398 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



variety of odd things may be present which the abnormally changed 

 appetite of the rabid dog has induced him to swallow. Among such 

 things may be straws, sticks, glass, rags, earth, pieces of leather and 

 whatever the animal may have encountered small enough tobe swallowed. 

 This miscellaneous collection in the stomach of dogs is regarded by au- 

 thorities as a very valuable sign, and may be made use of by laj'mau in 

 case of doubt. 



Treatment is out of the question after the symptoms have once ap- 

 peared. When, however, soon after a bite has been inflicted by a 

 rabid dog, the wound can be found it may be desirable to cauterize it 

 with the hot iron or with strong acids, alkalies, or even to cut out the 

 entire wound if such procedure is possible. Prevention which seeks to 

 control effectively the disease by restricting it among dogs is most 

 likely to prove successful. The measures which are adapted to this end 

 can not be discussed in this place. 



The method of preventive inoculation which Pasteur has originated 

 and which seems to be so successful in the human subject is not appli- 

 cable to animals for various reasons. 



TUBERCULOSIS.* 



(Plates xxix, Fig. 6; xxxiv to xxxvm, inclusive.) 



Tuberculosis is an infectious disease characterized by the formation 

 in various organs of the body of minute nodules or tubercles which con- 

 tain the bacillus tuberculosis, the cause of the disease. 



The disease, in its various manifestations, has been known for many 

 centuries, and legislative enactments having reference to the destruc- 

 tion of affected animals and forbidding the use of the flesh date far back 

 into the Middle Ages. The opinions entertained regarding the nature 

 and the cause of the malady varied much in different periods, and very 

 markedly influenced the laws and regulations in vogue. Thus, in the 

 sixteenth century, the disease was considered identical with syphilis in 

 lhan. In consequence of this belief very stringent laws were enacted, 

 which made the destruction of tuberculous cattle compulsory. In the 

 eighteenth century this erroneous conception of the nature of the dis- 

 ease was abandoned and all restrictions against the use of meat were 

 removed. Since that time, however, the tide of opinion has again 

 turned against this disease. The particular opinion held at any time 

 concerning its nature usually furnished for it a name. There are in 

 most languages, therefore, a large number of peculiar terms which have 

 accumulated, but which do not concern us here. 



Occurrence. The statistics concerning tuberculosis show that it is a 

 disease prevalent in all civilized countries. In some countries, such as 

 the northern part of Norway and Sweden, on the steppes of eastern 



* For a brief account of the disease iu other auiuials, see the Report of the Secretary 

 of Agriculture for 1889, p. 63. 



