[Form 30.] 
THE 
CONTAGIOUS H PARASITIC DISEASES 
OF ANIMALS. 
ISSUED BY THE 
STATE OF 
OF MAINE. The State Board of Health would feel grateful to any person for 
information at any time in regard to the existence in any part of the 
state of any of the contagious diseases of animals, or of any that may 
be suspected to be such. 
Copies of this circular may be obtained by addressing 
State Board of Health, 
Augusta, Maine. Contagious and Parasitic Diseases of Animals. 
The law establishing the State Board of Health provides that "they 
shall investigate the causes of disease occurring among the stock and 
domestic animals in the State". To those who are aware of the 
close relationship which exists or may exist between the diseases of 
animals and those of man it will appear eminently fitting that the 
sanitary supervision of the state should not be restricted to human 
diseases. This idea of the inter-relation between the diseases of 
man and of animals rests upon the fact of the communicability to 
man, through contagion, of certain of the diseases of animals, and, 
vice versa, of the transmissibility of certain human diseases to ani- 
mals ; and of the further fact that the deterioration as a result of dis- 
ease of the quality of the meat and milk supply may be a cause of 
human disease. 
As far as concerns the transmission of diseases from the animal 
to man, or from man to the animal, it may be said that man is the 
greater sufferer in this exchange, for, whereas there are but few of 
the human diseases which may be given to animals, as diphtheria and 
tuberculosis, the number of animal diseases which may be communi- 
cated to man is considerably greater; among them may be mentioned 
glanders, tuberculosis, anthrax, rabies, foot-and-mouth disease, dipth- 
eria, and actinomycosis. As affecting the food supply, not only the 
contagious diseases which have been enumerated, but other conta- 
gious and non-contagious maladies may render the meat or milk supply 
positively dangerous. 
Aside from the questions of public health there are other important 
questions of human interest involved in the consideration of the con- 
tagious diseases of animals,-that is, the question of economics, of 
profit and loss. So far, we have been remarkably fortunate in our com- 
parative exemption from those epizootic diseases which may swiftly and 
fatally sweep over a country, or which, like pleuro-pneumonia and 
tuberculosis, may more slowly and insidiously disseminate themselves. 
From either the more swiftly or from the more slowly spreading 
diseases, the pecuniary losses may be enormous. In England in 4 
1865-6 the cattle plague destroyed 500,000 cattle ; in France the 
loss among sheep from anthrax was untjl lately 20,000,000 francs 
annually ; in Hungary in a few years, glanders destroyed 20,000 
horses ; swine plague has some years caused a loss of $20,000,000 
in the United States ; and pleuro-pneumonia cost England during the 
first twenty-five years after its introduction into that country nearly 
$500,000,000. These examples show how great a blow to our ma- 
terial prosperity the importation and failure to promptly prevent the 
spread of these animal plagues may bring us. 
With the greater prevalence of some of these diseases in some of 
the states and countries from which importations of cattle and other 
animals are made, our continued exemption from these animal dis- 
eases can probably only be continued by means of laws touching this 
subject not far behind existing veterinary knowledge. But in 
addition to wise laws and systems of veterinary police the effective- 
ness of any such precautionary arrangement, as in human sanitary 
matters, must depend largely upon the intelligent watchfulness 
and cooperation for their own good, of the local authorities and 
of the people at large. To help somewhat in this direction, this cir- 
cular is published for distribution among those who are interested in, 
or have the care of stock, and for those local authorities whose duty 
it is to guard against the spread of their contagious diseases. In it 
only those infectious diseases are mentioned which are liable to spread 
and assume the form of a serious and fatal epizootic, or which are 
specially dangerous to human life and health through their infective 
or parasitic qualities. 
glanders 
Is a specific disease propagated by contagion and by contagion only ; 
and never caused by exposure, poor feed and the other unfavorable 
conditions to which many horses are subjected. It is a disease af- 
fecting principally horses, but may be transmitted to man and to all 
the domestic animals except cattle, and must be considered incurable. 
