat cattle imported from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, is amended by adding thereto the following: Neat cattle imported from the countries named may be quarantined at any place which, in the opinion of the collector, may be suitable, and to which they can be transported from the importing vessel at the port of arrival to such place of quarantine by another vessel without further transfer. An inspector will be required to accompany such cattle to the place of quarantine at the expense of the parties. H. F. FRENCH, [Circular.-Regulations governing the treatment and quarantine of imported cattle.] TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., June 8, 1883. To collectors and other officers of the customs: (1) All cattle arriving in the United States from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, or New Zealand, shall be subjected to a quarantine of ninety days, counting from the date of shipment. It shall be the duty of the veterinary inspector at each port to see that the cattle imported shall be securely guarded against the risk of transmitting or receiving con. tagion until they shall have entered the quarantine grounds, and all imported cattle shall be under his control from the time of landing until they reach the quarantine grounds. He shall also be superintendent of the quarantine, and shall have charge of the grounds, buildings, yards, and all property thereto belonging. Collectors of customs are requested to co-operate with the veterinary inspectors and health authorities in enforcing these regulations, and will take such action as the facts and regulations may require. (2) Imported cattle shall be examined by the Government veterinary inspector before they leave the wharves, and if any are there found to be suffering from any of the following diseases-lung plague, rinderpest, aphthous (eczematous) fever-they shall not be admitted to the established quarantine grounds, but shall be quarantined elsewhere, at the expense of the importer, or be dealt with in such other manner as the veterinary inspector, in co-operation with the State or municipal authorities shall determine. (3) In case of imported animals proving to be thus infected, such portions of the cargo of the vessel as have been exposed to the cattle or their emanations shall be subjected, under the direction of an inspector, to fumigation with gas from burning sulphur, or to such other disinfection as may be considered by the veterinary inspector of the port necessary before they can be landed. (4) No litter, fodder, or other aliment, nor any ropes, straps, chains, girths, blankets, poles, buckets, or other things used for or about the animals, and no manure shall be landed, excepting under such regulations as the veterinary inspector shall provide. (5) On moving cattle from the ocean steamer to the quarantine grounds, they shall not be unnecessarily passed over any highway, but must be placed on the cars at the wharves or removed to the cars on a boat which is not used for conveying other cattle. If such boat has carried sheep, goats, or swine within three months antecedent, it must be first cleansed and then disinfected under the supervision of the veterinary inspector, and after the conveyance of the imported cattle the boat shall be disinfected in the same manner before it can be again used for the conveyance of cattle. The expense of such disinfection shall be paid by the United States. When passage across or upon a public highway is unavoidable in the transportation of imported cattle from the place of landing to the quarantine grounds, it must be under such careful supervision and restrictions as the veterinary inspector may, in special cases, direct. (6) The banks or chutes used for loading and unloading imported cattle shall be reserved for such animals or shall be cleansed and disinfected, as above, before and after being used for such imported cattle. (7) The railway cars used in the transportation of cattle to the quarantine grounds shall either be cars reserved for this exclusive use or box cars not otherwise employed in the transportation of meat animals or their fresh products, and after each journey with cattle to the quarantine grounds they shall be disinfected by thorough cleansing and disinfecting under the direction of the Government veterinary inspector. The charge of such disinfection shall be paid by the United States. (8) While cattle are arriving at the quarantine stations, or leaving them, all quarantined stock in the yards adjoining the alley ways through which they must pass shall be rigidly confined to their sheds. (9) Cattle arriving by the same ship may be quarantined together in one yard and shed, but those coming on different ships shall, in all cases, be placed in separate yards. (10) The gates of all yards shall be kept locked, except when cattle are entering or leaving quarantine. (11) The attendants on cattle in particular yards are forbidden to enter other yards and buildings, except such as are occupied by stock of the same shipment with those under their special care. No dogs, cats, or other animals, except those necessarily present shall be allowed in the quarantine grounds. (12) The allotment of yards shall be under the direction of the veterinary inspector of the port, who shall keep a register of the cattle entered, with description, name of owner, name of vessel in which imported, date of arrival and release, and other important particulars. (13) The veterinary inspector shall see that water is regularly furnished to the stock, and the manure removed daily, and that the prescribed rules of the station are enforced. (14) Food and attendance must be provided by the owners of the stock quarantined. Employés of such owners shall keep the sheds and yards clean, to the satisfaction of the veterinary inspector. (15) "Smoking" is strictly forbidden within any quarantine inclosure. (16) No visitor shall be admitted to the quarantine