AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY HISTORY RECORD
MARCH 2003 — NUMBER 36 The Australian Veterinary History Record is published by
the Australian Veterinary History Society in the months of
March, July and November.
Please take the opportunity to visit the AVHS web page
Editor: Dr. I.M. Parsonson, 2/1 Coape Street, Cheltenham,
Victoria 3192 ………………. Office bearers of the Society:
President: Dr. J.T. Faragher
Secretary/Treasurer: Dr. J.H. Auty 3/400 Latrobe Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000 Phone 03 9328 5214
Librarian: Dr. R. Roe
Committee Members:
Dr. Patricia McWhirter Dr. Paul Canfield Dr. John Fisher
The Australian Veterinary History Society is a Special Interest Group of the Australian Veterinary Association. All who are interested in any aspect of veterinary history may join. Annual subscription is $15. Enquiries to the President, Dr. Trevor Faragher, 28 Parlington Street, Canterbury, Victoria 3126, Australia. Tel/Fax 61 3 9882 6412. email
Annual Meeting of the AVHS Cairns, 26 May 2003 PROGRAM DETAILS ...1 ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS ...2
Gilruth up North Dr Chris Bunn
North Queensland; A Tropical Veterinary Laborator y Professor RSF Campbell AM
Observations on the Development of Veterinary Science in ...3 North Queensland from 1950 to 1980 . Dr JN Aubrey,
Bluetongue in Australia – a breakthrough for the World. ...4 Dr TD St.George Meliodidosis: how far has our knowledge really progressed? ...5 Dr AD Thomas
The 2001 B ritish FMD Epizootic in Historical Contex t. Dr J Fisher ...5
ARTICLES Alfred Lionel Rose OBE AM BVSc 1898-1980 Dr RI Taylor ...6
A Note on the Early History of Johne ’s Disease; PJ Mylrea ...7
8th Biennial Conference of the ...9 Australian Society of the History of Medicine
The AVA Historical Collection Dr RI Taylor, Honorary Curator ..10
A Note on the Teaching of the History of Medicine . ..10 William Osler MD FRS
Innovations and Inventions in the Australian Sheep Industr y ..11 2. The Plunge Dip and the Drafting Race Ian Parsonson
On This Day: report from The Times 5 September 1904 ..18 Annual Meeting O f The Australian Veterinary History Society
The Australian Veterinary History Society will meet in Cairns on Monday 26 May 2003 as part of the AVA Annual Conference. We will welcome all members and colleagues to this meeting for the opportunity to renew or to forge friendships, to hear six speakers and later to enjoy a convivial dinner.
PROGRAM
8.30 – 9.15. Gilruth up North Dr Chris Bunn, Watson ACT 2602
9.15 – 10.00. North Queensland; A Tropical Veterinary Laborator y Professor RSF Campbell AM, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811
10.00 – 10.30. Morning tea.
10.30 – 12.30 AVA Plenary Session and Conference Opening
12.30 – 1.30 Lunch
1.30 – 2.15. Observations on the Development of Veterinary Science in North Queensland from 1950 to 1980. Dr JN Aubrey, Mundingburra Qld. 4812 and Dr. LAY Johnston, Lismore Heights NSW 2480.
2.15 – 3.00. Bluetongue in Australia – a breakthrough for the World. Dr TD St.George, Chapel Hill, Qld 4069.
3.00 – 3.30- Afternoon tea.
3.30 – 4.15. Meliodidosis: how far has our knowledge really progressed? Dr AD Thomas, Oonoonba Veterinary Laboratory, Townsville Qld.
4.15 –5.00 The 2001 B ritish FMD Epizootic in Historical Context. Dr J Fisher, School of Policy, University of Newcastle NSW 2300
5.00 AVHS Annual General Meeting
7.30. AVHS Dinner – to be arranged.
1 ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS
Gilruth up North Dr C Bunn, Watson ACT 2602
Dr Ian Clunies Ross described Dr Gilruth as "An unforgettable character to all who were privileged to know him and one to whom the appellation ‘great’ was instinctively applied". In 1912 after a successful career in New Zealand and while still new in the job as Professor of Veterinary Science in Melbourne, Dr Gilruth was offered the position of first Commonwealth Administrator of the Northern Territory. Seven years later he was hounded out of Darwin. At its climax more than a 1000 men marched through Darwin, stormed Government House and burnt an effigy of the administrator. Respected by pastoralists, reviled by trade unionists and rejected by politicians summarises Gilruth’s time in Darwin. Did Gilruth fail as an administrator, was he a victim of circumstances or was he even guilty of corruption? Later becoming a consultant, Dr Gilruth was lost from veterinary science when he would have been at the peak of his career.
