DISEASES OF CATTLE 299 



suppuration has set in, the treatment recommended in the chapter 

 on wounds should be carried out. 



Prevention. Since treatment is of little or no avail in this dis- 

 ease, prevention is the most important subject demanding considera- 

 tion. The various means to be suggested may be brought under two 

 heads: (1) The surroundings of the animal, and (2) protective in- 

 oculation. 



(1) What has already 'been stated in the foregoing pages on 

 those conditions of the pastures which are favorable to anthrax will 

 suggest to most minds, after a little thought, some of the preventive 

 measures which may be of service in reducing losses in anthrax lo- 

 calities. All that conduces to a better state of the soil should be at- 

 tempted. The State or Nation should do its share in preventing fre- 

 quent inundations, by appropriate engineering. If pools of stag- 

 nant water exist on the pastures, or if any particular portions are 

 known by experience to give rise to anthrax, they should be fenced 

 off. Efforts should likewise be made toward the proper draining of 

 swampy lands frequented by cattle. Sometimes it has been found 

 desirable to abandon for a season any infected and dangerous pas- 

 tures. This remedy can not be carried out by most farmers, and it 

 is liable to extend the infected territory. In some instances with- 

 drawal of cattle from pastures entirely and feeding them in stables 

 is said to have reduced the losses. 



It is of the utmost importance that carcasses of animals which 

 have died of anthrax should be properly disposed of, since every 

 portion of such animal contains the bacilli, ready to form spores 

 when exposed to the air. Perhaps the simplest means is to bury the 

 carcasses deep, where they can not be exposed by dogs or wild ani- 

 mals. It may be necessary to bury them on the pasture, but it is 

 better to remove them to places not frequented by susceptible ani- 

 mals and to a point where drainage from the graves can not infect 

 any water supply. 



If they are moved some distance it must be borne in mind that 

 the ground and all objects which have come in contact with the 

 carcass should be disinfected. This is best accomplished with chlo- 

 rid of lime. For washing utensils, etc., a 5 per cent solution may be 

 prepared by adding 3 ounces to 2 quarts of water. This should be 

 prepared fresh from the powder, and it is but little trouble to have 

 a small tin measure of known capacity to dip out the powder, to be 

 added to the water whenever necessary. The carcass and the ground 

 should be sprinkled with powdered chlorid, or, if this be not at hand, 

 an abundance of ordinary unslaked lime should be used in its 

 place. 



The removal of carcasses to rendering establishments is always 

 fraught with danger, unless those who handle them are thoroughly 

 aware of the danger of scattering the virus by careless handling in 

 wagons which are not tight. As a rule, the persons in charge of 

 such transfer have no training for this important work, so that deep 

 burial is to be preferred. Burning large carcasses is not always feas- 



