REPORT OF THE 



VETERINARIAN AND PATHOLOGIST 

 W. REID BLAIR, D.V.S. 



WHILE fortunate during the past year, in that no epidemic 

 of infectious or contagious disease has occurred among our 

 animals, we have, however, lost a number of valuable specimens 

 from rather unusual disorders. Among these were the young 

 African rhinoceros; the male Bengal tiger; a Rocky Mountain 

 goat and the kiang. 



During the past year there has been the usual number of in- 

 teresting medical and surgical cases : an orang-utan with a com- 

 pound fracture near the head of the right femur; a musk-ox 

 calf with an infected wound and necrosis of the spines of the 

 sacral vertebrae and hip bone, resulting from injuries received 

 from Eskimo dogs at the time the animal was captured by the 

 Rainey expedition ; a female African elephant with severe kera- 

 titis of the left eye, caused by injury from the tusk of the male 

 elephant Kartoum ; chimpanzee with broncho-pneumonia ; cara- 

 cal lynx with distemper, and a clouded leopard with pneumonia. 



Distemper. — Distemper is a highly contagious, febrile dis- 

 ease, tending to spread rapidly and to produce degenerative 

 changes in the lungs, intestines, kidneys and nervous system. 



Animals Susceptible. — Wolves, foxes, coyotes, Eskimo dogs, 

 squirrels, dingos. Cape hunting dogs, ocelots, lynxes, monkeys. 



Symptoms. — In the great majority of cases observed by us, 

 one of the earliest and most constant symptoms is conjunctival 

 congestion — swollen eyelids and red mucosa — with weeping. 

 Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours the watery tears be- 

 come muco-perulent, matting together the lashes and eyelids. 

 Vomiting is usually marked at the beginning of the attack. 

 Thirst and refusal of all food, also, are prominent symptoms. 

 Diarrhea occurs early, and the fecal discharges, at first black 

 and pasty, soon become mixed with mucus and blood. The ab- 

 domen is tense and contracted, and weakness and prostration 

 follow rapidly. At times the attack is so sudden and prostrat- 