North Queensland: A Tropical Veterinary Laborator y. Professor RSF Campbell AM, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811
North Queensland has been the location of veterinary and medical research for over a century. The Queensland Department of Primary Industry carried out classical studies on the tick fevers and other problems from 1894 and CSIRO has had inputs for many years. A new chapter in research began in 1969 with the establishment of a graduate school of Tropical Veterinary Science at James Cook University in Townsville. Dedicated to the needs of both Australia and the tropics generally, the school has concentrated on the study of infectious diseases and aspects of livestock production. Emphasis has been given to microbiology and immunology, parasitology, pathology and to nutrition and animal breeding. Studies on aquatic pathobiology and wildlife diseases have also been promoted. The development of vaccines, diagnostic methods and kits have been among the outputs of the school. The establishment of a medical school and tropical agriculture at James Cook University were significantly influenced by the work of the Graduate School of Tropical Veterinary Science. The evolution and diversification of the School to the present day, including aspects of public health, comparative medicine and aquatic research will be illustrated and its global impact on veterinary and human medicine outlined with examples from Australia, Asia and Africa. 2 Ob s e rvations on the D e velopment of Ve t e ri n a r y Science in No rt h Queensland from 1950 to 1980. Dr JN Aubrey, Mundingburra Qld 4812 and Dr LAY Johnston, Lismore Heights NSW 2480.
As with all development in Northern Australia, veterinary science depended on the support of politicians and State and Federal Governments. The bovine tuberculosis eradication campaign encouraged private practitioners to establish practices in areas that would have been not financially viable without government TB testing contracts. In 1952 Aubrey and Webster established pioneer veterinary practices in North Queensland in Townsville and Malanda. In time, more veterinarians followed and established practices in Cairns, Innisfail, Ingham, Ayr, Bowen, Mackay, Charters Towers, Mt Isa, Cloncurry, Richmond, Hughenden and Quamby. The Queensland Government had a very good veterinary service in operation in North Queensland by 1950 and during the next 30 years the service continued to improve. Veterinarians worked establishing veterinary services for cattle husbandry, sheep and wool, and improved veterinary diagnostic and research facilities at the Animal Health Station at Oonoonba, Townsville. CSIRO Division of Animal Health established a research group in Townsville in 1964 at The Davies Laboratory, followed later by The Division of Animal Physiology. Research Stations were developed at Lansdowne near Woodstock and Magnetic Island. Both these research programs were closed in 1978 and the staff were relocated in southern Australia. James Cook University established the Department of Tropical Veterinary Science in Townsville in 1969 and had a comprehensive post graduate teaching and research facility with predominantly international students participating. Two students completed their MSc studies in 1971 and by 1989, 100 students were enrolled in postgraduate courses. In 1997 the Department retained some staff at James Cook University in the Australian Institute of Tropical and Veterinary Animal Sciences. The history of this group will make an interesting subject for another meeting of the Australian Veterinary History Society. During the three decades under discussion, the Australian Veterinary Association was a uniting force among all the different veterinary disciplines and personalities. Communication problems at national and international levels existed over the years; some recollections of professional life in Northern Australia during those years will be discussed by both authors.
13 Bluetongue in Australia – a B reakthrough for the World. Dr TD St.George, Chapel Hill, Queensland 40679.
Bluetongue was first manifested as a severe or fatal disease of sheep in Africa. The causative virus also infected cattle, rarely with any clinical signs. Outbreaks and epidemics apparently extended to southern Europe and parts of Asia. Bluetongue was diagnosed in the southern United States and there was a general fear in the 1950s that it was spreading around the world. Severe quarantine restrictions were imposed to prevent bluetongue from entering Australia through imported ruminants. Training of CSIRO virologists and entomologists to prepare for the entry began in the late 1950s. The distribution and biology of Culicoides species, the insect vectors of bluetongue virus, was progressively delineated. The discovery that bluetongue virus was in Australia in October 1977 had an enormous disruptive effect on Australia’s primary industry and exports. At that time, no cases of clinical disease in sheep had been detected in Australia. A surveillance system found eight serotypes of bluetongue virus in the next decade. Two were endemic and six others appeared to enter the far north of the Northern Territory in some wet seasons and die out. The Australian sheep flock was protected from the relevant vector species by climatic factors in an ecological balance. The surveillance techniques developed in Australia that involved isolating bluetongue viruses from healthy sentinel cattle were subsequently used in Central and South America and Asia. By 1990, it was clear that bluetongue viruses were endemic in ruminants in a broad band of the tropics and subtropics around the world. Clinical bluetongue was confined to susceptible sheep imported into this endemic zone or by extension of infected vectors to adjacent temperate regions. Bluetongue remains as a limit on trade in live ruminants and is trivial as a killing disease of sheep. Australia is zonally free of blue tongue.
4 Melioidosis: H ow far has our Knowledge really progressed? Dr AD Thomas, Oonoonba Veterinary Laboratory, Townsville, Qld 4810.
