554 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



posed to scabies. In determining exposure, all sheep in a flock or 

 shipment in which disease is present shall be classed as diseased. 



Instructions have also been issued to inspectors to rigidly en- 

 force the meat-inspection law and regulations relating to scab in 

 sheep. Sheep in an advanced stage of scab are feverish and unfit 

 for food, and their carcasses will be condemned. Shippers who for- 

 ward animals for slaughter in this condition will be likely to lose 

 heavily upon them, as they will be subject to quarantine and con- 

 demnation. This is an additional and important reason for curing 

 affected animals before they leave the feeding place. 



The laws and regulations which have been adopted for the con- 

 trol of sheep scab are necessary to prevent the spread of the disease 

 and the losses which result from it. If disregarded they may prove 

 inconvenient and expensive to shippers whose flocks are affected. 



SIMPLE METHOD OP TREATING THE ARSENICAL DIPPING SOLUTION. 



Previous suggestions as to precautions in the use of arsenic in 

 connection with the dipping of cattle in the standard arsenical solu- 

 tion, more particularly with regard to the safe disposition of the 

 solution remaining in a vat when it is desired to empty the latter for 

 cleaning, have appealed to the writer as scarcely sufficient to insure 

 the greatest safety, especially with reference to the possibility of 

 contamination of the water-supply, both human and animal, on the 

 farm. 



For instance, Farmers' Bulletin 378, of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, commends the following precautions in 

 this connection : "In addition to properly protecting vats contain- 

 ing arsenical dip when not in use, another precaution must be 

 observed when vats are to be emptied for cleaning. The dip should 

 not be poured or allowed to flow on land and vegetation to which 

 cattle or other animals have access. The best plan is to run the dip 

 in a pit properly protected by fences. The dip should not be de- 

 posited where it may be carried by seepage into wells or springs 

 which supply water used on the farm." 



No bad results have, so far, been called to our attention, and 

 where the disposition of this poisonous solution is directed by intelli- 

 gent persons who are alive to the risk and who will follow closely 

 the precautions given above, there need be little danger. Still, on 

 account of the present extensive use of the arsenical dip, and the 

 prospect of a still wider adoption of it throughout the South, and also 

 the possibility of the disposal of the solution being delegated to some 

 person, or persons, not sufficiently aware of the risk of water con- 

 tamination, through ignorance, or otherwise, it occurred to the writer 

 that if some simple, inexpensive, and effective method could be em- 

 ployed to render the arsenic in solution, in the vat, inert, or harm- 

 less, it would add considerably to the safety of the solution which 

 had to be disposed of when the cleaning of the vat was undertaken. 



Forty gallons of the arsenical dipping solution were taken 

 from the Experiment Station vat and placed in a 50-gallon recep- 

 tacle. To the 40 gallons of solution were added 3 Ibs. of air-slacked 

 lime. The mixture was thoroughly stirred and allowed to stand for 