station without special written permission from the collector of customs of the port, the veterinary inspector, or a member of the Treasury Cattle Commission. Butchers, cattle-dealers, and their employés are especially excluded. (17) No public sale shall be allowed within the quarantine grounds. (18) The inspector shall, in his daily rounds, so far as possible, take the temperature of each animal, commencing with the herds that have been longest in quarantine, and ending with the most recent arrivals, and shall record such temperatures on lists kept for the purpose. In passing from one herd to another he shall invariably wash his thermometer and hands in a weak solution (1 to 100) of carbolic acid. (19) In case of the appearance of any disease that is diagnosed to be of a contagious nature, the veterinary inspector shall notify the chairman or other professional member of the Treasury Cattle Commission, who shall visit the station personally or send a delegate, and on the confirmation of the diagnosis, the herd shall be disposed of according to the gravity of the affection. (20) If the discase should prove to be one of the exotic plagues-lung plague or rinderpest-the animals shall be dealt with in such manner as the veterinary inspector, in co-operation with the State or municipal authorities, shall determine. (21) The yard and shed in which such disease shall have appeared shall be subjected to a thorough disinfection. Litter and fodder shall be burned. Sheds, utensils, and other appliances shall be disinfected as the veterinary inspector may direct. The yard fence and manure-box shall be freely sprinkled with a strong solution of chloride of lime. The flooring of the shed shall be lifted, and the whole shall be left open to the air, and unoccupied for three months. (22) If the contagious disease shall prove to be aphthous fever, anthrax, Texas fever, cow-pox, diphtheria, or scabies, the infected herd shall be rigidly confined to its shed, where disinfectants shall be freely used, and the attendants shall be forbidden all intercourse with the attendants in other yards, and with persons outside the quarantine grounds. CHAS. J. FOLGER, Secretary. [Circular.-Importation of neat cattle. 1 TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., July 30, 1853. To collectors of customs and others: Sections 2493 and 2495 of the Revised Statutes, re-enacted in the act approved March 3, 1883, as sections 2494 and 2495, respectively (p. 6, T. I., new), provide as follows: "SEC. 2494. The importation of neat cattle and the hides of neat cattle from any foreign country into the United States is prohibited: Provided, That the operation of this section shall be suspended as to any foreign country or countries, or any parts of such country or countries, whenever the Secretary of the Treasury shall officially de termine, and give public notice thereof, that such importation will not tend to the introduction or spread of contagious or infectious diseases among the cattle of the United States; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered, and it shall be his duty, to make all necessary orders and regulations to carry this law into effect, or to suspend the same as therein provided, and to send copies thereof to the proper officers of the United States, and to such officers or agents of the United States in foreign countries as he shall judge necessary. "SEC. 2495. Any person convicted of a willful violation of any of the provisions of the preceding section shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court." An act of March 3, 1883, page 613, statutes of second session of Forty-seventh Congress, makes the following appropriation: "To enable the Secretary of the Treasury to co-operate with State and municipal authorities and corporations and persons engaged in the transportation of neat cattle by land or water in establishing regulations for the safe conveyance of such cattle from the interior to the seaboard, and the shipment thereof, so that suchfcattle may not be exposed to the disease known as pleuro-pneumonia or lung plague, and to prevent the spread of said disease and to establish quarantine stations, and provide proper shelter for neat cattle imported, at such ports as he may deem necessary, $50,000.” Although sections 2494 and 2495 of the Revised Statutes as incorporated in the act of March 3, 1883, are not materially changed, they have the force of new law, and the Secretary of the Treasury, by virtue thereof, hereby gives public notice that he has officially determined that the importation of neat cattle, subject to the conditions hereinafter prescribed, will not tend to the introduction or spread of contagious or infectious diseases among the cattle of the United States. The operations of the sections of the law prohibiting the importation of neat cattle and the hides of neat cattle into the United States are therefore suspended, but upon the condition that importers and owners of neat cattle shall submit to and abide by such orders and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury has prescribed, or may from time to time prescribe to carry the above laws into effect. All the existing orders of the Department under the sections which have been revised will remain in force under the present provisions, except as herein modified. All neat cattle arriving in the United States from any part of the world, except North and South America, will be subjected to a quarantine of ninety days, counting from the date of shipment. As the Dominion of Canada maintains quarantine for all imported cattle, no quarantine for cattle imported from Canada is provided. For general information, it is deemed proper to state that permanent arrangements have been completed for quarantine accommodations of imported cattle as follows: At Dearing, for Portland, Me., for about 215 head; at Waltham, for Boston, Mass., for about 300 head; at Garfield, N. J., for New York, for