100 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Intcicsi ill (lie r('j)ressi(tii nf I iibcrculosis of cattle constantly in- 

 civascs Mid llu' herd owticrs arc iiiuii' (lian ever deterniiru'd to have 

 their live stock free from tliis disease. The result has been that the 

 lioard has been called upon to make nearly four times as many in- 

 filiections as it is possible to make with the funds that are available 

 for this i)urpose. It has thus been possible to make inspections of 

 the worst infected herds and in this way to clean up many of 

 I he most dangerous distributing centers of the disease. 



During the summer, investigations were made of. the disease of 

 cattle that has prevailed for several years among cattle pasturing 

 i« the wild, mountainous sections of the State. This disease has 

 sometimes been called ''mountain disease," and it was generally sup- 

 posed by the farmers of the regions in which it occurred to be due 

 to poisoning by some unidentified plant. As a result of investiga- 

 tions conducted with the assistance of Dr. S. H. Gilliland, it has been 

 proven to be identical with the so-called ''rioderseuche" of Germany 

 and with haemorrhac/ic septicaemia, that has been recognized among 

 cattle in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This very important discovery 

 removes a cloud of doubt as to the cause of the loss of thousands of 

 cattle. There are sections of the State formerly used extensively for 

 pasturing cattle that for many years have been abandoned for this 

 purjiose, entirely on account of the prevalence of this heretofore un- 

 identified disease. The means that it is necessary to take to control 

 this malady are stated below. 



Dr. M. P. TJavenel has continued in charge of the laboratory of 

 the Board and has supervised the production of all of the tuber- 

 culin, malleio and anthrax vaccine used by the State Live Stock 

 Sanitary Board. The quantities of these materials used are gradual- 

 ly increasing as their value in the diagnosis or prevention of disease 

 is becoming better known. By sending them out to veterinarians 

 free of charge their use is encoiiraged, to the great sanitary advant- 

 age of the Commonwealth. It is doubtful if an equal amount of 

 good could be done by an expenditure several times as great in 

 other directions. 



The recognition of the existence of an infectious disease must be 

 the first step preliminary to its eradication. By assisting in the 

 early diagnosis of infectious diseases, the laboratory of the Board 

 renders most important assistance. The laboratory is being freely 

 used by the veterinarians of the State, who send to it specimens for 

 o})inion and diagnosis. Heads of animals that have died of a dis- 

 ease supposed to be rabies are sent to the laboratory in large num- 

 bers. By the use of the new method of rapid diagnosis, that has re- 

 ceived its chief development in this country in the laboratory of the 

 State Live Stock Sanitary Board, and the Pepper Clinical Laboratory 

 ai the hands of Dr. M. P. Rarenel and Dr. D. J. McCarthy, it is now 

 possible to determine, with a high degree of accuracy, whether an 



