MOUNTED INSTRUCTION 63 



of any infectious material upon the surface. In any such case, germs 

 may be washed to ponds, sluggish streams, or shallow wells, thus 

 contaminating the water. Hides, offal and even the hair of a diseased 

 animal may be the source of spreading disease. 



Bearing in mind now what has been said of germs, it is easy to see 

 how glanders with infection left in feed boxes or water pails may be 

 spread from horse to horse; how disease with infection, especially in 

 the manure may be easily and rapidly spread; or how disease may be 

 spread with its germs in the pus scattered from abscesses. 



Must Be Thorough: Disinfection is not reliable and should not be 

 depended upon unless done most thoroughly. A small area may be 

 disinfected by having straw burned over it. or the earth may be removed 

 to a depth of at least four inches and replaced with fresh earth. Paved 

 flooring may be disinfected by burning over it any inflammable materi- 

 al. Cracks should be disinfected by free use of corrosive sublimate so- 

 lution. Food which may have been contaminated should ordinarily be 

 destroyed. Drinking places, feed boxes and mangers are cleaned and 

 disinfected. Manure and bedding must be removed, piled up on the 

 outside, and burned. All equipment, — bridles, halters, harness, 

 blanket, grooming utensils, attendants' clothing, forks, brooms, etc., 

 should be washed with soap and water, then scrubbed with a disin- 

 fectant. Do not use bichloride of mercury as a disinfectant on bits, 

 curb-chains, etc. ; it will corrode them. 



Attendants: Attendants for sick animals should be very careful 

 about their clothing, particularly trousers and shoes. It is well to use 

 special overalls and overshoes, which should be left at the infected stall 

 or building. Dogs. rats, and any of the smaller animals which are liable 

 to convey the disease should be guarded against. 



Fire: The most reliable disinfectant, and the one that should be in- 

 variably used where an article may be destroyed. 



How to Burn a Carcass: Dig a cross-shaped trench, about twelve 

 inches deep in the center, becoming shallow toward the edges, about 

 seven feet long each way. The earth is thrown in the angles ; two bars 

 of iron are placed across for a bridge, and upon them the fuel is placed. 

 The trunk of the carcass is placed upon the fuel, then another layer of 

 fuel, then the internal organs and limbs of the carcass, and finally 

 another layer of wood. The cross-shaped trench gives a draft — no 

 matter which way the wind may be blowing. 



By Burying: When burning is impracticable, carcasses should be 

 buried. The grave should be at least eight feet deep and the carcass 

 should be well covered with unslacked lime, after which the grave is 

 filled in and the earth well packed. Earth which has been soiled by 

 blood, manure, nasal discharges, etc., should be scraped up and thrown 

 into the bottom of the grave. Wagons, etc., in which animals dead of 

 contagious disease are hauled, should be cleaned and disinfected. 



Moist Heat: More active and reliable than dry heat at same temper- 

 ature. Boiling for an hour is probably sufficient to destroy any known 

 disease-producing germs. 



