REPORT ON DI8EA8E8 OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
221 
slaughter of the subject, this disease has been definitely eradicated, 
and a former loss of ten per cent, per annum has been entirely 
obviated. When we add to this the moral and economic consid¬ 
erations of the preservation of human health and life, the demand 
for the instant destruction of animals afflicted with this disease 
becomes imperative. A statute looking to this end is demanded 
in all States in which it has not already been enacted, and it be¬ 
comes the duty of the National Board of Health not only to 
urge the passage of such a protective law, but to see that it is 
properly administered. That such a supervision is necessary may 
be inferred from the facts: 1st. That many of the most dangerous 
forms of glanders show deposits only in the lungs, testicles, or 
other distant and deep-seated organs, and these would escape the 
detection of an ordinary observer, or, indeed, of any one except¬ 
ing a thorough and accomplished veterinarian, and the subjects of 
such deposits would be preserved for months or years to spread 
the disease ; 2d. That to extirpate the disease when it has broken 
out in a stud or locality, it is not enough to dispose of the infected 
beasts and to thoroughly cleanse and disinfect the premises and 
movable objects, but this must be followed when requisite by an 
improvement of the hygienic conditions of the stud, and espec¬ 
ially in the matters of ventilation, work, and alimentation. In 
the case of a disease like glanders, so fatal to both man and horse, 
the infected horse should be slaughtered as would a venomous 
reptile, without any consideration of indemnity. The laws under 
which the destruction is effected should, if possible, be State and 
municipal, so as to make their administration the especial duty of 
the local magistrates, but it should be made incumbent on all 
good citizens to notify such authorities in suspicious cases, and in 
case of uncertainty as to the true nature of the disease or indispo¬ 
sition to administer the law, the National Board of Health should 
be the court of appeal empowered to institute an examination and 
to see that the law is enforced. 
CANINE MADNESS, RABIES, HYDROPHOBIA. 
In canine madness we confront a disease which even more than 
glanders demands restrictive measures. The glandered horse is 