The infectious principle which gives rise to the disease exists in the 
nasal discharges, in the expired air, and in the purulent discharges 
from the glanders ulcers. According as the disease affects principally 5 
the nose, the lungs, or the skin, it is usually described as nasal, pul- 
monary or cutaneous glanders,-the last is known as farcy. Accord- 
ing to duration, it is classed as acute or chronic. Acute glanders may 
terminate in from ten to fifteen days while the chronic form may last 
for months or years. The chronic or slow form is much the most com- 
mon. Farcy or external glanders is usually the most rapid in its 
course. Nasal glanders is usually slower, but the pulmonary form 
of the disease is the most chronic, being often prolonged to two or 
three years before a fatal termination occurs. 
The most characteristic symptoms of nasal glanders are these three : 
discharges from the nose, swelling of the glands beneath the jaw, and 
ulcers of a peculiar kind in the mucus membrane of the nostrils. The 
first,-the discharge from the nose,-taken alone, is not a trustworthy 
symptom, but with the presence of one or both of the others, we may 
be tolerably sure of the nature of the disease. 
Pulmonary glanders may remain latent or concealed for a long time, 
-for months or years,-and all this time the diseased animal is a 
source of danger to his fellows and to the persons who care for him. 
During all this time the horse may appear to be in good condition, 
excepting some respiratory trouble which would be likely to be at- 
tributed to "heaves." There is a "peculiar, weak, and dry cough 
if, furthermore, other symptoms of glanders should develop, and if 
the animal in question is known or suspected to have been exposed to 
the contagion, and particularly if other horses after having been with 
this animal, show symptoms of glanders, we should have a strong sus- 
picion of this disease and should take precautionary measures to pre- 
vent other animals from becoming, affected. 
In the external form of the disease, or farcy, some constitutional 
symptoms usually precede the local manifestations. The latter con- 
sist of circumscribed inflammatory swellings or "farcy buds." These 
superficial tumors which appear more frequently where the skin is the 
thinnest,-inside the limbs, along the side of the neck, on the face,- 
soon soften and break, forming open, ragged, cup-shaped sores, or 
ulcers which have a constant tendency to enlarge, rarely to heal. 
More than one of these three forms are often found in the same 
animal. Nearly every chronic case dies at last with the aggravated 
symptoms of the acute form. 
As every case of glanders is a constant danger to every other horse 
which comes near him, and, to every person who cares for him, a 6 
constant menace of death from a loathsome disease, it is evident that 
justice and humanity alike demand that every declared case of this 
disease be promptly destroyed, and every suspected case strictly quar- 
antined. Every glandered horse which goes at large or is driven on 
the public roads endangers other animals through the medium of 
hitchi ng-posts, watering troughs, and other things which the infected 
horse has come in contact with. Everything which may have become 
infected should be disinfected. Bedding and tainted hay or grain 
should be burned. 
PLEtlRO-PNElJ MON! A. 
A contagious disease of the lungs and their coverings in cattle. 
Infectious Pleuro-Pneumonia is a disease which is noted for its vaga- 
ries. At one time it may be of a very malignant type, destroying 
life in a few days ; at another it may assume a mild form. At one 
time, perhaps not more than five per cent, of the cattle exposed to the 
disease contract it, in other cases nearly all in a herd take the disease 
from a single infected animal. The period of incubation, that is, the 
time which elapses from exposure to the contagion to the appearance 
of the disease, is very variable, being sometimes not more than eight 
or nine days, or it may be three or four months before the disease 
shows itself. It is a particularly dangerous disease on account of its 
frequently insidious character. It may exist in animals for weeks, all 
the time exposing the well members of the herd to danger, before its 
dangerous nature is discovered. During this time, while it is in this 
latent or concealed form, the affected animals may appear to be in per- 
fect health, or it may be noticed thAt there is a slight cough or that 
there is partial loss of appetite for a few days. Another circumstance 
which increases the danger of spreading the infection is that there may 
be an apparent recovery while the animal may still bear about with 
him the power of giving the disease to others for an indefinite time, 
some say as long as twelve or fifteen mbfiths. 
