REPORT OF THE STATE LIVE STOCK SANITARY COMMISSION.

To HON. E. B. WINANS, Governor of Michigan:

SIR-The State Live Stock Sanitary Commission submit the following report of the abstract of its doings for the biennial period covering the years 1889 and 1890 as required by law.

During the period covered by this report, the general health of the domestic animals of the State may be said to have been good, as no special epizootic has occurred to cause a sweeping loss.

Among horses constant losses are occurring from glanders and farcy and a single outbreak of what was diagnosed as anthrax occurred in a breeding establishment causing some loss.

Among cattle undoubtedly tuberculosis is quite prevalent about the State. Rabies has made it necessary to destroy a few animals. Texas or splenic fever has caused some large individual losses and actinomycoses or lumpy jaw has seemed to be epizootic in some portions of the State for the last year.

Among sheep scab seems to be frequently imported within our borders, from the ranges of the west and southwest, and a single outbreak of tapeworm carried off the bulk of the lamb crop of a single farm in 1889.

Among swine hog cholera has been quite prevalent for the period covered by this report in several counties of the State, and annually causes large losses to hog growers of our commonwealth.

DISEASE OF HORSES.

On the subject of glanders and farcy this commission can probably do no better than to quote largely on that subject from our report of two years ago as follows:

"As may be readily anticipated the principal contagious disease affecting horses reported to and claiming the attention of the Commission is glanders and its companion disease, with a different development, farcy. Glanders is a loathsome, infectious and practically incurable disease, to which not only the horse and several other of the lower animals are susceptible, but even man himself.

"Experiments and observations in this country and Europe, covering scores of years, have substantially determined that cattle are not susceptible to glanders. The horse and mule seem to afford the only avenue through which this pestilence is spread in this State. Since this part of the law has become operative scarcely a week passes without outbreaks of this disease being reported from various points in the State, and from the wide diversity of territory from which these diseased animals are reported.

it becomes entirely apparent that during the past years, when only the public health laws could be applied to wiping out this malady, it steadily made head against the law. Under the present law the remedy of the rifle or bleeding phlegm seems to be entirely effectual.

"It may be stated as a fact that the members of this Commission have devoted more hours of time to dealing with this particular disease among horses than they have to all the other diseases affecting our domestic animals. This commission has condemned and destroyed horses pronounced affected with glanders by the State Veterinarian in the counties of Alcona, Branch, Crawford, Calhoun, Chippewa, Cass, Delta, Gogebec, Huron, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Mecosta, Mason Montcalm, Monroe, Muskegon, Macomb, Otsego, Sanilac and St. Clair. In some of these counties glanders were found in several different townships."

We are glad to State the fact that in the counties of Cass, Calhoun, Crawford, Delta, Ionia, Jackson, Mason and Monroe as above named the Commission have found no glanders or farcy during the biennial period now under review, but they have found it existing in the counties of Allegan, Antrim, Bay, Clinton, Genesee, Kalkaska, Lenawee, Menominee, Midland, Oakland, Oceana, Tuscola, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne and Wexford, not in that list.

We further quote from our last report the following comments which two years of added experience does not incline us to change:

"The law under which we operate provides that 'whenever the Commission. shall direct the killing of any domestic animal or animals it shall be the duty of the commissioners to appraise the animal or animals condemned, and in fixing the value thereof the commissioners shall be governed by the value of said animal or animals at the date of appraisement.'

"The Commission, as at present constituted, believe that a horse having glanders clearly developed has no market or selling value, is in fact worthless, and of all the horses we have thus far ordered destroyed, with four exceptions, we have awarded the nominal damage of one dollar for each case. The disposing of one of these diseased brutes is a more serious and expensive undertaking as the animal frequently has to be taken some distance from a city or village for proper burial. The ground is at times frozen deeply, the snow may be deep, or privilege of entry to woods places for burial, may be denied by the owner. These items combined, however, amount to but a small percentage of the cost to the State, thus far, in dealing with this vile disease. The great items of expense are the traveling expenses and per diem of members of the Board and State Veternarian in reaching these cases, scattered as they are, in various parts of the State.

"The Commission are unable, after giving the subject careful thought, to suggest a cheaper and at the same time safe and effectual plan of dealing with this disease. If the law was changed and authority placed in the hands of local officials it is very questionable if the State would save financially, and besides the local officials might not readily detect the disease from lack of experience in observing its characteristics. Their appraisement of values would probably cover a rather wide range, usually about the price of good sound horses, as is indicated by correspondence reaching the commission, reporting cases where probable value is stated. In fact a local board of health in a recent case reported from a distant county undertook to act for this Commission, of course without authority of law or of the commission, and determined that an aged mule had glanders and

therefore ordered its destruction and appraised and fixed its value at the sum of $135.

