TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT 71 



REPORT OF THE VETERINARIAN. 

 By AV. Reid Blair, D. V. S. 



There has been no epidemic of any character among the 

 mammal collection during the past year ; however, a much larger 

 number of animals have been received in a moribund condition, 

 and this has resulted in increasing an otherwise low death-rate 

 for the year. 



Among the important losses were the gorilla, the Indian 

 elephant Gunda, the African elephant Congo, and a male orang. 

 The gorilla Dinah died in July, after having been on exhibition 

 about a year, from malnutrition and exhaustion. Perhaps no 

 animal created so much interest among medical men as Dinah, 

 who had been examined by scores of physicians. At no time 

 during her illness did she exhibit signs of any acute affection. 

 During the year she was subjected to the tuberculin test on 

 three occasions, and in each instance the test was negative. The 

 only definite symptoms exhibited were those of cage paralysis, 

 and she showed great improvement for several months as the 

 result of the administration of extracts of thyroid and thymus 

 glands; tonics of arsenic, strychnin and iron, and being kept 

 out-of-doors for a number of hours each day. The autopsy 

 revealed no evidences of acute disease, except emaciation of the 

 muscular tissue and changes in the bony structure similar to 

 those seen in the early stages of osteomalacia or "cage paralysis." 



The pygmy elephant Congo was destroyed in October, since 

 it was apparent that he could never again be exhibited on ac- 

 count of the deformities of the joints which had produced a 

 permanent lameness. Congo had for years suffered from 

 chronic rheumatism, affecting the tendons and joints, but at 

 various times seemed to be free from this trouble. In the past 

 two years, during the summer months, he had been taken 

 out of the Elephant House and placed in the southerly portion 

 of the elk range where there is a small pond. The soft ground 

 and mud, and out-door life greatly improved his condition, but 

 soon after removal to his winter quarters, early in September, 

 he showed evidences of severe inflammatory affection of the 

 joints, with so much pain that it was decided that he should be 

 humanely destroyed. 



The orang died as a result of a heart thrombus, after ex- 

 hibiting symptoms of heart affection for three weeks. The 

 autopsy showed an unusually large thrombus. 