In well marked cases of the disease the symptoms are similar to 
those produced by the ordinary non-contagious acute inflammations of 
the lungs and pleura ;-loss of appetite, slight shivering, fever, rough- 
ening of the hair, an occasional cough which is dry and hard, breath- 
ing rough, harsh and painful, usually constipation, and, if a cow, 
diminution or cessation of the yield of milk. 7 
There is nothing in these symptoms which is very distinctive and 
the history or suspicion of contagion is often required to complete the 
diagnosis. The disease may be confounded with tuberclosis, with the 
"lung-worm disease," or with the acute non-contagious lung inflamma- 
tions. 
Contagious pleuro-pneumonia is propagated in no other way than 
by infection. The poison is supposed to not be diffusible through the 
air to any great distance, so there is no danger of the spread of the 
disease to other herds except by the movements of cattle ; therefore a 
rigid restriction should be put upon the movements of all cattle in in- 
fected regions, and both the diseased and suspected ones should be 
immediately slaughtered. No medical treatment should be thought 
of: such a course would be disastrous to both the individual owner 
and to the community. Sheds and stables in which the diseased 
animals have been kept are the most surely disinfected by burning. 
When so radical a method would prove too expensive, as it usually 
would, the building may be disinfected by sulphur fumigation on a 
large scale when the building can be made tight enough to hold the 
fumes. This fumigation should be very prolonged and repeated sev- 
eral times at intervals, and then followed by prolonged and thorough 
airing-out. Hay and grain which has been in infected barns should 
be burned or fed to horses. 
Inoculation to prevent this disease has been practised considerably 
in some countries, but its efficacy is still disputed by eminent authorities, 
and many facts and opinions which have been recorded, especially dur- 
ing the last few years, seem to prove that the disease may sometimes 
be spread by the inoculated animals. Inoculation, therefore, should 
not be permitted in our State. 
tuberculosis. 
Tuberculosis or the "Pearl Disease" of cattle is essentially the same 
disease as human consumption. It is both contagious and hereditary, 
but contagion, in animals at least, is a greater factor in its propaga- 
tion than heredity. Of the domestic animals, cattle and swine show 
the greatest predisposition to tuberculosis ; though others are liable to 
contract the disease when exposed to its infection. Undoubtedly the 
contagion is received into the system, in the natural way, almost 
always by inhalation or by swallowing ; experimentally, it is found 8 
that it may be communicated to many kinds of animals by inocula- 
tion and by other methods. The period which elapses between the 
receipt of the infection and the appearance of the disease is usually 
very long. The course of the disease varies greatly, the symptoms 
developing either rapidly or slowly ; hence we may have the disease, 
lasting three months or less or extending over many months or years. 
In some cases it follows an insidious or concealed course, and quite 
extensive changes may occur in the lungs and other organs while yet 
the animal suffers but little change in its external appearance. Usually, 
however, it is seen that the animal is not benefited as he ought to be 
by his food. The appetite is often capricious, the skin looks dull and 
the hair dirty, cough may or may not be noticeable, when it is, it is 
more likely to be after taking food or drink, or being hurried. Later 
in the course of the disease loss of flesh is marked, the cough becomes 
troublesome, and there is often diarrhoea. In cows the flow of milk 
may not be much diminished until the disease has lasted some time. 
The most characteristic appearance which is shown by a post mortem 
examination is that presented by the so-called "pearl tumors" or 
"grapes," as the butchers often call them. These tubercular new- 
formations vary in size from that of a pea or smaller to that of an 
egg. They are often confluent and one apparant mass may weigh 
several pounds, and the aggregate of these masses many pounds. 
These tubercles are found the most frequently in the lungs and on the 
smooth membrane which covers them ; they are also often found on 
the membrane which covers the bowels. 
