No. 4.] IIEPORT OF CATTLK BUREAU. 301 



animals thus saved were valuable pure-breds, which would 

 have been a great loss to their owners. It was reported that 

 several young cattle died of blackleg in Huntington early in 

 the summer, but there was not any request from owners 

 there for the protective inoculation. 



In Harvard there was a newspaper report that 7 young 

 cattle belonging to a farmer there had been poisoned ; but 

 an ao:ent of the Cattle Bureau who was sent to investigate 

 the matter gave it as his opinion that the deaths were caused 

 by blackleg, and were not due to poisoning. 



Actinomycosis. 



A number of cases of actinomycosis, or " lumpy jaw," as 

 it is called when it occurs in one of the maxillary bones, 

 have been reported during the year. It is caused by minute 

 fungi, known as actinomyces, or the ray fungus. 



When actinomycosis attacks one of the jaw bones it may 

 in time make mastication painful, and the animal becomes 

 emaciated and of little value. It is an act of mercy to order 

 such a creature killed. When the disease first appears, if 

 the animal is in good flesh it may be destroyed for beef. 

 Actinomycosis has been treated with internal doses of iodide 

 of potash and local applications of iodine solutions, with 

 varying degrees of success ; but treatment is not always sat- 

 isfactory or certain in its results, and an ordinary animal 

 in good condition had better go into the beef barrel than 

 continue in the herd. Occasionally a cow develops actino- 

 mycosis in the udder ; such an animal should always be 

 slaughtered, as the milk is likely to convey the actinomyces, 

 and may be a source of danger to the consumer, — at least, 

 human cases sometimes occur, and it is not always possible 

 to trace the source of infection. During the past 3^ ear 2 

 cows with actinomycosis of the udder have been killed ; 1 

 cow and 1 bull have been killed at once, with consent of the 

 owners ; and 7 animals have been released from quarantine, 

 with the understanding that they were to be fed for beef, 

 and slaughtered when in good condition. 



