TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT 83 



In a zoological park, this infective material, consisting of 

 eggs and embryo of parasitic worms, is necessarily confined to 

 a small or limited area ; hence it will be seen that small ranges, 

 corrals, and cages are naturally areas of concentrated infection. 

 Therefore the mortality of wild animals and birds due to para- 

 sitic worms, especially those not requiring an intermediate host, 

 will always be a constant factor in the death-rate of all large 

 collections of wild animals. 



Preventive medicine, through the systematic treatment of 

 the animals by means of administering vermicides in the food at 

 certain regular intervals, has been of the greatest benefit in 

 keeping the animals comparatively free from those intestinal 

 disorders so frequently produced by intestinal parasites, or by 

 lowering their resistence to such an extent that they are more 

 susceptible to some serious contagious or infectious disease to 

 which they might be exposed. 



Careful observations were made covering the period of the 

 influenza epidemic during the past winter to learn if a similar 

 affection could be recognized in any illness which might appear 

 among our animals. If such an affection would occur, it was 

 natural to expect its appearance among the Primates, on account 

 of their closer relationship to the human species. 



It will be of interest to report in this connection, that the 

 health of this collection has never been so good as during the 

 past winter, and no case of illness has occurred among the 

 primates which simulated in the slightest degree the human 

 affection recognized as influenza. 



Our chief loss during the year was the female African 

 elephant Sultana, which was destroyed after it was found she 

 was unable to stand as a result of an obscure injury to the 

 left hing leg, and other complications. Early in November 

 Sultana was found one morning to be painfully lame in the 

 left hind leg, and exhibiting an enormous swelling around and 

 below the stifle joint. At the time, a fracture or dislocation of 

 the patella bone was suspected, but owing to the enormous 

 swelling about the joint manipulation of the part was difficult, 

 and we were unable to detect any evidence of crepitation which 

 would indicate fracture. While the swelling increased and 

 involved the entire limb below the stifle joint, the lameness 

 seemed to improve somewhat under the daily treatment of hot 

 and cold water irrigations by means of a hose followed by the 



