DISEASES OF GOATS, DOGS, AND CATS 631 



eight weeks. Several owners have reported deaths after only two or 

 three days of illness, but the goats doubtless had been affected for a 

 longer period, although not noticed on account of their mingling in 

 the flock. It is the consensus of opinion among the breeders inter- 

 viewed that many of the animals succeeded in living for weeks, but 

 gradually became weaker and more debilitated, finally dying in a 

 comatose condition. In no instance have we observed or heard of the 

 natural recovery of an animal after once the symptoms of takosis 

 were noticed. The younger goats seemed to be the most susceptible 

 to the disease, although the old animals were by no means immune. 



MORPHOLOGY (MicTococcus Caprinus, Sp.). 

 The specific organism of takosis appears in fresh bouillon cul- 

 tures as a spherical or oval micrococcus with a diameter of 0.8 to I/*. 

 In these cultures it is single or in chains of two, three, or four ele- 

 ments, but most frequently is found in pairs, as diplococci, with 

 a diameter transverse to the axis of the chain greater than the longti- 

 tudinal diameter. There is quite a variation in the size of the cocci, 

 probably due to the increase in the size of the organism preparatory 

 to the act of fission. As the cultures become older the cocci develop 

 a stronger tendency to form chains, and after remaining in the incu- 

 bator at 37 C. for three or more days chains of four to six elements 

 are at times observed, as are also irregular clumps of cells which col- 

 lect in masses of varying sizes. When they assume this grouping 

 tendency no oval forms are to be found and each of the organisms is 

 strictly spherical in outline. In the tissues they are frequently seen 

 to deviate from the spherical and assume somewhat of a lancet shape, 

 with the pointed extremities in apposition. This same form has been 

 met in samples of blood freshly drawn from the ear of an affected 

 goat. The elements forming pairs are frequently very unequal in 

 size and are not always of uniform shape. 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. 



A few years ago the flocks of Angora goats in this country were 

 comparatively unimportant in number, and they were nearly all of 

 them kept in southern latitudes, but during recent years the raising 

 of these animals has received a remarkable impetus. New uses have 

 been discovered for the fleece, they have been widely exploited as 

 brush eradicators, and their flesh has been more readily accepted as a 

 food product, until at present they have reached an established, set- 

 tled value in many of the larger live-stock markets. As a result of 

 the wide-spread interest thus awakened in them, many stock raisers 

 have made purchases of foundation stock with the intention of estab- 

 lishing therewith a profitable flock. Others have made larger pur- 

 chases at the start, being unwilling to wait for the slow natural in- 

 creases in numbers of their animals. By means of numerous trans- 

 actions the animals have been placed in widely distributed northern 

 localities to which they were formerly strangers, but the serious losses 

 caused to these investors by outbreaks of takosis served as a check 

 to many prospective purchasers, and the Angora goat industry was, 

 in consequence, subjected to a discouraging setback, and has not 



