56 BULLETIN 1089. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
practices should be avoided as much as possible. The mortality in 
some herds may run as high as 1 to 2 per cent. 
In one small herd of 700 animals, 9 affected fawns were examined, 
5 animals were operated on and released, and 4 were killed on account 
of the involvement of the hock joints. In another herd of 1.300 
reindeer it was learned that 6 fawns had been killed for a similar 
cause. The strains of Bacillus pyocyaneus brought back from Alaska 
were tested on guinea pigs in the Pathological Division of the Bureau 
of Animal Industry, where it was found that 0.5 cubic centimeter 
of a broth culture inoculated intraperitoneally was fatal to guinea 
pigs in 1 to 4 days. 
EYE TROUBLE (KERATITIS). 
Inflamed eyes are not of uncommon occurrence. The condition 
may become aggravated and end in blindness (PL XXIII, Fig. 1). 
It is rare that both eyes are affected, and in only one or two in- 
stances were totally blind animals encountered. In one particular 
case, in a herd of about 3,000 reindeer, approximately 1 per cent of 
the animals were affected, only one of them being blind in both eyes. 
The affection seems to be seasonal, starting with the hot weather 
and disappearing in the autumn. Though the cause of the disease 
has not yet been ascertained, it would appear to be infectious, and 
therefore the diseased animals should be slaughtered and not kept 
as breeding stock. Treatment of the eyes would be valuable if there 
is any way of doing it regularly. Xitrate of silver solution promises 
to be the most satisfactory remedy. 
WARTS (PAPILLOMA). 
Warts seem to be more common in reindeer than in either cattle 
or sheei^, and they often attain large size. While most frequently 
noticed on the flanks, they may be found on all parts of the body, 
and are generally black in color, with a narrow neck at the point of 
attachment. In some of the herds these warts were very noticeable. 
They appear in the spring and often disappear when the cold 
weather starts. In the light of recent investigations, it seems pos- 
sible that they are produced or stimulated by parasites. It does not 
seem as though much importance need be attached to these growths. 
but they have attracted the attention of some of the herd owners. 
RHEUMATISM. 
Rheumatism has been observed in old deer. In life the affected 
animals show a marked stiffness and a disinclination to move. On 
post mortem examination roughenings and exostoses of the bones 
were found, also reddened and turbid synovia in the articulations. 
