406 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



There were 11,772 deaths under five years of age that year, 

 and of that number 1,372 were from tuberculosis, or 11.68 per 

 cent. Excluding all deaths under five years old, then tuber- 

 culosis claims 21.88 per cent. 



That this disease exists among the dairy stock of this 

 State, a few facts gleaned from Drs. Penniman of Worces- 

 ter, Osgood of Springfield, Bunker of Newton, Peters and 

 Saunders of Boston, besides a few of the individuals who 

 have sufiered a loss of cattle, establishes the fact. 



An examination of forty-nine herds, in difierent parts of 

 this State, or 1,110 animals, shows that on thirty-four farms, 

 where 866 bovines were kept, 239 were killed, and the exam- 

 ination after death sustained the diagnosis of tuberculosis. 

 Beside these 239 that were killed, 189 presented symptoms 

 that would cause them to be looked upon as suspicious. On 

 the fifteen other farms, where 244 bovines were kept, twenty- 

 eight presented symptoms that indicated tu*berculosis, but 

 none were killed to sustain the diagnosis ; and beside these 

 there were nineteen suspicious cases. 



Having obtained the consent of a few gentlemen that have 

 sufiered a loss of cattle from this cause, I present the history 

 of those outbreaks, and the rest I specify by numbers. 



In the spring of 1887, at the request of Mr. Jacob C. Rogers, 

 Dr. Austin Peters and myself made an examination of the 

 milch cows at his farm in Peabody. There were a number 

 of animals that presented the symptoms of tuberculosis. An 

 inquiry into the history of the cattle kept on this farm 

 revealed the facts : that some years previous to this the herd 

 of Jerseys and Grades owned there had had the disease, but 

 to what extent not known ; these were disposed of about 

 the year 1878, with the exception of one cow, which after- 

 wards died of milk fever. For two or three years the num- 

 ber of cattle on the farm was limited. When the farm was 

 stocked again it was with Guernseys, and no evidence of dis- 

 ease was manifested in this stock until the year 1883, when a 

 cow, recently purchased, dropped a bull calf and then 

 gradually failed until she died, and an examination showed 

 the lesions of general tuberculosis. In 1885 this bull was 

 killed, and an examination presented the same lesions as 

 found in his dam. From that time the malady steadily gained 