"The statutes of some states provide and declare that a horse having glanders or farcy shall be peremptorily slaughtered without any compensation whatever. On the other hand the practice of the sanitary authorities in some states is in the line of allowing full value of animals on the basis of health, and then destroying all exposed as well as all the affected horses. The motive that leads to the adoption of this policy is founded on the theory that the plan will induce all parties having any suspicious cases to bring them forward and report them at once. This plan is of course very expensive, and tends to induce irresponsible parties to import to the State diseased and glandered horses with a view of making the State itself furnish a profitable market for these diseased brutes. Our policy has been, as before indicated, to thoroughly investigate all reported cases, and destroy only those pronounced by competent authority as already affected, while in the case of exposed animals we have held them under close watch and surveillance for a reasonable time for the disease germs to incubate. Our observations have led us to the conviction that the disease is only infectious and that a considerable number of exposed animals are not susceptible, and that being only infectious if a diseased animal were driven along the highway, if not watered at a public trough, or not hitched where healthy animals were subsequently tied, the disease might not be spread.

"The disease under our plans of dealing with it seems to be losing ground, and we feel confident that in a large per cent of the localities that we have found it, we have been able to effectually stamp it out."

The following is the detailed report as to supposed anthrax among a herd of horses as referred to in general on first page of this report:

ANTHRAX.

October 20, 1890, the commission was notified by telegraph that a new and fatal disease had appeared in a herd of thorough bred horses owned by George Canrike near Union City, in Branch county. A member of this Commission and the State Veterinarian proceeded forthwith to the place of the disease, and found that five valuable colts had suddenly died, and post mortems made by the local veterinarians Reed and French, assisted by Dr. Hurd (microscopist) convinced them that the disease of which the colts had died, was anthrax. A careful and thorough examination of the balance of the herd was made by the State Veterinarian, and no symptoms of disease was found, as his report will show, and fortunately no more cases occurred.

Anthrax is a disease known under different names, among which are black leg, black tongue, black quarter, etc., which include a group of diseases very virulent, malignant and contagious, appearing in different forms externally and internally, and attacking the different species of lower animals and man himself, in an epizootic, enzootic or sporadic manner, according to the influences that produce it, or whether it is got by inoculation "it sometimes arises spontaneously in low, damp, rich pastures and along the banks of overflowed streams, or where ponds have been drained off or dried up, the soil containing a large amount of organic matter. Long continued, warm, dry weather forming the emanations of organic matter and miasmatic gases, form its development.'

The herd of Mr. Canrike was kept in a pasture, answering to the above.

in every particular; and it is but reasonable to conclude that the disease developed spontaneously by the surrounding conditions.

It may be interesting to notice, in the absence of a report of the autopsy, the main characteristic of this disease. The blood is black and tarry, and will not coagulate. It contains rod-like bodies (bacteria); and shortly before death, spores develop, which are the active part of the virus in inoculation. Blood containing these spores, has been dried, reduced to dust and kept four years, and then found to be as active as ever in producing the fatal disease. But few outbreaks of this disease have ever occurred in the United States, and it is hoped that it will never become epizootic in our State.

Since the above was put in print the following notes on post mortem examination of Mr. Canrike's horse has been received: The post mortem was made by N. N. Read, D. V. S. of Union City, Spiers, V. S. of Coldwater. The blood being mounted for microscopic examination by Drs. Hurd & Ewers of Union City.

The horse was examined while the body was still warm, there appeared a dark bloody discharge from the nostrils, the tissue immediately beneath the skin was in an emphysematous condition (filled with gas), the blood was tarlike in appearance, the bowels contained a thin watery substance, the liver was soft and friable, breaking down in every direction when pressed upon with the finger, the spleen appeared like a large capsule containing a bloody tarlike substance.

The process of decomposition was going on with extreme rapidity, the characteristic odor of which could be readily detected even at this early period of dissolution.

The microscope revealed anthrage bacilli in large numbers.

Other horses presented similar symptoms of the above and the blood of those that were examined showed the specific microbe of anthrage very plainly.

DISEASES OF CATTLE.

In our last report in referring to tuberculosis among cattle the commission said:

"Undoubtedly this disease has gained a serious foothold in our State, and is causing large losses among our cattle stock. It is beyond question both infectious and contagious, particularly in the pulmonary development or consumption of the lungs. The commonly accepted theory is that it is communicable to man, not only by direct contact but also in the partaking of the milk and meat of these diseased animals. It gives us satisfaction to be able to state that some of the national experiment stations have already entered upon the work of investigation of this plague, and we hope to derive valuable knowledge from these investigations.

But little has yet been promulgated as to the results of these experiments. It is still our hope however that the experiment stations may gain valuable knowledge as to the successful treatment and prevention of this very destructive human and animal disease.

ACTINOMYCOSES OR LUMPY JAW.

The disease known commonly as lumpy jaw and scientifically as actinomycoses, and, that at the date of our last report we supposed had no foothold