86 The Li'mg Plague of Cattle. 



insure a more prompt report of every case of illness, 

 The only objection to a full sound value, and it is an in- 

 superable one, is, that it places a premium on sickness 

 and would encourage the unscrupulous to convey infec- 

 tion into an unmarketable herd for the purpose of dis- 

 posing of them to the State. If this danger is guarded 

 against it will be found that the highest award for sick 

 animals slaiightered will prove most profitable to the 

 c ommonwealth. It will assure what is almost unattain- 

 able ia any other way — a speedy and economical success. 



(k) Diseased Animals to be Slaughtered under tJie Eye of 

 an Inspector, tJieir Hides Slashed and the Carcasses Deeply 

 Buried in a Secluded Place. 



The importance of this need hardly be insisted on. So 

 long as a sick beast is preserved it is but multiplying the 

 poison, diffusing it through the air, and storing it up in 

 the buildings. This poison it is impossible to circum- 

 sciibe, absolutely, except by its instant destruction. It 

 may be wafted on the air, carried on straw, paper and 

 other light bodies on which it has been dried, in the 

 clothes of visitors, on the coats of domestic animals 

 (horses, dogs, sheep, goats, cats), or of wild (rats, mice, 

 skunks, etc.), and by numerous channels it will elude our 

 vigilance and extend to neighboring herds. (On this 

 subject see Mediate Contagion.) The only course of safety 

 is to stop the production of the poison and bury what 

 already exists where it can be no more exhumed. Before 

 burial the hide should be extensively cut to prevent its 

 removal for sale. 



(l) Disinfect the Premises, Utensils and Attendants. 



To kill the sick without subsequent disinfection of the 

 premises is futile. Stamping out is by no means confined 

 to the use of the pole-ax. Every place and object on 

 which the virus may have been lodged must be subjected 

 to an exhaustive disinfection if we would stay the prog- 

 ress of the plague. 



