No. 4.] ( ATTLE COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. 473 



gain to the community, in stamping out the disease, even 

 locally ; and, finally, that, inasmuch as the commission had 

 not the power to compel the owners of such cattle to submit 

 their animals to a tuberculin test before arriving at the mar- 

 kets, as was to be done in the case of animals coming from 

 without the State, the expense of continuing examinations at 

 these markets would be too great to warrant the maintenance 

 of such a system for Massachusetts cattle alone. 



The problem of properly dealing with cattle coming from 

 without the State had been an extremely difficult one. As a 

 result of the system of examinations theretofore conducted by 

 the commission, it was felt that further systematic examina- 

 tions of all animals brought to this market from without the 

 State could not be successfully carried on unless ample oppor- 

 tunity was given for the animal to become accustomed to its 

 new surroundings, so that such animal might be in substan- 

 tially normal condition ; and experience had taught the com- 

 mission that this would require a period of not less than six 

 full days. Inasmuch as the animals were brought to this 

 market on Monday and Tuesday of each week, this meant 

 that they must remain in quarantine over the following market 

 day, and certainly as long as possible before the next succeed- 

 ing market day ; that is, the test could not be properly made 

 before Monday of the following week ; but, even under these 

 circumstances, inasmuch as the test would require a period 

 of substantially twenty-four hours, no reasonable opportunity 

 could be given to the owner to prepare the animal for market, 

 after the completion of the test, before the following market 

 day, on Wednesday. 



The commission felt, further, that, if this requirement 

 should be insisted upon, it would not only be attended with 

 serious inconvenience and loss to the owners, but also by a 

 considerable expense for extra keep and care, which either the 

 owners or the Commonwealth would have to pay, and which 

 seemed unwarrantable if other possible and less expensive 

 means could be devised. 



On the other hand, as a result of the whole work up to this 

 time, the Board felt more strongly than ever that there was no 

 practical means of assuring purchasers that animals were Tree 

 from tuberculosis except by subjecting such animals toatubeiv 



