IAve Stock. 



224 



[March, 1912. 



satisfy the hunger cravings of their 

 offspring, and it is not to be wondered 

 at if some individuals are forced occa- 

 sionally to snap up a chicken. But what 

 is the worth of the chicken, or of the 

 young pheasant, occasionally taken 

 compared with the hundreds of thou- 

 sands of pounds' worth of damage tnat 

 is wrought in the orchard and fields by 

 rodents that hawks and owls, had they 

 been spared, would have fed upon for 

 the maintenance of their species ? 



The destruction of the white heron 

 for its scapular plumes has robbed half 

 the world of the bird which is most 

 useful to man. Its loss to India and to 

 China is most serious. It never touches 

 grain; but feeds solely near water and 

 over damp ground, the breeding places 

 of innumerable batrachians, small 

 crustaceans, and pestiferous insects, all 

 of which directly" or indirectly injuri- 

 ously affect crops in the neighbourhood. 

 The presence of the white heron in the 

 rice-fields, for instance, is distinctly 

 beneficial to the farmer, and rice is one 

 of the most extensively grown crops of 

 India and of China. 



Turning to Australia, it may be men- 

 tioned that the slaughter of this and 

 other wading birds for their plumage is 

 causing in that country a decline in 

 its fish resources. As these birds grow 

 fewer in numbers, so do the crustace- 

 ans that destroy the fish spawn increase 

 in hosts. 



The gull is a surface feeder. It may 

 occasionally levy toll on useful fish 

 when they are indiscreet enough to 

 come to the surface of the water, but to 

 say that they do any appreciable injury 

 to the fishery business is absurd. On 

 the other hand, the presence of the gull 

 is essential to man's health. While the 

 bird fulfils many useful minor offices, 

 such as destroying larvae in land along 

 the sea-board, and in eating enemies of 

 fish that are exposed during low tide, 

 its chief function in the economy of 

 nature is that of scavenger of the har- 

 bours and of the littoral, just as vultures 

 are the scavengers of the main-land. 



Birds, unquestionably, are one of 

 man's greatest possessions ; yet it is just 

 the possession on which he often sets 

 the least value. 



LIVE STOCK. 



THE BACILLUS OF FOOT-AND- 

 MOUTH DISEASE FOUND. 



(From the Veterinary News, No. 419, 



Vol. IX., January 13, 1912.) 

 The annual meeting of Prussian 

 Veterinary Surgeons has just been held 

 in the Institute of the Teachers' Union, 

 at Alexander Place, Breslau. Several 

 representatives of the Minister of the 

 Interior had been prevailed upon to 

 attend, and in the interesting day's 

 agenda the subject of most importance 

 was centred on the question : "What 

 has the last outbreak of foot-and-mouth 

 disease taught us ? " For one and a half 

 years the Prussian Monarchy has been 

 persistently and severely affected with 

 this plague, which, in spite of all work 

 and care taken against it, has remained 

 constantly prevalent. Up to this 

 moment no trace of the bacillus of this 

 disease had come to hand, and all effort 

 at attacking the real cause of the plague 

 was wanting. Under these circumstances 

 the announcement by the reporters that 

 Dr. Siegel, one of the guests present, 

 after indefatigable and painstaking 

 researches, actually appeared to have 

 found the bacillus of the disease, and 

 that he would impart the result of his 



investigations to the assembly, caused a 

 great sensation. Dr. Siegel was listened 

 to with intense interest as he un- 

 folded the line of thought which he 

 adopted in seeking out the bacillus of 

 the disease, a work which had been 

 broken off at different times, partly on 

 account of external reasons and partly 

 because he appeared to be on a false 

 path, although he always resumed his 

 investigations. He has now succeeded in 

 discovering a micro-organism to which he 

 has given the name of Cytorrhyctes, and 

 which is looked upon as being beyond 

 all doubt the bacillus of the disease. 

 The investigator has announced no 

 illusion, for the coccus found by him has 

 been subjected to all the proofs which 

 the fundamental law of Koch with its 

 postulates deem necessary. Undoubtedly 

 the coccus has passed all tests, for it 

 may at once be demonstrated in the 

 blood as well as always in the character- 

 istic vesicles on the gums of animals ill 

 of the disease, it can also be grown as a 

 pure culture and — the most important 

 postulate— by inoculation with a pure 

 culture foot-and-mouth disease can be 

 produced. The Investigator has further 

 found that artificially produced foot- 

 and-mouth disease confers immunity 

 against natural infection, although not 



