Annual Report for 1908 of Royal Veterinary College . 287 
found dead, or dies from some unrecognised cause after an 
illness of only a few hours’ duration, it is his duty to suspect 
anthrax, to refrain from interfering with the carcass, and to 
report the case to the police. 
Glanders. 
The following Table shows the number of cases of this 
disease reported during each of the past six years : — 
Year 
No. of cases 
Year 
No. of cases 
1903 
2,499 
1906 
2,012 
1904 
2,628 
1907 
1,934 
1905 
2,068 
1908 
2,421 
These figures at first sight appear to show that glanders was 
more prevalent during the past year than in any other included 
in the Table. The larger number of cases reported last year 
is, however, otherwise explainable, and is reassuring rather 
than disturbing. The experience of previous years, and indeed 
of many years prior to 1903, had shown that, while the existing 
regulations sufficed to hold the disease in check they were 
powerless to exterminate it. This was because in dealing with 
outbreaks only the visibly diseased horses were destroyed, the 
animals which ought to have been suspected in consequence 
of contact being left alive and allowed complete freedom of 
movement. The inevitable consequence of this was not only 
that infected horses were usually left in the same stable, but 
also that such infected but apparently healthy horses often 
afterwards changed hands and carried the disease into studs 
previously healthy. The new Glanders Order, which came 
into force at the beginning of last year, changed the procedure 
in an important way, for it gave Local Authorities power to 
place restrictions on the movements of suspected horses until 
such suspicion had been removed as a result of the mallein 
test. Moreover, it ordained the slaughter of suspected horses 
which reacted to that test, the owner being allowed half value 
in Compensation when the post-mortem confirms the existence 
of glanders and full value when it does not. As these terms 
are not unfavourable to the owners of infected studs, it was to 
be foreseen that advantage would be taken of them, and that is 
the explanation of the apparent increase in the prevalence of the 
disease during the past year. Indeed, it may be said that the 
increase in the number of horses killed as glandered during 
the past year falls short of what might have been expected, 
for the number of diseased, though apparently healthy, horses 
in London alone is probably very large. It is not unlikely that 