Since its discovery in man in 1911, ‘Whitmore’s bacillus’ has undergone numerous name changes (13 to date). It can be readily isolated from soil and water; can be more easily identified in the laboratory by biochemical, serological and molecular methods; can be generally treated with a larger range of anti-bacterial agents; and can be genetically manipulated with the hope of developing an effective vaccine. But how much do we really know about Burkholderia pseudomallei, an amazing organism that can mimic the symptoms and signs of other diseases and cause-delayed reactions in the host for up to 26 years?
The 2001 B ritish FMD Epizootic in Historical Context Dr J Fisher, School of Policy, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308.
The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epizootic in Britain in 2001 led to two major inquiries, which appeared in July 2002. These were the ‘Foot and Mouth Disease: Lessons to be Learned’ Inquiry and the Royal Society Inquiry ‘Infectious Diseases in Livestock.’ Despite some scathing criticism of the conduct of the eradication program mounted, the inquiries generally endorsed the continuing use of slaughter against FMD, albeit with advice to monitor its continuing relevance in the light of related advances in science and in livestock production and trade. It is argued in this paper that such changes, together with other trends, leads to the conclusion that the use of slaughter against FMD, and infectious livestock diseases generally, has become outmoded in the European context. The argument is advanced in the context of a review of the history of slaughter policies in Western Europe.
5 Alfred Lionel Rose OBE AM BVSc 1898-1980
Lionel Rose was born and educated in Sydney. He left school in 1916, joined the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) and served in France where he was wounded in action in 1917. He served again in World War II in Syria and New Guinea, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. When Rose returned from World War I in 1919, he entered the Faculty of Veterinary Science and graduated BVSc from the University of Sydney in 1924. He began his veterinary career as a Veterinary Officer in the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. As District Veterinary Officer for southern NSW from 1928 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he made significant contributions to knowledge of the distribution and control of several important diseases of livestock in the region, notably black disease in sheep, enterotoxaemia, blackleg in sheep and toxaemic jaundice. At the conclusion of the war in the Pacific area, Rose was appointed Director of Animal Health in the Northern Territory, based at Alice Springs. He was instrumental in the establishment of a diagnostic and research laboratory at Alice Springs, which proved a valuable adjunct in diagnosis and control. Northern Territory cattle had for many years been regarded as the reservoir of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia. Rose formulated a plan for its eradication. The Commonwealth and St a t e governments adopted the plan and its outcome was successful; Australia is free from pleuropneumonia. He retired in 1958 but continued to live and work in the Northern Territory as a veterinary consultant to pastoral interests and to the Territory government Rose was a member of the Australian Veterinary Association for 60 years. The AVA honoured him with the award of the Gilruth Prize in 1961 and appointed him a Fellow in 1970. On the establishment of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, he was elected an Honorary Life Fellow.
Reference Obituary Australian Veterinary Journal (1980);56: 396
RI Taylor, March 2002
6 A NOTE ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF JOHNE’S DISEASE; PJ Mylrea
Johne’s Disease has come into prominence in Australia in recent years because of the development of programs aimed at control of the condition. To gain insight into the history of Johne’s Disease the author consulted some early literature.
JOHNE’S DISEASE IN CATTLE Much of the early work on the disease and its recognition was carried out in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the results were published in European journals. Fortunately Twort and Ingram 1 gave a very good review in English of the history of Johne’s Disease up to 1913. Their book is the source of some of what follows. Twort and Ingram believe that a report of a disease in cattle with signs of wasting and diarrhoea published by Farrow and Cartwright in the Veterinarian in 1831 ‘leave little doubt that the disease existed in England over 80 years ago.’ Another report describing a condition with diarrhoea and thickening of the intestine in Dutch cattle was given by Hansen in 1881. A major break through came in 1895 when the presence of acid fast bacilli in the thickened intestinal wall was demonstrated by Johne who was a professor at the Veterinary School in Dresden and Frothingham who was an American working with Johne. There were debates on the nature of the acid-fast microorganism. Some considered them to be avian tubercule bacilli while others thought they were attenuated strains of mammalian tubercle bacilli or a saprophytic strain of bovine tubercule bacilli. The presence of acid-fast organisms suggested a relationship to tuberculosis. As a consequence Eu ropeans gave the condition names such as Pa r a t u b e rc u l o s i s , Paratuberculous Enteritis, Enteritis Chronica Pseudotuberculosis bovis and the like. The matter was clarified in 1906 when Bang clearly demonstrated that the infection was an entity separate from tuberculosis. He also demonstrated the experimental transmission of the disease to calves. The final stage in the definition of the disease came in 1911 when Twort cultured the causal organism which he referred to as ‘Johne’s bacillus’ and which is now known as Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. The first report on the occurrence of the disease in British cattle was not published until 1907 2. by Professor J McFaydean from the Royal Veterinary College, London. He found the condition in nine head of cattle from eight farms in various areas of England and concluded that the disease ‘appears to be comparatively common.’ A significant feature of his report was his use of the name ‘Johne’s Disease’ rather than the terms employed in Europe. The name Johne’s disease has endured in English speaking countries.
