214 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



appearance in one of the towns near the northern central 

 boundary of the State. For some reason a suspicion arose 

 that all was not right witli the horses ; the local inspector, 

 who happened to be a veterinary surgeon, took it upon him- 

 self to examine them, as a result of which several animals 

 were quarantined, examined by the Commissioners and 

 destroyed. In addition to which, the inspectors in each of 

 the towns through which the circus was to pass were notified 

 l)y the Board of the condition of things ; the animals were 

 carefully watched on their entire passage through the State, 

 and several more unmistakably diseased horses were de- 

 stroyed. Inasmuch as no additional cases of glanders have 

 been reported from any of these towns, it is fair to suppose 

 that no disease was spread from this centre. 



Legislation. 



"While, as a whole, the Commissioners have made definite 

 progress in executing the provisions of the laws now existing, 

 as already discussed in this report, they feel that further 

 legislation should be passed, in relation to these matters, to 

 perfect the machinery under which the w^ork is to be per- 

 formed in the future. The progress which has been made 

 during the past year is more largely due to the appreciation 

 by the several cities and towns of the great importance and 

 value of the work, and by their hearty co-operation therein, 

 than to the rigorous enforcement of the law in such places 

 as have failed to comply with its spirit. It can readily be 

 seen that, while much can be done towards limiting the 

 extent of these contagious diseases by the good work of 

 individual cities and towns, these results can be largely 

 negatived by the failure to properly destroy such contagion 

 in the adjoining ones, and that a numerically small number 

 of such could almost render useless the earnest eftbrts of the 

 large majority of the cities and towns that conform to the 

 spirit of the law„ 



In working under the law as presently enacted, the Com- 

 missioners find, in a general way, that, while it is sufficient 

 to authorize willing cities and towns, boards of health, in- 

 spectors and other persons generally to take such action as 

 may be necessary, they have at times experienced consider- 



