FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 103 



As there is great tendency to wasting and weakness, nothing 

 can be of greater importance than that every means should be 

 taken to feed and maintain the strength of the patient. 



At the outset a laxative should be given ; we have found that 

 powdered sulphur will be readily taken when other laxatives are 

 refused. One to two teaspoonsful in milk may be conveniently 

 given to the larger animals, and this has a very beneficial effect ; 

 removing undigested food and other intestinal toxic matters 

 that are the causes of the diarrhea so frequently associated with 

 distemper. Euquinine (tasteless quinine) in doses of three to 

 ten grains should be administered at the outset in milk. 



Food, consisting of milk, raw eggs and brandy, should be 

 given as often as the animal will partake of it. If the diarrhea 

 is troublesome, subnitrate of bismuth in the whites of eggs, or 

 Xeroform in five-grain doses is an exceedingly valuable intestinal 

 antiseptic. 



During 1909, and particularly 1910, considerable work was 

 carried on with distemper, especially in protective inoculation 

 with vaccines. No cases of distemper have occurred in foxes 

 that were treated with vaccine and afterward exposed to infec- 

 tion. In the animals treated with the distemper vaccines, good 

 results have been obtained. All these cases have been greatly 

 benefited after the second injection and have made quicker re- 

 coveries than with any other treatment. Further work along 

 this line is now being carried out. 



The walls and floors of cages in which distemper cases have 

 been confined should be washed and scrubbed in the ordinary 

 way and afterward washed with a strong solution of creolin, or 

 other equally reliable disinfectant. All feeding and drinking 

 vessels that have been near distemper patients must be equally 

 well disinfected. Animals should not be allowed to mingle with 

 others, however well they may seem, so long as they show any 

 discharge from the nostrils or eyes. Animals that have recov- 

 ered should not be again exhibited with others, until at least ten 

 weeks have elapsed. 



Rheumatism. — This is quite a common affection among wild 

 animals in close confinement. Treatment of this disorder has 

 been most successful in the following animals : baboon, elephant, 

 Altai wapiti. Baker roan antelope, rhinoceros, lion, tiger and 

 bear. 



Rheumatism is a constitutional, inflammatory affection ; 

 probably toxic; tending to localization in the joints, muscles and 

 tendons, with a marked tendency to shift from place to place. 