Between tuberculosis and pleuro-pneumonia there are many points 
of resemblance. Both are contagious, the period of incubation in 
tuberculosis is long and it may be in pleuro-pneumonia, fever and the 
lung symptoms are common to both, the disease in both often assumes 
a concealed form, dangerous to the remainder of the herd from the 
difficulty of its recognition. When either disease is suspected, the de- 
termination of its character should be made by the veterinary surgeon. 
Feeding experiments have conclusively shown that tuberculosis may 
be transmitted by means of the milk or flesh of diseased animals. 
Therefore prevention has to regard both the danger to other animals 
and to man. The milk from cows with this disease, even in its 
earliest stages, or when suspected, should never be used as human 
food. The flesh should never be used unless the disease is in its 9 
earliest stages and is so localized that the tubercular growth can be 
entirely removed ; even then, though it is not proved that the eating 
of such meat may give rise to the disease, there is a chance to doubt its 
wholesomeness and fitness as human food. As regards the animals, 
all diseased and suspected ones should be kept from other animals and 
the diseased ones slaughtered. Infected stalls and mangers should be 
disinfected, and the safer way would be to remove the woodwork of 
the cribs and eating-boxes and replace them with new. 
lUng-worm DISEASE. 
(Verminous Bronchitis) . A disease caused by the development of 
a parasitic worm, the Strongyhis micrurus in calves and the Strongy- 
lus filaria in lambs. Adult animals are sometimes infested. The 
symptoms presented are difficulty of breathing, especially when hurried, 
cough, usually hoarse and spasmodic, and in long continued cases de- 
bility and emaciation. During the paroxysms of cough masses of 
mucus are sometimes discharged which contain eggs, embryos, and 
the adult forms of the parasite. The disease may prove fatal in a 
few days or may last from two to four months. Its nature is to be 
determined by an examination with a lens or with the naked eye of 
the mucus which is discharged from the mouth and nose, or in case of 
death, by an examination of the interior of the windpipe and bronchial 
tubes. The parasites are white, filiform worms, looking very much 
like pieces of white thread, from one to two inches in length, accord- 
ing to the species with which we have to do, and may be found rolled 
up iu considerable masses, or may pretty completely plug up the smaller 
air tubes. Deaths following bronchial or lung symptoms in calves or 
lambs should lead to a post mortem examination as to its cause. This 
trouble is more likely to be mistaken for pleuro-pneumonia or tubercu- 
losis than for any other diseases. 
As the disease may be communicated from the sick to the well by 
means of water, fodder, or pastures which have been contaminated 
with the parasites or their ova, all cattle or sheep suspected of having 
this disease should be carefully quarantined, and all known to have it 
should be slaughtered. The lungs and other parts containing the para- 
sites, as well as any mucus coughed up, should be destroyed with fire. 
The ova, with which many of the parasites are filled, are hard to kill 
with chemicals. 10 
SWINE PLAGUE. 
This disease, or ''hog-cholera," as it is commonly called, is an in- 
fectious disease which has been terribly destructive of swine in some 
parts of this country: in Illinois alone over three and a half million 
hogs were lost by it in the years 1877-8-9. The contagion of this dis- 
ease is very easily diffusible, more so than that of most other contagious 
diseases of animals. It may be communicated directly from animal 
to animal, or indirectly by other animals which are not affected, or by 
means of the clothing of visitors, and there are reasons to believe that 
it may be spread by the wind. It is communicable to other animals 
than swine,-dogs, cats, lambs, mice, and chickens,-and from these 
it may be communicated again to hogs. In fatal cases the disease 
may last from a few hours to three or four weeks. In ordinary cases 
the brunt of the attack falls upon the lungs and larger intestine ; 
therefore when a post-mortem examination is made the lungs are 
often found inflamed and more frequently the lining of the large 
intestine is found inflamed or ulcerated. 
The most characteristic symptoms are great debility, want of 
appetite, or vitiated appetite for excrement, drooping of the ears and 
of the head, a tendency to bury the nose or the head in the bedding, 
rapid emaciation, weak and undecided and often staggering gait, very 
offensive smell, especially in severe cases before and after death, and 
rapid decomposition of the body after death. Most characteristic, 
however, is the diarrhoea with fetid and usually dark colored dis- 
charges. Instead of the diarrhoea, there is often constipation, 
especially early in the disease. Cough is a symptom when the lungs 
are affected. 
