36 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



over the herd and then return to my station. 

 This made me feel good, I assure you. 



When, four weeks after, I was again detailed 

 to inspect the herd I found them absolutely free 

 from infection. As far as I know the owner of 

 that herd has not forgiven me to this day ; I lost 

 his goodwill. But, — I had to enforce the regula- 

 tions. 



On another occasion I was detailed to inspect 

 a small herd of cattle, numbering about three 

 hundred head, for shipment out of the modified 

 quarantine area near the town of Colorado, 

 Texas. 



The ranch on which the cattle were at the time 

 was known to be infected with ticks, and no cat- 

 tle had passed inspection there for several 

 seasons. My superior officer gave me warning 

 to "look sharp" and be on my mettle, for not 

 only was the ranch known to be infected, but the 

 owner was also known for his trickery in "trying 

 to get by." 



Two inspectors acting for the State of Texas 

 accompanied me to the ranch. We found the 

 herd gathered in a small corral, barely large 

 enough to hold them. This was the first evidence 

 to me that the owner of the herd was on to his 

 job; it is a most difficult matter to make a 

 thorough inspection for ticks under such condi- 

 tions. The cattle crowd and join together, giv- 

 ing the inspector no chance to view the parts 

 where ticks are most commonly seen, such as the 

 dewlap, escutcheon, udder, lower flank, and so on. 



When the inspector pushes his horse into the 

 bunch, he is immediately surrounded by the 



