216 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



individuals should never interfere. The want of such a sanitary 

 organization has cost this country thousands of dollars on various 

 occasions ; and so long as our coast is allowed to remain exposed 

 to the commerce of the world, without a veterinary surgeon at every 

 port, it is purely a matter of chance whether or not we suffer from 

 the malignant diseases of other lands. 



Great Britain, after severe and repeated losses of her blooded 

 stock, has seen the necessity of the adoption of such a sanitary 

 measure for home protection. She has accordingly appointed pro- 

 fessional inspectors at all the principal commercial points in her vast 

 domain ; and very recentl}', several important stations for patholog- 

 ical observations have been created by the British government. This 

 was a noble move, and in the right direction ; and we hope that other 

 nations will follow her illustrious example in behalf of sanitar}' sci- 

 ence. In fact, we need such encouragement everywhere, and the 

 provisions of the Hatch bill fund, soon to be made available, may in 

 certain States bring the desired results. No station work which the 

 Board of Trustees can inaugurate will be more appreciated by the 

 good people of Maine than in this line of experimental pathology ; 

 for you have within this State a malignant disease among cattle that 

 is practically almost unknown. The nature of this raalad}' is not 

 well understood by the farmer, nor very much feared, though usually 

 recognized as consumption. The cow that coughs, grows poor by 

 degrees, even on the best feed, and at last fails in her milk, is fre- 

 quently turned over to the butcher as the last resort. It is rare that 

 an animal in this country is financially lost from this complaint. 

 Some meat- vender will pick up these creatures at any stage of the 

 disease for slaughter, and thus send the flesh to market ; and as 

 cheap lean meat is always in demand among the poorer classes, it is 

 readilv disposed of without complaint, whatever may be the ultimate 

 effect of such a diet. 



In fact, the traffic in diseased animals has now become so extensive 

 that the State ought to control this matter by more active legislation. 

 The public health has become involved, and the importance of a vet- 

 erinary inspector, to thus protect our lives and health against the in- 

 vasion of disease from this source, can no longer be questioned. My 

 attention has been called to this subject many times within the last 

 few 3'ears, and recently' even beyond the borders of New England, 

 consequently, I have felt it my duty to thus publicl}' warn our peo- 

 ple against the baneful practice of consuming the meat and milk of 

 tuberculous animals. 