To prevent the spread of the disease, separate the well from the 
sick. Avoid all the methods of spreading the contagion which are 
indicated above. Do not be in too great haste to refill the sty, for the 
freezing of winter will often fail to eradicate the infection from the 
premises. The '''•Rouget'' of France is probably not identical with the 
swine-plague of America, therefore it is not prudent to employ here 
the method of inoculation which has been used for the former disease. 11 
TRICHINOSIS. 
The much written-about trichinosis of man is caused by eating 
pork containing trichina}. These are small parasitic worms, from 1-8 
to 1-18 of an inch in length, encysted in the red or lean part of the 
meat. They are detected with difficulty with the unaided eye, but 
are readily discoverable, when present, by means of the microscope. 
These parasites, being eaten by man or animals in raw or partially 
cooked pork, are liberated from their capsules by the process of 
digestion, and then rapidly multiply. The innumerable multitude of 
the new progeny forthwith take up their line of march from the 
digestive tract, penetrating all the intervening tissues, until they reach 
the muscles in the various parts of the body. 
Here they become encysted as the parent trichinae were in the meat 
which was eaten. The symptoms caused by the migration of the 
trichinae and their fixation in the substance of the muscles are 
feverishness, sudden swelling of the face, swelling of the muscles all 
over the body, muscular pains and lameness, usually diarrhoea. 
These symptoms have considerable likeness to those of typhoid fever 
and rheumatism, and the trichinous disease has undoubtedly some- 
times been mistaken for those. The symptoms of trichinous infection 
in animals are less severe but resemble somewhat those in man. 
To prevent human infection one precaution only is needed,-cook the 
pork thoroughly. 
FOOT-ANDMOtlTlI DISEASE. 
Though rarely fatal, this disease is said to have caused nearly as 
much loss and trouble to the farmers of Great Britain as the contag- 
ious pleuro-pneumonia. It is contagious in a high degree; when 
introduced into a flock or herd but few of the exposed animals escape. 
It affects principally cattle, sheep and swine, but may be communi- 
cated to other animals, and to man by direct contagion or by using the 
milk from diseased cows. The contagion is not readily diffusible 
through the air, but is spread by means of direct contact, and by 
means of food, watering-troughs, litter, grounds and roads with which 
the diseased animals have come in contact, or it may be carried from 
animal to animal through the medium of infected hands or clothing. 
The period of incubation, that is, the length of time between 12 
exposure to the contagion and the outbreak of the disease, is usually 
two or three days but may be only one day or may be as long as ten 
or twelve days. After 24 or 48 hours of feverish symptoms, the 
characteristic eruption appears in the mouth and on the feet, and often 
on other parts of the body, particularly where the skin is not thickly 
covered with hair. As seen in the mouth,' the eruption at first con- 
sists of whitish or yellowish blisters varying in size from that of a 
mustard seed to that of a bean. On the feet we find heat, redness, 
and swelling around the edge of the hoofs and especially towards the 
heel and in the space between the toes followed in one or two days by 
the blisters at these points. After the rupture of these vesicles, 
bright red and very tender ulcers are left, and by the coalesence of 
the vesicles these ulcers are often of considerable extent. The sore- 
ness of the mouth makes it impossible for the animals to take their 
accustomed food, and in the feet the pus may burrow and cause the 
loss of the hoof. This is not likely to be confounded with any other 
disease except the "Foot-Rot" of sheep and with "Ergotism" which 
has appeared in some of the States. In these diseases there are no 
mouth symptoms. 
