118 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
Post-mortem examination of animals dead of corn-stalk disease usually reveals a nega¬ 
tive condition. Sometimes there is an effusion of serum in the connective tissue about the 
kidneys, and the luhgs may be somewhat congested or oedematous. The fact that the lesions 
are so slight tends to support the view that the disease is a poisoning due to the ingestion 
of the substances mentioned. 
Adortiofi 0/Cows is a. disease that has occasioned great losses in many parts of the 
State, and particuUrly in the dairy districts. Many cases have been reported in which it 
recurs in herds from year to year, so that the profit from the herd is entirely destroyed and 
in some instances the losses that result from this cause are ruinous. The disinfection of 
the premises and the disinfection of the genital passages and organs of the cows usually re¬ 
sult in at least an amelioraticui of the condition. The subcutaneous injection of a weak 
solution of carbolic acid is also highly recommended by some who have tried it, and my 
own experience with this method of treatment has encouraged me somewhat. As yet it is 
not possible to explain how carbolic acid administered in this way and in such small 
quantities could have a beneficial action, but Dr. M. E. Conard, of West Grove, who has 
used it in a number of outbreaks, has great faith in its efficacy. The cause of abortion is 
still undetermined, and this should be a fruitful field for investigation. So long as the 
cause of the disease remains unknown all measures directed against it are like fighting an 
enemy in ambush, but as soon as the cause is discovered and its characteristics are made 
known the sanitarian has decidedly the best of the contest. 
Cholera has prevailed extensively all over the United States during the past sea¬ 
son. It is estimated that the loss in Iowa resulting from this disease alone has amounted 
to more than $10,000,000 during the past twelve months, and, while other States havenot 
suffered so excessively, they have likewise lost extensively. Most of the outbreaks that 
have appeared in Pennsylvania have occurred as the result of the introduction of Western 
hogs for fattening. Stock hogs from the stock yards in Chicago and Buffalo have nearly 
all of them been exposed to hog cholera, because the disease has prevailed to such an 
alarming extent that it is scarcely possible for a susceptible animal to pass through a stock 
yard or to be shipped in undisinfected stock cars without being exposed to the contagion of 
this affection. When once introduced into a farming district in this way hog cholera is 
spread by the interchange of animals or objects that have been in contact with them. In 
some instances the spread of the disease has been hindered or prevented by quarantining 
infected herds and confining them strictly to the premises of their owners. Some of the out¬ 
breaks that have occurred during the past season have been characterized by the extreme 
rapidity with which they have spread and destroyed their victims. 
In my last annual report for the year 1896 I stated that the total losses from this cause 
would probably amount to $350,000. Subsequent observation and correspondence have 
convinced me that my estimate was too low, and that the losses amount to at least five or 
six hundred thousand dollars. 
Since the work of the Live Stock Sanitary Board is wholly new and in a condition of 
development, active measures relating to the control of this disease have not been under¬ 
taken with the exception of quarantining some of the infected herds and in that way pro¬ 
tecting swine of the immediate vicinity, and the distribution of a bulletin entitled “ Hog 
Cholera and Swine Plague,” issued by the Bureau of Animal Industry. It is hoped that 
more effective measures can be devised and inaugurated before long. 
Osteo-Porosis has prevailed to an alarming extent, or at least a large number of cases 
have been brought to my attention, during the past year. It may be, however, that the 
increase is more apparent than real, but it is evident that a large number of horses are in¬ 
capacitated from this cause and a number of vague and indefinite lamenesses result from 
this disease. The cause of osteo-porosis is still undetermined, and until we have more in¬ 
formation on this point all attempts to cure or prevent the disease will be purely empirical 
and probably to a large extent unsuccessful. 
Glanders has not prevailed extensively. It may be, however, that since the dangers 
of this disease are so thoroughly understood only a portion of the cases that are dealt with 
by veterinarians and local authorities are reported to the Idve Stock Sanitary Board. Dur¬ 
ing the past year 26 horses with glanders were destroyed. 
Anthrax .—It has been shown during the past season that many of the outbreaks re¬ 
ported as anthrax are beyond doubt red water, and it seems probable that there is not 
nearly as much anthrax in this State as was formerly supposed However, the genuine 
