REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 171 



SPECIFIC BEMEDIES. 



Bacterins, antitoxins, and numerous biological products for the 

 prevention or treatment of various animal diseases are being placed 

 upon the market in great profusion, and it has become necessary 

 that some supervision should be placed over these preparations, as 

 the chance for marketing fraudulent, Avorthless articles is so attrac- 

 tive to the unscrupulous that certain men are availing themselves of 

 the offered opportunity for reaping a harvest. A beginning has 

 been made in standardizing these products, and the value of all such 

 products should be determined before they are placed on sale before 

 the public. 



For many years the bureau has furnished free of charge to official 

 veterinarians, health officers, etc., tuberculin for the diagnosis of 

 tuberculosis in cattle and mallein for the diagnosis of glanders in 

 horses. In 1897 there were so furnished 7,000 doses of tuberculin and 

 1,400 of mallein. In 1912 the quantity of tuberculin amounted to 

 329,000 doses and mallein 135,000 doses. During the 16 years approxi- 

 mately 2,000,000 doses of tuberculin and 500,000 doses of mallein were 

 supplied to State, county, and municipal officials. The tuberculin 

 distributed has been used almost exclusively for testing dairy cattle 

 for tuberculosis. The distribution by the department has enabled 

 State officials to secure this reliable diagnostic agent promptly upon 

 request, and they have employed it in various campaigns to remove 

 tuberculous animals from dairy herds. 



There are, of course, some dairy herds which are free of tubercu- 

 losis; there are others which are badly infected. The average per- 

 centage of tuberculous animals in dairy herds, as shown by these tests, 

 extending over the past 16 years, is little if any below 5 per cent. 

 It is certainly true that in most cases where tuberculous animals have 

 been discovered by this test steps have been taken to remove the 

 danger which they presented. It must therefore be assumed that 

 this distribution of tuberculin has resulted in the removal from dairy 

 herds of not far from 100,000 infected animals. The removal of these 

 animals, of course, is of great importance to the public health and is 

 also of economic importance on account of the menace to the health 

 of the other animals in the herd. 



Antigens for use in tlie various complement-fixation tests and 

 precipitating sera for use in the diagnosis of glanders, Malta fever, 

 anthrax, etc., have been prepared and furnished ready for use to 

 laboratory workers in various States of the Union. In this class of 

 materials may be included a bacterin preparation for the treatment 

 of the buffaloes in the Yellowstone Park, which have been decimated 

 by attacks of hemorrhagic septicemia. 