Very strict measures should be put in force to prevent the spread 
of the disease. Diseased animals should be isolated and guarded 
carefully. Persons not having the care of them should not be 
permitted to visit them, and the attendants should not visit other cat- 
tle, sheep, or swine. No sick animal must be permitted on roads or 
grounds where other animals may go. Food or bedding must not be 
moved from the infected premises and manure must be burned or 
plowed in on the infected farm. Grounds on which infected animals 
have run should be plowed with horses. The sale or use of infected 
milk should be strictly prohibited. A thorough cleansing and disin- 
fection of everything infected should be followed by prolonged airing- 
out. 
FOOT-ROT IN SHEEP. 
This disease begins with an inflammation of the interdigital spaces 
and is followed by a swelling which may extend all the way around 
the edge of the hoof, and this inflammation soon runs on to suppuration, 
burrowing of pus, and may lead to separation of the hoof. The dis- 13 
charge is purulent, very offensive, and is the medium for transmitting 
the disease to other flocks. This disease may be spread rapidly from 
animal to animal or from flock to flock until it becomes ruinous to the 
sheep-raising industry where it exists. It should not be confounded 
with the foot and month disease previously described. 
Preventive treatment should consist in isolating all affected sheep 
and keeping all healthy ones away from them. Diseased animals 
must not be transported from place to place. 
SllEEP-POX. 
A contagious, eruptive disease of sheep resembling considerably 
human small-pox, and probably having some relationship to it. Dur- 
ing some epizootics of this disease it has proved itself to be one of 
the most destructive of animal pests. It may be communicated to 
other animals. As in the allied disease in man, prompt isolation and 
"vaccination" have been found to be the two effective measures to be 
employed. 
ANTHRAX. 
(Carbuncle ; Splenic Fever ; Malignant Pustule ; Charbon.) 
-This disease has prevailed but little in New England, but in some 
countries it has been a veritable scourge to the husbandman, attacking 
cattle, horses, sheep, and quite frequently other animals and man. 
Sixty or seventy per cent of the animals attacked die. The period of 
incubation is short, from a few hours to three or four days. The 
symptoms vary so much in different cases that no concise description 
of them can be given. The apoplectic form may kill in a few min- 
utes or in several hours, the acute in a few hours or days, and other 
forms are slower in their course. There is usually evidence of severe 
blood poisoning, trembling, difficulty of breathing, dark purplish color 
of the mucus membranes, spasms or convulsions, coldness of the 
extremities, and death. After death the blood is often found dark and 
tarry, and dark, serous, or semi-gelatinous infiltrations are frequent. 
This disease is intensely contagious. Malignant pustule, the same 
disease, has often been communicated to man by handling wool or 
hides from animals which have had anthrax, and the disease may be 
carried from one animal to another by the bites of flies. 14 
Preventive measures include strict quarantine of sick animals, imme- 
diate destruction with fire of the carcasses of the dead, or, when this 
is impracticable, very deep burial with fencing of the place to keep 
other animals from the spot, and very thorough disinfection of every- 
thing possibly contaminated. 
RABIES. 
Rabies, or Hydrophobia when it appears in man, is never gener- 
ated spontaneously ; but is due to inoculation by means of bites or 
otherwise from other rabid animals, usually carnivorous. In the dog, 
there is an incubative period of from three to six weeks after the bite 
is received before the first symptoms appear. The earliest symptoms 
consist in but little more than a change in the disposition and manners 
of the animal, with loss of appetite or sometimes a disposition to eat 
indigestible or repulsive substances. Later there comes the stage of 
excitement, during which the dog shows a tendency to range at large, 
attacking other animals as he goes. After a period of from four to 
eight days, death closes the scene with the paralytic or exhaustive 
stage. In some cases,-the "dumb" or "torpid" form of the disease, 
-the paralytic symptoms come on early. These cases are marked 
by the "dropping" of the lower jaw, thus rendering the animal unable 
to bite or bark. There is in this disease no fear of water, but there 
is a difficulty or inability to drink it. It is believed that many cases 
of so-called hydrophobia in man are due to the mental effect of the 
receipt of the bite. Therefore, for the sake of the peace of mind of 
such, the dog should not be killed, if he can be secured without dan- 
ger to other persons. If he does not die within six or eight days it 
may be known that he was not rabid. If he should die, however, 
he may not have been rabid, but may have died of some other disease. 