7 For those readers who are grammatically inclined, the possessive term Johne’s implies that Johne was the owner of the disease. This was a common grammatical practice in the late nineteenth century with another example being Weil’s disease coined in the 1870s, for a severe form of leptospirosis. Looking through medical dictionaries, however, shows that many diseases named after persons do not use the possessive form. A current example is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). On this basis Johne disease is perhaps a more appropriate name than Johne’s disease! RJdeC Talbot was the first person to report the occurrence of Johne’s disease in Australian cattle. 3 He presented his information in 1935 at the 81st general meeting of the Veterinary Association of Victoria (a precursor of the AVA) in Melbourne. In 1936 Albiston and Talbot presented another paper on the disease at the Annual General Meeting of the AVA.4 These papers gave the epidemiology of the disease in Victoria. In brief the introduction of the disease into Victoria was attributed to a bull imported from overseas in 1915 that died in 1922 after having exhibited persistent diarrhoea for two years. By 1936, 13 properties were infected and many of these could trace the infection back to the first mentioned herd.
JOHNE’S DISEASE IN SHEEP The recognition of Johne’s disease in sheep occurred later than in cattle. Stockman in 1911 gave the first report of the disease in sheep.5 Stockman was the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Board of Agriculture, London, and his report was based largely on the work of Mr Craik MRCVS of Alnwick. Craik found sheep with very severe purging and in one flock, 12 sheep out of 65 died. The small intestines were thickened and contained enormous numbers of acid fast microorganisms that were indistinguishable from those seen in affected cattle. In Australia, McCausland published the first record of Johne’s disease in sheep in 1980.6 the disease occurred in a sheep at Bairnsdale that were run in paddocks that had previously held infected cattle. This was, in effect, a transmission trial that showed the spread of infection from cattle to sheep. Seaman and Gardner in 19817 reported the first field occurrence with more details given by Seaman and Thompson in 1984.8 By then the disease had been detected in seven flocks on the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. The source of the infection could not be determined.
JOHNE’S DISEASE IN GO ATS IN AUSTRALIA. In Australia, Johne’s disease was first reported in goats before its identification in sheep. Lenghaus, Badman and Gillick9 (1977) were the first to recognise the disease at the Bendigo Regional Veterinary Laboratory and published their finding in the Australian Veterinary Journal. Affected animals were ill, thrifty and emaciated; acid fast organisms were observed and M paratuberculosis was cultured. All the goats were on one property and the primary source of infection remained undetermined. 8 REFERENCES
1. Twort, FW, Ingram, GYL, (1913) A Monograph on Johne’s Disease. Bailliere, Tindall and Cox, London. 2. McFadyean, J. (1907) Journal Comparative Pathology, 20: 48. 3. Talbot RJdeC, (1935) Australian Veterinary Journal 11: 240. 4. Albiston, HE, Talbot, RJdeC. (1936) Australian Veterinary Journal, 12: 125. 5. Stockman, S. (1911) Journal Comparative Pathology Therapeutics, 24: 66. 6. McCausland, JP. (1980) Australian Veterinary Journal, 56:564. 7. Seaman,JT, Gardner, IA, (1981) Australian Veterinary Journal, 57:102. 8. Seaman, JT, Thompson, DR, Dent, CR, (1984) Australian Veterinary Journal. 61:227. 9. Lenghaus, C, Badman, RF, Gillick, JC. (1977) Australian Veterinary Journal, 53:460.
8th Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine ‘Exploring the boundaries of medicine ’ The University of Melbourne Wednesday 23 - Sunday 27 April 2003 A conference of celebration, exploration and reflection on the history of medicine
50 years of DNA 100 years of Australian Military Health Services 25 years of IVF 50 years of the History of Medicine Society of Victoria 150th Anniversary of The University of Melbourne For further information visit the website
9 THE AVA HISTORICAL COLLECTION Dr Bob Taylor, Honorary Curator. The AVA. Historical Collection was established in 1976 when Dr RI Taylor was appointed Curator. From small beginnings, the Collection has expanded over the last 25 years. It is at present located in a storage facility at Fyshwick ACT following the sale of AVA House Canberra in 1999.
The Collection comprises old instruments, photographs, memorabilia, books and items of real veterinary historical interest. Many of the items are rare and irreplaceable. Eventually it is hoped to establish a small museum to display some material for public viewing. It is one of over 40 veterinary museums and is affiliated world wide through the World Association of Veterinary History. We appeal to members to donate items to the Collection. All will be gratefully received, acknowledged and catalogued. The Collection is accessible to members and researchers of Veterinary History by request to the Curator.
