646 
AUSTIN PETERS 
had developed to destroy them also, but it was not until the end 
of January and again March 1st that the herd was visited, the 
delays being due to giving the owner of the farm and the tenant 
time to arrive at a mutual understanding so that the lease could 
be cancelled, and also to see if it would not be legal to destroy 
the entire herd if it was deemed necessary to do so for the 
safety of the public health. 
March 2nd Dr. Curtice and myself again examined the 
remaining animals and found them in a pitiable condition ; the 
sale of the milk having been stopped early in the winter, the 
tenant had no longer cared to feed them, and had been selling 
off the hay so that at the time of this visit there was hardly any¬ 
thing left in the barn for them to eat, and they were reduced 
to a state of extreme emaciation, and were verging on starva¬ 
tion.- 
The young stock had fared best, as they had been allowed 
to run at large all winter and had picked up something to eat 
by browsing on the brush and withered grass. 
Death had relieved three cows of their suffering, and two or 
three of the young animals had disappeared, it being suspected 
that the tenant and his men had used them for food; there were 
29 of the original cows left, and 12 heifers, four two-year-olds 
and eight yearlings. One of the two-year-olds had recently 
aborted, and retained the foetal membranes; she was in a very 
feeble condition. A number of the older animals were found to 
be tuberculous, and the condition of the remainder was such 
that it was impossible to say after the examination which of 
those that remained were diseased and which were healthy. 
The Hon. Thomas Newbold, President of the New York 
State Board of Health, thereupon issued orders for the slaugh¬ 
ter of the entire herd, arfd as the cattle then became the 
property of the state, he also decided that they'might prove of 
great value for a tuberculin test upon a large scale, in order to 
obtain further information upon the utility of this means of 
diagnosis. 
The subcutaneous injections of tuberculin were made the 