about 450 head; and at Baltimore, Md., for about 350 head, full grown animals, and that these arrangements will be extended as may be deemed necessary. As each importation is kept isolated from all others, full numbers cannot always be accommodated, while larger numbers than the above estimates of small animals may be received. It is obviously impossible to provide at each port for all the cattle that may be imported into the whole country, and all will see the necessity of using the accommodations, where not only shelter is provided at large expense, but veterinary inspectors or custodians are employed at annual salaries. Experience already shows that importers have preferences as to the place of quarantine, so that the station at one port is full while that at another is nearly empty. Importers of cattle, therefore, in order to secure accommodations at the port where the cattle are imported, should give notice to the collector of the expected importation, so as to secure quarantine accommodations, which will be provided in the order in which notice thereof is given. If, owing to lack of accommodations, cattle cannot be quarantined at the port where they arrive, they will be transferred at the expense of the importer to some other quarantine station where sufficient accommodations do exist, preference being given to stations where there is no danger of infection. Where there are more cattle for quarantine than the regular Government stations can accommodate, special arrangements for quarantine outside the stations may be made by the collector of the port where they arrive, upon consultation with the cattle commission or the superintendent in charge. The order by which importers have been allowed to quarantine cattle at such points as they might select, where cattle could be transported by water, is rescinded, and all imported cattle will be quarantined at the Government stations, except as above provided. Consular officers abroad to whom this circular may be sent are requested to bring its contents to the notice of shippers of cattle, so that they may be fully informed of the regulations of this Department upon the subject before making shipments. H. F. FRENCH, [Circular.-Report of United States Treasury Cattle Commission relative to the foot-and-month disease.] TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., August 4, 1883. To collectors of customs and others: A resolution having been adopted by the British House of Commons opposing the importation into Great Britain of cattle from any country in which the foot-andmouth disease prevails, and charges having been made in parliament that such disease prevails in this country, an investigation has been made by the United States Treasury Cattle Commissioners, who find that there is no evidence that American herds are now suffering from the disease. The report of the Commissioners is hereto appended. Should you at any time learn of the existence of such disease in this country, you will please inform this Department of the particulars without delay. H. F. FRENCH, UNITED STATES TREASURY CATTLE COMMISSION, Boston, Mass., July 21, 1883. SIR: Charges having been recently made in the British Parliament that cattle were being shipped from our ports infected with the foot-and-mouth disease, and a majority of the House of Commons having voted for a resolution opposing the importation into Great Britain of cattle from any country in which said disease exists, we feel it our duty to state the facts of the case so far as this country is concerned. After a most extended and almost exhaustive inquiry, your Commission have been able to find no trace of foot-and-mouth disease apart from herds just landed from Great Britain, and which herds have been in every case segregated until the infection has entirely disappeared. The nature and scope of our inquiry may be deduced from our report for 1881. Beginning with the great rendezvous of cattle at Kansas City, Council Bluffs, and Omaha, we have made careful investigations along all the lines of cattle traffic as far as the Eastern seaboard. In this investigation we have included all the great stock-yards where cattle are detained for feeding, watering, sale, &c.; all the great feeding stables connected with distilleries, and starch, glucose, and other factories; all the city dairies where stock-yards exist, and where the herds are replenished from such stock-yards, and to a large extent the great dairying districts, into which cows are drawn from the above-named stock-yards and lines of travel. Up to the present date we have made observations in the stock-yards at the seaboard, the terminal end of our cattle traffic, and that to which all infection must gravitate, but, apart from the imported cases above referred to, we have been unable to find a single case of the foot-and-mouth disease complained of. The significance of the entire absence of this disease along the whole line of our cattle traffic and in the herds into which this traffic leads can be only appreciated when considered in its relation to the nature of the disease and the unmistakable symptoms by which it is manifested. The following points are especially to be noted: (1) The foot-and-mouth disease is perhaps the most contagious malady known. It rarely enters a herd without striking down all the members of that herd simultaneously, or nearly so. (2) The susceptibility to the disease is all but universal on the part of warm-blooded animals, but all cloven-footed animals are especially and about equally predisposed to it. It cannot be overlooked nor covered up, therefore, as can a disease which confines its ravages to a single genus, but sheep, goats, and swine, coming within the range of the infection, contract and manifest the disease as readily and in as marked a way as do cattle. (3) The period of latency on incubation is remarkably short, the eruption of the malady often taking place in thirty-six hours, and rarely being