A note on the teaching of the history of medicine by William Osler MD FRS
"... Once a week, over a little "beer and baccy," I meet my clinical clerks in an informal conference upon the events of the week. For half an hour I give a short talk on one of the "Masters of Medicine," in which, as far as possible, the original editions of the works are shown. In the present crowded state of the curriculum it does not seem desirable to add the "History of Medicine" as a compulsory subject. An attractive course will catch the good men and do them good, but much more valuable is it to train insensibly the mind of the student into the habit of looking at things from the historical standpoint, which can be done by individual teachers who themselves appreciate the truth of Fuller's remark: "History maketh a young man to be old, without either wrinkles or grey hairs; privileging him with the experience of age, without either the infirmities or inconveniences thereof.Yea, it not onely maketh things past present, but inableth one to make a rationall conjecture of things to come. For this world affordeth no new accidents, but in the same sense wherein we call it a new Moon, which is the old one in another shape, and yet no other then what hath been formerly. Old actions return again, furbished over with some new and different circumstances."
(British Medical Journal 1902; ii:93)
10 INNOVATIONS AND INVENTIONS IN THE AUSTRALIAN SHEEP INDUSTRY 2. THE PLUNGE DIP AND THE DRAFTING GATE IM Parsonson
William Lockhart Morton was born at Green Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 19 December 1820. 1, 2 He obtained entrance to the University of Glasgow and studied Engineering until the Depression of the 1840s forced him to curtail his studies because of financial difficulties. At this time he decided to migrate to Australia where he considered that opportunities were much better. Morton was a passenger on the barque Benares that sailed from Greenock on 6 August 1841 and arrived at Port Phillip in February 1842. During the voyage he invented a hydraulic apparatus (a pump) for the vessel to reduce bilge-water levels. The pump was self-acting and was dependent on wave action to function. He later offered the device to the British Admiralty but it was pigeonholed. His other pastime on the ship was as a contributor of poetry and articles to the ship’s paper, The Benares Times. Morton had several letters of introduction to present on his arrival in Melbourne, which enabled him through friends, to meet a squatter from the Western District. The squatter, whom Morton did not name, promised him that he would obtain ‘colonial experience’ as his employee. Later Morton found that this meant learning to be a shepherd, 3 not Morton’s idea of the type of experience he was seeking. Morton’s descriptions of Melbourne of that time are of historical interest although he only stayed two days. His acute observations of the early town and its inhabitants provide a glimpse of a bygone era. Morton used his excellent powers of observation to later record his early impressions of the flora, fauna and geology of the Victorian countryside. These early travels by foot provided him with experience of the Australian bush for his explorations later in life. Morton travelled from Melbourne by the steamer, Aphrasia to Geelong, where he was to meet the squatter who was to employ him. The squatter told Morton that he would have to walk to the property as Morton didn’t have a horse and there was no other means of transport. Morton set out from Geelong to walk to the sheep station that was about 100 miles to the west across country from Geelong. On the way Morton had some interesting encounters with many of the early settlers of the region whom he names in his chronicle of the journey. When Morton eventually arrived at the station he was appalled by the behaviour of the squatter’s employees. Morton declined to associate with such people, whom he described as the very worst of the Tasmanian gaolbirds who had migrated to the new settlement at Port Phillip. After a short stay of a few days Morton retraced his steps to Geelong where he went
11 to work for Miss Anne Drysdale on her sheep station at Barrengoop on the Barwon River. Miss Drysdale’s family lived near the Morton family in Scotland so they were acquainted. Morton worked for Anne Drysdale for six months until he became the manager of a station for Captain Joseph S Pollock, (Pollock’s Plains Station at Lake Colac). The sheep on Pollock’s station suffered from scab, an external parasitic skin infestation caused by a mite Psoroptes ovis. Scab was a common disease of sheep at the time. The treatment in vogue for scab on the station at that time was corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride) solution and the result of its frequent use was to make the skin of the backs of many of the sheep hard and board-like. The method of treatment consisted of catching the sheep by the hindlegs in folds or yards, tying up their legs, then dipping them into the mercuric chloride solution and lifting them on to a grating to drain. The sheep’s back was then scraped with an iron hoop before they were released. Due to the constant contact with mercuric chloride most of the men were affected to some extent with mercury poisoning. At this time, Morton developed the ‘Dip’ (plunge dip) for treating sheep, a description of which he published in The Geelong Advertiser. This innovation meant that the rate of dressing sheep could be increased from one or two hundred in a day to over 10,000. Without the ‘plunge dip’ it would have been almost impossible to eradicate sheep scab.4 Years later, Rolf Boldrewood 5, writing in The Australian Graziers Guide stated "From one of the fertile intellects which have always been associated with stock in some parts of Australia in this emergency was evolved ‘the dip’, one of the most beneficent inventions