92 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



cii'ciunscribe and control the outbreak. Exposed animals may be 

 vaccina Ud and rendered immune, the carcasses of those tliat have 

 died may be disposed of by biu'iiinjj;-, and the premises may be thor- 

 oughly disinfected. In this way the outbreak is nipped in the bud, 

 as it were. On the other hand, if the diagnosis were not promptly 

 established and there remained a doubt as to whether the disease 

 were anthrax or something else — and the differential diagnosis is 

 sometimes quite difficult — effective measures would not be taken 

 under such conditions. Without a definite diagnosis the carcasses 

 of animals dead of anthrax would be permitted to lie upon the 

 ground, their parts to be distributed by dogs and birds as well as 

 by water and wind, and this may result in the condition that exists 

 in old infected districts. In such districts the germs of this disease, 

 having entered the soil, retain their life and their virulence for many 

 3'ears ;ind are, at all times, available for the infection of animals 

 that pasture over such regions or that drink the water that has 

 drained across infected soils, or that feed upon the crops grown 

 there. 



Similarly, in outbreaks of black-quarter or Rinderseuche, it is of 

 great importance to the animal husbandry and the Commonwealth, 

 to establish promptly an accurate diagnosis. 



In the diagnosis of the above-named diseases and of rabies, gland- 

 ers and hog cholera, the laboratory has rendered valuable assist- 

 ance, and is called upon for aid b}' veterinarians, health officers 

 and live stock owners in all parts of the State. 



For several years a good deal of attention has been paid in the 

 laboratory of this Board, to the bacteriological and miscroscopical 

 study of milk. This has resulted in the accumulation of a large 

 amount of data in regard to these important subjects that are just 

 nov/ attracting so much serious attention. And if, as seems prob- 

 able, it becomes necessary for the State Live Stock Sanitary Board 

 to take a more active part in the matter of dairy inspection, the 

 facts that have been accumulated in the records of the laboratory 

 in respect to the above items, will be of great practical advantage. 

 Part of this material has already been published in papers and ad- 

 dresses by Dr. Ravenel and Dr. Gilliland. 



In field research some very important discoveries have been made 

 in relation to the pathology of forage poisoning of horses. This 

 work has been reported upon by Dr. D. J. McCarthy and Dr. M. P. 

 Ravenel. Their report is published as an appendix to this report. 

 This piece of work is of great importance because it reveals the al- 

 teration that has occurred in a large number of horses afflicted 

 with this disease. Under the auspices of the State Live Stock Sani- 

 tary Board, certain definite causes for forage poisoning of horses 

 have been revealed and a pathology of the disease has been made 



