16 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



of a properly prepared vaccine. That supplied commercially is often 

 unreliable. Sometimes it is so virulent that it is more dangerous 

 than the disease it is designed to prevent; in other cases it is so lack- 

 ing in activity as to be worthless. There is, however, no good reason 

 why anthrax vaccine of. proper strength should not be supplied, as 

 blackleg vaccine has long been supplied, by this Bureau. It is only 

 a question of having the laboratory facilities and the money for 

 properly conducting the work. 



Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas have lost millions of 

 dollars' worth of horses, mules, cattle, and other animals, and an 

 undetermined number of human beings from this disease. Other 

 States, among them Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, 

 and the Dakotas, have suffered to a greater or less extent. Numer- 

 ous requests for vaccine have come from the people of these sections, 

 but it could not be supplied in any instance. More laboratory facili- 

 ties and more men of thorough training must be had before this line 

 of work can be attempted. 



BLACKLEG VACCINE. 



Blackleg vaccine has been supplied in greater quantities than ever 

 before, but the facilities which the Bureau now has are not sufficient 

 to keep pace with the demands. More than 1,500,000 doses were dis- 

 tributed to cattle raisers last year, and this gave the most favorable 

 results, the losses in the vaccinated herds being less than 1 per cent 

 of the total number. 



TUBERCULOSIS. 



The tuberculosis question is one which demands immediate and 

 thorough investigation. This disease is increasing among our cattle 

 and swine, probably also among our sheep. The value of the meat 

 which must be destroyed each }^ear on account of it is becoming con- 

 siderable. Questions have recently been raised as to the communica- 

 bility of animal tuberculosis to mankind which are of the highest 

 importance, and should be settled at an early day. The disease is 

 one which not only threatens the prosperity of the farmers who own 

 the stock, but according to the weight of medical opinion at this time 

 it is also a menace to the consumers of their products.* Fortunately, 

 the cattle of the United States are affected in less proportion than are 

 those of any other large cattle-producing country, and it is the part 

 of wisdom to arrest the plague now rather than to wait until the losses 

 become greater, and the task of eradication still more difficult to 

 accomplish. 



PRESENT SALARIES FOR SCIENTISTS INSUFFICIENT. 



The scientific work which is required in connection with the manu- 

 facture of anthrax vaccine, blackleg vaccine, tuberculin, mallein, and 

 the study of diseases is of the most difficult character, and is always 

 attended by the danger of infection with the contagion of such fatal 

 diseases as anthrax, tuberculosis, glanders, or rabies, or with blood poi- 

 soning from handling the septic products developed in such diseases. 

 There are few men who are qualified to do such work, and their 

 salaries should be proportional to the difficulties and dangers which 

 they necessarily encounter. The pay of the scientific men connected 

 with this Bureau has been so inadequate that it is difficult to induce 



