154 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



or jiir slioiild llicii be itlMccd ill a larj^c bucket, such as a tobacco or 

 candy bucket and surrounded with ice. It is then ready to be ex- 

 pressed to the hiboraloiy. A taj^ should be afllixed stating the name 

 of the sender and a h'tter should be written giving all the known 

 facts as to tli<^ histoi'.v and nature of the disease. 



It has been shown by some recent experiments made by Lothes 

 and Profc'' of Cologne, that anthrax spores pass with the help of 

 water through strata six feet thick of very compact sand and gravel 

 in about thirty hours. This established fact goes to show how dan- 

 gerous it is to bury tlu' carcass of an animal that has died of anthrax, 

 and supports the opinion that it is always best to dispose of such car- 

 casses by burning. T«istructiofi8 have been given in a previous re- 

 I)ort for burning anthrax carcasses. An effective method is to use 

 railroad ties or large sticks of timber from six to ten feet long. A 

 layer of these is to be laid on the ground, the sticks being parallel; 

 a second layer is then to be laid, the sticks being at right angles 

 to those of the lower layer. The wood should then be well wet with 

 coal oil and the carcass drawn to the top of the pile by sliding it along 

 on skids. Skids can be made of round poles five inches in dia- 

 meter a«id ten or twelve feet long. A pile of from eight to twelve 

 railroad ties will suffice to cremate the carcass of an animal weigh- 

 ing 1,000 pounds. 



Some experiments made by Dr. Prof^ in cremating the carcasses of 

 animals are very instructive and hisi results are stated below. His 

 article on this subject is published in the Berlin Veterinary Weekly, 

 and is abstracted in the Veterinary Journal, Vol. VII, No. 37, in 

 part as follows : 



"It has been thought impossible to destroy carcaisses at an open 

 fire, but Dr. Profc'' says that in 1900-1901 in the province of Posen he 

 destroyed, with the approval of the owners, several anthrax infected 

 carcasses in this way. The burning was effected in a comparatively 

 short time and with wonderfully little expenditure of fuel if the 

 carcass was placed on iron rails placed over the pit. He re- 

 lates a case in point: A well nourished cow had fallen a victim to 

 the disease and the carcass was brought out into a pasture field, 

 where a po'stmortem w-as held by the veterinary surgeon of tftie 

 place. As the transport of the carcass to the ordinary burial place 

 of the diistrict was not possible with the means at hand, and as there 

 seemed' to be no other means of disposing of the carcass, it was re- 

 solved to tr}" burning. For fuel; peat briquettes were used, with 

 petroleum to set them on fire. When the thing was fairly ablaze 

 the farmer stopped the supply of fuel, but thanks to the 

 amount of fat on the animal the burning was completed, but 

 it took nearly forty hours to effect the destruction of the animal, 

 which weighed some 1,100 pounds. The cost was about 75 cents. 

 Drs. Lothes and Prof^ resolved to try burning over an open fire at 



