Annual Meeting 1129 



With certaiu maladies, especially tuberculosis and glanders, 

 the virus uudoubtedly often gains entrance with the occult cases. 

 It is well known that infected, but apparently sound cattle and 

 horses have often gone down with the disease after being brought 

 into a new environment and that they have spread the death 

 dealing virus to one or more individuals. This fact is not new 

 and methods have been suggested to prevent it by way of apply- 

 ing certain tests such as tuberculin, mallein, agglutination or 

 other specific reactions before accepting the animals. Experi- 

 ence, however, has showm that these tests are not always accur- 

 ate because of the state of the disease at the time they are made. 

 This causes us to look further and in our advisory capacity to 

 suggest that animals must be bought, so far as possible, from 

 sound herds and studs. Here again, present knowledge does not 

 always enable one to ascertain with absolute certainty whether 

 or not the disease exists in any of the other animals. Because 

 of the development of methods of precision there is a feeling 

 that we must always be positive and that it is unprofessional 

 to admit that wo do not know. With material things this may 

 be possible but with living creatures no man has yet fathomed 

 all the mysteries regarding the subtle forces of resistance and 

 susceptibility. The limitation of known tests compels one to 

 look beyond them. Here is the point — have the animals been 

 exposed ? To deteraiine this requires careful records of close 

 observations and proper tests of a herd or stud. These should 

 be so kept that the purchaser could determine from them whether 

 or not he was justified in buying from this herd or stud. I 

 have for several years advocated such examinations, tests and 

 records as a means of guaranty by the owners of the animals. 

 The chief objection that has been raised to such a procedure has 

 been the lack of confidence in the knowledge or ability of the 

 local veterinarian to do such work. When our practitioners 

 become efficient in sanitary work their clients will, I am bold 

 enough to predict, possess signed records of their animals that 

 will warrant a buyer in taking or rejecting any individual. 



I do not wish to belittle any of the methods of precision in 

 diagnosing occult cases, hut I am strongly of the opinion that 

 the repeated application of such tests in isolated cases is not 



