214 
passes were reduced to 210, and when Major Horrocks began an 
examination of the goats in 1905 he found only 254 distributed upon 
various portions of the rock. It might be urged that, though passes 
for grazing were withdrawn, the goats were still kept and housed in 
goat sheds. This, however, was not the case, as Major Horrocks as- 
certained that in the period from 1883 to 1903 about 1,100 goats had 
been sold, and those familiar with the goat trade stated that where 
passes for grazing could not be obtained the goats were not kept in 
any numbers. 
In 1905, Major Horrocks took specimens of blood from 254 goats 
found on various portions of the rock and tested the serum for ag- 
glutination. Fourteen per cent of them gave a positive reaction 
with M. melitensis. It is extremely suggestive that the decrease in 
the Malta fever in the military population was coincident with the 
decrease in the number of goats in Gibraltar. 
It appears probable that the rapid disappearance of Mediterranean 
fever from Gibraltar, which commenced in 1885, was intimately as- 
sociated with the exodus of infected goats from the rock. Improved 
sanitary conditions, especially the disconnection of waste pipes 
and house drains from sewers, may have played a part in causing the 
decrease of fever, but as the same sanitary improvements have been 
carried out in Malta without any corresponding decline of Mediter- 
ranean fever, it is fair to assume that their effect was insignificant 
compared with that produced by the removal of the infected goats. 
