May 2, 1904.] 
Supplement to the '^Tropical AgncuUuii.si" 
797 
where individual cases only occur, but the losses 
in some districts from anthrax or quarter-evil 
areof ten very heavy and are becoming increasingly 
80 every year. (Hear, hear.) I knov? that there 
are many vaunted preventive remedies which are 
used by the farmers, but with the exception of a 
complete change of kraals and pasture — which is 
rarely practicable — there is no reliable remedy 
against either disease except vaccination. With 
respect to tetanus or lockjaw this is fortunately 
not a very common disease in this Colony ; still 
there are a considerable number of valuable 
animals lost by this disease in some localities. 
Tetanus is a disease, as most of you are aware, 
which is characterised by the gradual onset of 
severe and painful spasmodic contraction of the 
voluntary muscles. Its originating cause is the 
absorption of a soluble poison, the product o£ 
a drum-stick-shaped micro-organism called the 
bacillus tetani, which exists in garden soil, 
and enters the system by any wound or 
abrasion of the skin. Either the wound has 
been made by some object soiled with earth 
or dunp, containing these bacili, or the wound 
has subsequently become contaminated by these 
substances. The wound maybe a very small one, 
simply an abrasion of the skin. The disease ha« 
followed the introduction of a splinter of wood 
uuder the nail in the human subject. 
Now what is the lesson that we should learn 
from this fact. It is that care should be taken 
to clean out all foreign matter from any wound 
as soon ns possible after it has been inflicted, 
and to dress it thoroughly with some anti-septic 
sue!) as a solution of carbolic acid, Jeyes' fluid 
or corrosive sublimate. Pricks or injuries to the 
feet of horses should be carefully attended to in 
this matter, as soil or filth containing the 
organisms are sure to get into wounds about 
the feet. 
Where tetanus is prevalent and the losses from 
it severe, in all cases of suspicious wounds the 
practice is to inject a dose of anti-tetanic serum 
as soon after the infliction of the wound as 
possible, which acts as an effective preventive. 
But under anj' circumstances, it is good practice 
to thorouglily clean and disinfect every wound, 
and to ke<^p it clean as far as possible. It is 
highly necessary to bury the carcase of an animal 
which has died of tetanus, and to clean and 
disinfect tlie stable. 
We now come to the consideration of a group 
of diseases which are due to infective organisms 
vv-liich enter the system through some of the 
natural openings of the body. One of these is 
" ncute disease of the joints of young animals." 
Affections of the joints of foals, calves, lambs, 
and kids, accompanied by swelling, pain and 
stiffness, are very common, where breeding oper- 
ations are conducted on a li.rge scale. It usually 
occurs a short time after birth, from seven to 
twenty-seven days. It may appear in isolated 
cases only, or it may spread rapidly, affecting a 
large percentage of young animals in a herd or 
flock. This affection of the joints of young animals 
has received a number of uames, and has been 
attributed to a variety of causes. It has been called 
rheumatic inflammation of the joints, scrofulous 
disease of the joints, navel-ill, pyaemia, etc. It 
has been conclusively proved, however, to be due 
to a special infective organism which usually 
settles at the navel before it is closed, and grows 
and multiplies in the blood clot in the broken 
end of the vessel of the navel cord. It is thea 
curried away by the blood stream and distributed 
to various parts of the system, amongst other 
places particularly selecting the joints, but the 
liver and other internal organs are often involved. 
In the capillaries of the organ or tissue in which 
the microbe is arrested, it sets up inflammatioa 
which results in the collection of quantities of 
matter of a peculiar character. In addition to 
the local effect there is the production of a debili- 
tating fever. 
When this disease appears iu a flock or herd, 
therefore, all the affected young animals sh3uld b« 
at once removed from the others ; the kraals, cow 
sheds, or loose boxes shouldbe thoroughly cleaned 
and disinfected — ia the case of kraals the healthy 
unaffected stock should be removed to a new kraaL 
£very foal, calf, lamb, or kid, as soon after birth 
as possible should be caught, and have its navel 
disinfected and tiad up with a cord which should 
also be disinfected. 
You must clearly understand that this is not 
merely a theory ; it is a fact which has been clearly 
established by direct experiment. Infectious diar- 
rhoea in calves has also been discovered to be due 
to the same cause, absorption of the specific infec- 
tive organism throogh the open navel cord. And 
the same method of treatment, viz., isolation of 
the affected, thorough disinfection, and the prompt 
closure of the cord immediately after birth, hu 
been adopted with success. 
lufectioos aboition in mares, eowi, and even 
sheep and goat ewes, has been proved ta be due 
to the entrance of the infective organism into the 
ui ei us of tlie female, either at the ti(ue or shortly 
after [uegnancy. In maay European couniriea tt 
has been ciusing serious tosses, more opeei^ ly 
to bree<ler8 of high-class cattle, and every eff ort 
has been made and various methods tried to arrest 
its propagation through a herd. The pracxiee 
found most successful ia to carefadly remove a 
cow which has aborted from the other cows of tha 
iieril, properly bury er burn the fcebus and i;a 
niem')ranes, as soon as discharged, and thoroughly 
clean and disinfect the shed, kraal, or poctioa of 
veld where the abortion took place. But in ad- 
dition to all this, the cow's uterus should be 
thoroughly syringed out several days in succession, 
and sl^e shoul l be prevented from being served 
for at least three months. The danger in this ia 
not alone that the cow may abort again if served 
before the uterus has become perfectly healthy, 
but that the bull may become the medium of con- 
veying infection from an infected to a clean cow. 
When" there is any danger of this, due to the pre- 
valeace of the inflection in the herd, it becomes 
necessary to d's^nfect the organ of the bull after 
e\ch service. If you recognise, t:ierefoie, t hit ail 
these infectious (iiscsis are due to the entrance 
of living organisms into certain organs of the 
animil hoily, and that they multiply and grow 
lliere under f ivouring coadiiions, you will equiliy 
