No. 4.] CATTLE COMMISSIONERS' REPOET. 503 



Between December 1 and 16 inclusive there have been in 

 addition 742 animals examined, making the total number to 

 December 16, 4,093. Of this total number, 1,081 were con- 

 demned upon tuberculin test and killed. In 1,079 cases the 

 disease was found upon post-mortem examination, and in 2 

 cases no evidence of disease was found. It will thus be seen 

 that the percentage of disease in these herds was 26.3 per 

 cent, and the percentage of error was J$j*$ of 1 per cent. In 

 all of these cases the animals were subjected to the tuberculin 

 test under normal conditions, and the commission and its 

 agent were accorded every assistance by the owners of the 

 herds, again showing the great value of having the animals 

 surrounded by persons and conditions with which they are 

 perfectly familiar and friendly while undergoing the test, 

 and the remarkable accuracy of the test under such condi- 

 tions. 



We desire, in this connection, to call your attention to the 

 fact that the herds which were tested upon these voluntary re- 

 quests were, as a rule, those which were being kept for dairy 

 purposes, being apparently in good, healthy condition, in 

 which, although the owners in numerous cases suspected that 

 disease might be present, it was practically impossible for them 

 to pick out diseased animals by means of any physical exam- 

 ination ; and, believing that the disease could be removed only 

 by the use of tuberculin, they requested the Board to make 

 the examination. In these herds, while the members of the 

 commission might and did pick out here and there an animal 

 upon physical examination which they suspected of being 

 tuberculous, as a whole there was nothing to indicate the dis- 

 ease ; nor was it possible, by such means, to pick out or even 

 suspect the existence of the disease in any more than an occa- 

 sional case here and there among the animals which were sub- 

 mitted for examination. 



In every county in which tests have been made upon volun- 

 tary requests disease has been found to a greater or less extent 

 among the herds so tested. Of the 314 herds examined, 24 

 herds have been found to be absolutely free from disease. 

 "While the percentage of disease (26.3) found is surprisingly 

 large, it compares favorably with that found under similar con- 

 ditions in other parts of the world, where the examinations 



