INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE, ETC., ON THE DISTRIBUTION & CHARACTER OF DISEASE. 541 
dred of the leading veterinarians of this country, almost all to 
members of this association, and representing, as nearly as pos¬ 
sible, all sections of the United States, ashing for their observa¬ 
tions as to the influence of climate and other environments upon 
the distribution, character, course, and termination of the fol¬ 
lowing diseases, viz.: Glanders, tuberculosis, actinomycosis, 
bursattee, enzootic spasm of the larynx, poll-evil and fistulous 
withers, osteo-porosis, rachitis, periodic, or specific opthalmia. 
d he responses to these letters were unexpectedly numerous 
and were very gratifying in the amount of interest manifested, 
and the amount of valuable data contributed, and I wish to ac¬ 
knowledge here, with sincere gratitude, what I have not been 
able to do individually, my obligations to my colleagues for 
their kind assistance in the preparation of this paper. 
It will be noted that some of the diseases very markedly 
limited by geographical lines have not been considered in our 
list, although their behaviour offers some very interesting points 
for study. 
We are all very well aware of the closely defined area in 
which Texas fever is confined as an indigenous disease, its 
boundary being fixed fundamentally, to all appearance, by 
thermal conditions. The so-called loco disease of the dry 
regions of the West, seems to be co-existant with the prevalence 
of the loco weeds—the oxytropis lamberti, and closely allied 
plants, although up to the present the relationship between the 
plant and the disease has not been defined. 
Other diseases of a local character such as “mountain fever” 
and “poke easy,” or “kidney disease,” prevalent in certain 
Rocky Mountain regions which have been but indifferently or 
not at all described, depend apparently upon local conditions, 
the nature of which are at present not even surmised. 
Other diseases depend for their distribution and character 
upon the density of animal kind, like hog cholera and bovine 
pleuro-pneumonia, and tend to pass over infected countries in 
rythmic waves, the lowest point of prevalence and mortality fol¬ 
lowing closely the decrease in numbers of animals, and the 