ever provided for the suffering stockholder in his hour of need. Instead of a tub, a large watertight tank, made something after the fashion of a soak-pen in a sheep-wash, was put up. By its side huge boilers kept the water at a proper temperature, and from time to time renewed the infusion with which the tank was filled. A succession of small yards guided the sheep to the ‘race’ - another Australian invention - by which the sheep followed one another rapidly through a passage too narrow to permit of their turning round; and finally they slide down a slide which terminated the race, and plunged head over ears into the steaming and sulphurous pool, to emerge saturated and staggering upon the battens of the draining-yard, there to stand until the great part of the costly liquid poured from them and flowed back by conduits, duly arranged, into the dip. No handling, no catching, no delay was necessary in this rapid and efficient mode of treatment. The flock ran through almost as fast as if crossing a river, and several thousands a day could be treated thus even more thoroughly than by the old manual system." In a letter in the late 1850s to his brother Daniel, James Ritchie from the Victorian Western District wrote about scab, which, as a result of legislation, was going to incur heavy penalties by the end of May. "And better far than that I have just discovered a method of washing and dressing Sheep which enables me to run 12 through the dressing trough as many as 8000 in a day without handling the Sheep. It is done by a narrow lane and an inclined plain to the water or trough."6 The economic problems were so bad that in the Port Phillip District pastoral properties were almost unsaleable in 1842, currency was in short supply and only a few properties were sold with sheep selling at two shillings and sixpence per head.7 In June 1843, Henry O’Brien’s innovative idea of ‘Boiling Down’ sheep and cattle for tallow and the hide assured floor prices for stock and enabled stability to be returned to the markets. Boiling down saved many graziers and farmers from ruin. In 1845 Morton obtained the position of manager of Sutton Grange Station near Mt. Alexander where he remained for three years. In September 1847 Morton and some of his men were returning sheep from an outstation to Sutton Grange to be shorn. Morton described the incident that led to the development of the drafting gate and race. Morton’s sheep were to be camped overnight on the east side of Lake Buloke when they met up with one of Donald and Hamilton’s men with a flock of recently shorn sheep. The sheep were hungry and broke away from the shepherd late in the night and became mixed with Morton’s flock. The flocks were so mixed that they had to be driven back to Corack where there was a yard large enough to hold all the sheep before they could be separated. Morton found there was no room in the yard to draft the sheep by catching them by the leg, as was the custom. So he improvised a run to a gateway within the yard and he and a man stood either side with a pole each and touched the shorn sheep on the face to deter them from entering the race and thus kept them in the yard allowing the unshorn sheep to go out. By this means they soon had the two flocks separated. Morton claimed that this experience crystallised his thoughts and led to the development of the drafting race. After the shearing was completed, Morton turned his attention to developing the swing-gate. Sheep could be run down a narrow race with a gate at the opening to regulate a steady flow of animals and enable the sheep to be sorted into two holding yards. He built the structure for the drafting race at Sutton Grange and, after ensuring its successful use, wrote a letter to The Argus on New Year’s Day 1848.8 Morton wrote the letter to inform the pastoral industry of his invention and as he stated, "There was no Patent Act in force then". On the 14 January 1848 The Melbourne Argus published William Lockhart Morton’s letter to the Editor, which had been written from Sutton Grange Station near Mt. Alexander,Victoria, on the l January 1848.
To the Editor of the Melbourne Argus Sir - Conceiving that the following plan for drafting sheep is of considerable importance, I shall feel obliged by your giving it publicity for the benefit of the community. I have this day tried it with the most perfect success, having, with two men and the shepherd, in a short time and without labour, drafted four thousand 13 sheep, and, what is of great importance in many respects, not a sheep was handled. This is accomplished by the following means: - From the yard containing the mixed flock let a long passage be formed - say ten or twelve yards in length - converging from eighteen to two feet; it should then be extended eighteen feet further, converging from two feet to one foot four inches. At the distance of five feet from the end of this passage, and exactly opposite to it, let a post be set up, on which hang a light gate that can be moved from side to side within the end of the narrow part. There may be either one yard to receive on sort, whilst the other is allowed to walk away - or there may be a yard on each side; care, however, must be taken to allow the sheep to move right onward from the gate, to induce those coming along the narrow passage to follow. One man is required to set the sheep in motion along the passage - another, who should be partly concealed, holds the gate, by moving which steadily and slowly from one side to the other, each sort is allowed to pass into its own yard. Even if sheep of different sorts come alternately, they can thus be separated with the greatest ease and without mistake. If there are more than two sorts to be parted, there may be gates and yards on each side of the narrow passage, near to the principle (sic) gate. I have the honor to remain, Your’s &c W.L. MORTON Mount Alexander, Jan 1, 1848."
