456 
GEO. H. BERNS. 
elude that a specific germ, vegetable or animal, or perhaps a gas, 
the development or generation of which is favored by certain 
soils and certain conditions, are the most probable causes, and 
that this substance, whatever it may be, finds its way into the 
body of animals, acts specifically on the osseous system and 
causes degeneration of a destructive character. From our pres¬ 
ent knowledge it would be folly to attempt treatment ; preven¬ 
tion, however, should be aimed at, and during the last six 
months I have made an effort to have all animals, showing the 
slightest suspicious symptoms of osteo-porosis removed to other 
stables, and in all stables where the disease appeared repeatedly, 
I have had the.floors taken up and two or three feet of urine- 
and manure-saturated soil removed, the old flooring boards and 
sleepers carefully cleaned and disinfected, and a new supply of 
good, fresh sandy soil put down before the floors were replaced. 
In cases where it was possible to have the floors raised twelve 
or eighteen inches from the ground, I have strongly advocated 
to owners the advisability of doing so. As these preventive ex¬ 
periments have been tried by me for the limited period of six 
months only, I am not prepared to say at this time that they 
are of any special benefit.” 
During the last eight years a very large number of cases 
have come under my observation, and the opinion expressed as 
to the infectious or possibly contagious character of the disease, 
I think has beeu to a large extent confirmed. 
As veterinary examiner to the Brooklyn Retail Grocers’ As¬ 
sociation for over fifteen years, I have had a most excellent op¬ 
portunity to study this disease among coarsely-bred small draft- 
horses kept under conditions seldom met with in any other line 
of practice. These horses as a rule are bought at the age of 
six, well fed and cared for, but in most cases kept in small one- 
story brick or frame structures, without any sewer connections 
or proper ventilation, with manure holes frequently in a corner 
of stable and generally situated in the back yard of a corner 
grocery store. 
The Brooklyn Retail Grocers’ Association is an incorpo- 