Only the skilled veterinary or medical authority should decide this. 
The question regarding the protective power of Pasteur's anti-rabic 
inoculation is not yet decided to the satisfaction of most physicians. 
Not more than half the persons bitten by rabid dogs have the disease, 
and of those bitten by suspected dogs not more than eight oi' ten per 
cent, have hydrophobia. 15 
FOWL-ClIOLERA. 
The characteristic symptoms are: "Drooping of the wings, an 
unconquerable somnolence, on startling the animals and forcing them 
to open their eyes, they seem to wake as from a deep sleep, and soon 
the lids close again, and usually death occurs without any particular 
movements of the animal, and after a mute agony; at most its wings 
flutter a little as it dies." 
The contagion of the disease is not diffusible through the air but 
seems to be quite fixed. It passes off from the diseased bird by means 
of the excrement, and infects other fowls by being taken into the body, 
in the food and drink. 
To prevent the disease, remove the infected droppings daily and 
disinfect the floor or ground. Remove promptly the diseased birds 
from the unaffected ones. Pasteur's inoculation for this disease has 
proved successful. 
GAPES. 
A disease of fowls caused by a parasitic worm, Syngarxustracliealis, 
in the wind-pipe. This worm is of a red color, half an inch or more 
in length, forked or branched like a rudely drawn letter "Y," and 
attached to the mucus membrane of the bird's wind-pipe by means of 
suckers at the ends of the two upper branches of the "Y." The symptoms 
are, sneezing, coughing, suffocation and death. Suspicions of the nature 
of the disease may by verified occasionally by the bird's coughing up the 
worms, or by opening the wind-pipe. The life-history of the parasite 
briefly is this : The matured worm is full of eggs, and these, after the 
death of the parent, when falling upon moist ground or in water, 
hatch, and food, water, or earth-worms, infested with these minute 
larvte, may carry them into the crops of healthy birds; or the Syn- 
gami coughed up, may be seized and swallowed. From the digestive 
tract they make their way to the lungs and ultimately into the wind- 
pipe. 
Preventative measures are obviously the keeping of healthy birds 
from the sick, and from infected grounds. Burn all syngami found. 
Burn or bury deeply all dead fowls. Infected grounds may be treated 
liberally with salt, lime, ashes, or chemicals. 16 
ACTINOMYCOSIS. 
A contagious tumor affecting the head and face of cattle which until 
lately was considered to be cancerous or tubercular in its nature. It 
is caused by infection with a microscopic fungoid plant. It may be 
transferred to man and other animals. 
DIPHTHERIA. 
It is known to medical men and veterinarians, but not to the general 
public as it should be, that diphtheria is a disease of the domestic 
'animals as well as a human disease. It has been known to prevail 
quite extensively and with fatal effect among cats, dogs, pigs, poultry 
and other animals. It is thought by some that many local outbreaks 
of this disease among children are referable to its prior existence in ani- 
mals. In some cases the truth of this supposition has been verified. 
CATTLE-PLAGUE. 
(Rinderpest.)-This disease in 1865-6, in eighteen months destroy- 
ed 500,000 cattle in Great Britain. When once it invades a country, 
unless prompt and vigorous stamping-out measures are employed, its 
extreme contagiousness makes its spread over the land rapid, and its 
malignancy is so great that the most of the cattle attacked die. The 
period of incubation is very short, and is followed by fever, an erup- 
tion on the muqons membrane of the mouth, and often a salmon-red 
or purple color of the mucous membranes. "Then ensue the urgent 
symptoms,-the drooping head, hanging ears, distressed look, rigors 
and twitchings of the superficial muscles, failing pulse, oppressed 
breathing, fetid breath, and the discharge from the nose, eyes and 
mouth." 
Prompt slaughter of all diseased and suspected animals, thorough 
disinfection, and rigid quarantine of infected places,-nothing short 
of this is of any avail.