The letter described an invention, which Morton claimed introduced a method of sorting sheep. The drafting-race was destined to have a profound effect throughout the Australian sheep industry and although there have been some minor modifi- cations and additions, the basic design has not changed. An article, which was written anonymously entitled ‘Drafting Sheep’, appeared in the Geelong Advertiser on 23 August 1849. The article went into considerable detail and provided a plan of the yards and the position of the race.9 Morton married Mary Anne Stone in Geelong on 20 March 1849, and, subsequently they had four sons. The two younger sons died of rheumatic fever in their early twenties. The eldest son became a stockbroker and the second son a Presbyterian Minister in South Australia. Morton went into partnership with Joseph Raleigh in a pastoral property Morton Plains, near Birchip,Victoria. However, Morton soon had a disagreement with his partner and relinquished his share. Over the next several years Morton either managed sheep properties in central Victoria or owned them up to 1853. He later purchased Salisbury Downs Station, near Deniliquin, New South Wales. 14 Drought and diseases in the sheep finally drove him to abandon his property and return to Melbourne in 1855. A meeting of the Council of Agriculture on 6 August 1858 at the Crown Lands Office was held to decide on the merits of seven claims for the Argus newspaper Gold Cup.10 The meeting decided that two claimants whose claim details appear below should share the honour. They were - Mr WL Morton Mr J Mackintosh. Morton’s claim was, as the introducer of the greatest number and best description of agricultural machines and implements, as the importer of a great variety of seeds of different kinds, for a collection of which the Port Phillip Farmers’ Society’s gold medal had been awarded him, as well as several parcels of seed wheat and barley; as the giver of a prize plough, to be competed for at the last champion match; and also as the writer of various letters on irrigation, and other important subjects, which had appeared in the newspapers.
Mackintosh’s claim was, for his improved system of farming, and the superiority of his horse stock; having imported many very valuable animals within the year, and for having successfully originated the movement for bringing the hay elevator into use. In July 1859, Morton invited twenty businessmen to invest in an expedition to the Burdekin area of Queensland to search for a harbour and a site for a port. Morton was hoping that a reward from the Government might result for success in the venture. This scheme was not adopted but later in the year, Morton and two companions explored the country to the north of Rockhampton. A detailed account, the Notes of a recent personal visit to the unoccupied portions of Northern Queensland, was published in 1860 by the Philosophical Institute of Victoria. Morton carried out explorations of the Victorian Mallee in search of water and pastures and in 1864, explored Gippsland. He was an acute observer and a meticulous recorder. Wherever he was, he studied the geological formations closely looking for minerals and his descriptions of the Queensland coal deposits make interesting reading today. Morton was among the people in Victoria who were advocating acclimatisation. In a paper read before the Royal Society of Victoria on 8 October 1860, he set out the aims of his proposal that he claimed, "Bears directly upon the material welfare and advancement of this colony... Actuated by this conviction, I began to endeavour to find out what seeds and plants are cultivated, and what animals are reared and kept with the greatest amount of profit in other countries of the world.11 He helped start The Yeoman and Australian Acclimatiser in 1861, which was published weekly and was eventually incorporated in a weekly paper, The Australasian, in 1864. 15 At this time Morton inquired about patent rights for his two inventions, the plunge sheep dip and the swing gate, as some influential squatters had suggested a collection of subscriptions to form a substantial remuneration for the inventor. A controversy resulted in the newspapers of the time during which several pastoralists and other persons claimed to have invented or used the concepts before Morton.12, 13 However, despite the claims and the newspaper articles an inquiry of the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament found that Morton was the sole inventor of both these innovative designs. The Select Committee upon the Claim of William Lockhart Morton delivered its final report in 1886. The Committee concluded that Mr Morton had invented the improved ‘Sheep Dip’ and ‘Swing-gate’, at a time when there were no means in the colonies of obtaining letters patent. These inventions had been of immense practical benefit, and it was thought that without the inventions it would be impossible to handle the flocks now held by various owners in the colony. The Committee was of the opinion that the ingenuity displayed by Mr Morton should be recognised.14 The exploratory journeys that Morton made in New South Wales and Queensland, although successful, brought Morton few rewards. He had tried for years to obtain land leases and claimed he was often bypassed, as he would not give bribes. Eventually in 1871, he obtained 60 blocks of land in dry country near Cobar and he and two sons took up the blocks in 1877. Both his sons died of rheumatic fever on the property and drought eventually drove Morton off the land. Morton was a prolific writer and a deep thinker who was often well ahead of his contemporaries. An article by Morton in the Victorian Review in 1882 was a plea for Federation of the Colonies. In 1884 he was advocating separation of the Riverina District from New South Wales, a proposition that has often been promoted since. Morton moved to South Australia to live in Belair with his son William Lockhart Morton junior who was a Presbyterian Minister.William Lockhart Morton senior died on 10 March 1898.15 Morton’s contribution to the rural industries of Australia was enormous, it transformed the methods of sheep husbandry of the day and laid the foundations for the eradication of sheep scab. Both the drafting yard and the plunge dip were adapted for handling cattle. In his day Morton was seen as clever and thorough, though inclined to be difficult, and he was sometimes accused of ‘carrying a chip on his shoulder’. Morton is best remembered for his explorations and for the valuable contributions that he made to husbandry in the early development of the Australian sheep industry.
