78 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



transportation. The problem of control is made all the more 

 difficult by the fact that it is sometimes impossible to determine 

 the medium through which the infection reaches our animals. 



I have repeatedly demonstrated that a vaccine will cure 

 many cases of distemper, but as the animals even after complete 

 recovery are capable of spreading the infection to others, it 

 would be unwise to attempt to treat these cases without complete 

 quarantine hospital facilities, which are not available at present 

 in the Zoological Park. I hope soon to have a vaccine which 

 might be used for immunizing against distemper, and which 

 could be innoculated into susceptible animals upon their arrival 

 at the Park. 



Many monkeys have been given to the Park which were in 

 the middle or terminal stage of cage paralysis, when received. 

 Occasionally these animals remain satisfactory subjects for ex- 

 hibition for a time, or until the paralysis becomes sufficiently 

 marked to attract the attention of the ordinary observer. Ema- 

 ciation is, however, an accompaniment of the terminal stages 

 of the disease in all except the very acute and actively progress- 

 ive cases. All animals showing the terminal symptoms of cage 

 paralysis are chloroformed at once, whether they have been 

 received as gifts or have developed the disease in our cages. 



Each year an increasing number of animals that have been 

 on exhibition for a considerable number of years must be hu- 

 manely destroyed on account of general debility resulting from 

 old age. During the past year several elk, bison, antelope and 

 deer have been destroyed, also the lioness Bedouin Maid. The 

 male lion Sultan, which has been with us for about thirteen 

 years, and now is about eighteen years old, is much emaciated, 

 and can hardly survive longer than 1915. 



We have had to combat the usual number of rare diseases 

 the past year, and some of them are of considerable interest to 

 the student of human medicine. The jaguar Lopez, which 

 had been on exhibition in the Park for more than twelve years, 

 developed an abscess in the submaxillary region, which assumed 

 the form of a very acute septicaemia, and the animal was chloro- 

 formed. A very large orang which had been in vigorous health 

 developed a mastoid abscess, as well as an abscess on the brain, 

 producing a paralysis of one side of the body. This animal was 

 chloroformed. A chimpanzee had appendicitis, with perforation 

 and adhesions. A gibbon died a few days after reaching the 

 Park, the autopsy revealing a chronic adhesive peritonitis and 