delayed, even in cold weather, beyond six days after exposure to infection. There is, therefore, no opportunity for concealment nor for the disposal of the infected but still apparently sound animals, while a journey of four or six days from the West, with the attendant privations and febrile excitement, would infallibly determine the full eruption of the disease before the stock arrived at the Eastern seaboard, and this although the infection had only been received after the shipment on the cars. (4) The manifestation of the disease is not only so universal in the herd affected, but so prominent and unmistakable that it could not possibly be overlooked. No one could ignore for a moment the swollen digits, the lameness, and the blisters and ulcers between the hoofs; the heat, tenderness, swelling, and blisters or raw sores on the udder and teats, and the abundant frothing and slobbering at the mouth; the frequent loud, smacking noise made with the tongue and palate, and the large round blisters or red, angry sores on the mucous membrane of the mouth. These cannot escape the attention of the owners and attendants, and especially when a whole herd of 10, 50, or 100 are suffering simultaneously, much less can they escape the instructed eye of the professional veterinarian. In this connection it may be well to state that the invasion of foot-and-mouth disease that swept from Canada over Northern New York and New England in 1871 created something closely approaching a panic. The agricultural papers were full of the subject, State boards of agriculture convened and discussed the subject, a convention of delegates from different States met at Albany, N. Y., and it was the engrossing theme for every local farmers' club along the line of infection. This invasion, imported into Montreal with two English cows, fortunately occurred in autumn, and the long seclusion of the herds during the ensuing winter virtually stamped it out, the infection not having extended beyond herds in inclosed pasturages or buildings. Most of our farmers are as ignorant of the disease to-day as they were in 1871, and any new invasion could not fail to produce a similar excitement and consternation. It should be added that our connection with the States, as well as the United States, brings us constant complaints of diseases supposed to be contagious, but we have not found any evidence of the actual existence of the foot-and-mouth disease at any point among our home herds. We cannot pass unnoticed the two latest importations of the disease from England. Two years ago the steamship France, of the National Line, landed in New York a herd of Channel Island cattle suffering from foot-and-mouth disease. These were quarantined by the State authorities, and the infection stamped out. The France, however, after an attempted disinfection, shipped a cargo of American beeves for the return voyage, and these, on arrival in England were condemned as being infected with foot-and-mouth disease. This was undoubtedly contracted on board of ship. The second case is that of the steamship Nessmore, which, in March, 1883, landed in Baltimore a herd of Channel Island cattle suffering from foot-and-mouth disease. These again were secluded, as soon as detected, by the Pennsylvania authorities, and no evil consequences to our home herds can be traced. But the steamship Nessmore, after an attempted disinfection by the agents, shipped a cargo of American fat cattle, and these, on arrival in England, were found to be suffering from foot-and-mouth disease. This infection, unquestionably contracted on board ship, appears to have been the main, if not the sole, occasion of the recent questions and resolution in the British Parliament. That the infection was not derived from American herds, but from English, is beyond all dispute, alike in this case and in that of the France two years ago. The same is true of our extensive invasion in 1871, which was derived from two imported shorthorn cows, and which was thoroughly extinguished without having gained any permanent foothold. We do not deny that other cargoes of American cattle may have been found suffering from the disease in question on arrival in England, but this is amply accounted for by the occasional use, for these cattle, of head-ropes and other appliances that have been previously used for European cattle. But on this point we insist, with the greatest confidence, that there is no evidence whatever that our American herds are now suffering from foot-and-mouth disease, and that that there is as strong evidence of its non-existence as can well be produced on the negative side of the question. JAMES LAW, E. F. THAYER, United States Treasury Cattle Commissioners. Hon. C. J. FOLGER, Secretary of the Treasury. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, SIR: I inclose for your consideration a request from Mr. William Koch that the Secretary of the Treasury will permit 6 head of Swiss cattle, now in quarantine at Garfield, to be transferred to the owner's farm on Staten Island. Similar requests have been received for the transfer of cattle from the quarantine station at Waltham, Mass., near Boston, to the farms of the owners in Vermont. Such requests are frequent, and it is quite natural that each importer of cattle should desire that his herd be excepted from the general rule requiring that imported cattle be kept in quarantine ninety days from the day of shipment. Each importer is sure that he can provide for his own stock cheaper and better than the Government can provide for them, and he is equally sure that his cattle are free from infection, and that. he can keep them so better than the Government can. At every meeting, however, of the breeders and dealers in cattle, all agree that the quarantine system should be maintained, and Congress has provided for its maintenance. The system is now, and its inauguration is attended with many embarrassments. The amount of money ap |