16 References
1. Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1851-1890, p 302.
2. Henderson, Alexander, Henderson’s Australian Families, a genealogical and biographical record. Volume 1. Melbourne, A. Henderson, 1941. pp.117-119
3. Randell, J.O. Editor, Adventures of a pioneer,William Lockhart Morton. Melbourne, Queensberry Hill Press, 1978. pp 15-25.
4. ibid, p. 28
5. Boldrewood R. 1879, Australian Graziers Guide 1 Sheep & 11 Cattle. Edited J.S. Ryan (1994) Centre for Australian Language and Literature Studies, University New England Armidale. pp. 80-81.
6. Kiddle M., 1983 Men of Yesterday. Melbourne, Melbourne University Press. p. 202.
7. ibid, p. 36
8. Argus newspaper, 14.1.1848.
9. Geelong Advertiser, 23.8.1849. p.2.
10. Argus newspaper, 7.8.1858. p.5.
11. Morton, W.L., (1856) Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria vol. 5 pp.153-159.
12. Geelong Register, 29 April 1865, p.2.
13. Geelong Register, 17 May 1865, p.4.
14. Victorian Parliamentary Papers 1885-1900. Final Report (D.4) 1886 1 1103.
15. Australian Dictionary Biography, op.cit, p.303.
17 On This Day On 5 September 1991, The Times, London, republished the following report,that was originally published in The Times on 5 September 1904. On republication, a preface was added:Autumn manoeuvres, involving a wide deployment of troops, marked the culmination of the Army's annual training schedule. Columns of print were devoted to the progress of these mock battles, but rarely do they provide such a dramatic news story as this.
STAMPEDE OF ARMY HORSES The whole of the force forming the invading army marched on Saturday from Avington Park to Southampton. The transport wagons arrived shortly after 12 and the main force soon afterwards. They had a dreary march from Winchester, drizzling rain descending during the greater part of the journey. Shortly before noon the weather cleared and the sun shone brightly. A considerable crowd assembled in the afternoon on Southampton common, which is the principal camping ground and is ideally within two miles of the town. During the morning Brigadier General Eyre Crabbe (Chief staff officer) visited Southampton Docks for the purpose of conferring with the embarkation officer. Five of the troopships arrived on Saturday and the remainder were due yesterday. Thirty horse boats have also arrived from Portsmouth. The embarkation will begin about 6 o'clock this morning and continue throughout the day. An unfortunate affair occurred early yesterday morning in the mounted infantry camp. A horse of the 8th Hussars broke a leg, and a veterinary- surgeon shot the animal as it stood in the horse lines. The flash and report so terrified the remainder that they dashed through the camp, trampling tents filled with sleeping men to the ground, and fled over the whole country. Some made their way through the 14th Hussars camp, communi- cating panic to the horses there, and they joined the stampede, over1000 horses breaking away. The result to the animals was most disastrous. Many fell, breaking their legs and necks, while scores were injured by the barbed wire fences andiron-shod picket pegs, which they carried off with them. One drove of about 200 dashed towards the sea and plunged into the water by the harbour. Men in boats put out and turned back as many as possible, landing stages having to be broken down to get the horses ashore. Several animals were drowned.
18 Dr G Fethers - cap badge Australian Army Veterinary Corps circa 1914-1918. Recently donated to the Australian Veterinary History Collection. 19 Another drove of 70 passed through Winchester about 4 o'clock, apparently making for Aldershot. Only three out of the 500 8th Hussar horses remained. Search parties were out all the morning, and up to noon half had beenrecovered. Twenty animals were reported dead. Several men were injured by horses dashing through the camp, and one man is so seriously hurt that his life is despaired of.Two-thirds of the horses were incapacitated by cuts, bruises and fractures. One contingent made for Southampton. They entered the town by several routes at full gallop. Part of the Southampton tramway route is under repair, and horses in their rush came to grief among the obstacles andtrenches and smashed the guiding lanterns to atoms. Like the charge of a cavalry regiment another squadron careered down the High-street and, reaching the ancient Bargate, smashed themselves against the masonry in their frantic efforts to force a way through the narrow passage. It is stated that between 600 and 700 animals in all made their escape, including practically the whole of those belonging to the 8th Hussars, who,it is understood, will not now sail, being probably replaced by the 1st Dragoons. The country was scoured yesterday for miles for the missing animals. Some have been found lying in an exhausted state by the roadside and others, shockingly injured, have had to slaughtered. A telegram from Romsey late last night says: "Up to a late hour from 80 to 100 horses are still missing. Twelve horses have been killed in camp and many others in various directions, while a trainload of wounded horses will be sent to Aldershot for surgical treatment."
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