Commissioner of Agriculture 125 



demnity allowance be made in physical cases but that a material 

 increase be provided for in other cases, thereby encouraging the 

 destruction of apparently sound but reacting individuals, but giv- 

 ing some compensation to those owning animals which are well 

 advanced and are therefore usually the distributors of the virus. 



Statistics hereafter given show the relative extent of glanders 

 as compared with former years. Special attention is called to 

 the marked decline in the number of clinical cases, although the 

 total number of animals destroyed has not decreased verv ma- 

 terially. 



Rabies continues to occupy a prominent place in the work of 

 this Bureau. The losses from it, while not particularly important 

 from an economic standpoint, are nevertheless sufficiently large to 

 warrant careful consideration of means to prevent and eradicate 

 this infection. The occasional cases in human beings with the 

 attendant horrors place hydrophobia among the classes of infec- 

 tions most feared by man. Much suffering and not a little expense 

 would be saved the human race, were this plague eradicated from 

 the country. The portion of this report dealing with rabies ex- 

 plains the general situation more fully. 



Losses from anthrax are increasing. As the number of animals 

 that have been vaccinated is greater than in previous years ai.d 

 the infection has evidently extended over a wider area, stock- 

 owners should avail themselves of means of prevention more gen- 

 erally than is the present custom. It is unfortunate that this dis- 

 ease can not be eradicated more easily and that some satisfactory 

 curative measures have not been developed. 



The disease known as blackleg continues to destroy a consider- 

 able number of young cattle throughout the State. It is probable 

 that the cases reported to us as due to this disease cover only a 

 percentage of the actual losses. Preventive vaccination is recom- 

 mended and its effect is very satisfactory. 



Hog cholera is apparently increasing in New York and is an- 

 nually causing great losses. The number of herds examined is 

 much in excess of previous years. The serum treatment is recom- 

 mended and is usually efficient when properly used. More de- 

 tails are given under the portion of this report dealing with hog 

 cholera. 



