318 
F. H. OSGOOD. 
! 
the animals are turned out into the open air when the stables 
are swept, and whether the barn floors are sprinkled in order 
to keep the dust from arising, because it is certainly one of 
the most important conditions.” (Proceedings of Mass. 
Veterinary Association, May, 1894.) 
And finally, in a pamphlet on “ Tuberculosis, its relations 
to Agricultural Industry and Public Health,” published in 
1890 by the State Board of Cattle Commissioners, for the 
purpose of spreading information on the subject among t e 
people, it is said : “ The Commissioners find the most disease 
where the stables are narrow and tightly boarded up m front, 
so that the breath of any sick animals must be more. or less 
mingled with that of all the others over and over again, with 
no sufficient inflow of fresh outside air. j 
The whole subject is a most important one. The way 
people live, their occupations and their suri oundings have a I 
most important bearing on their health. 
So in cattle. Their occupation, standing all winter long 
in semi-darkness, tied in stanchions unable to move, while t e J 
system is being drained through excessive milking and 
breeding, all these things have an important bearing on the 
health of dairy cattle. How to remedy these faulty con 1- 
tions so as to increase the health and vitality of the animal 
without interfering too much with the use of the cow as a 
milker, is a problem that must be solved before the true so u- 
tion of this question can be reached. This is “the most im¬ 
portant aspect of the serious problem of bovine tuberculosis. 
If the disease can be restricted and repressed among cattle during j 
life the hygienic problem will take care of itself. 
THE LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS 
IN RELATION TO THE SUPPRESSION OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 
AMONG DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
By Prof. F. H. Osgood, Chairman of the Commission. 
The laws covering this matter were passed in 1894-95. 
Under the law, the entire supervision and control is placed 
in the hands of a Board of five Cattle Commissioners, ap- - 
pointed by the Governor, each for a term of three years. 
