New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-13

death; but we may assume that among wild ami
mails whose normal course of hfc does not ex
| pose them 10 ovorexertion "draughts," ii
less cannon. Among aged domesticated AM
mails. or those which are obliged to take vioen
| exerton. heart disease often causes sudde
death. Aged horses scmetines drop down dea
WREN being gently ridden from the same cause
, Most very old horses which have been turne
! out to grass to end their days in peace suffe
in the end from forms of indigestion, whic
cause them to become so thin their owner
order them to he shot A recent veterinary worl
ascrihes this and many other equine maladie
/ to decay or defects in tie teeth due to age O
| accidents. In the same way old dogs becom
enac.ated even when carefully fed But lk
human beings, all the canine race and mos
OF the fede ard bears seem liable to forms
OF tumor. and, unless relieved by surgery o,
I released by euthanasia, may meet their dealt
after great misery ard suffering Nor should i
be forgotten that virulent sore throat is offer
prevalent and fatal among animals especially
cats
Consumption and other forms OF tuberculosi!
account for large percentage of the natura
deaths C domesticated animals. We doubt il
any but the goat have complete immunity from
IT. Cattle, cats, chickens, pigeons and in a
less degree horses. dogs. rats and mice arc al
victims CT the tubercie bacillus. Between thes,
normal and non-contagious causes Of death ait
the violent ard devastating animal plague.
comes the long list OF contagious animal diseases
mainly confined to domesticated animals. An.
thraX, the most rapid and deadly. is perhaps
the least common. Then follows the perinanen,
ls;-niucnza, now always present ard often
epidemic, ard affecting all domestic animals
and probably wild ones also; swine fever
aphthous fever mot commonly fataD, CHAMBERS
ard in some seasons tie fatal liver rot. mainly
affecting sheep aud rabbits due to parasite
harbored in tainted ground and water. Add 10
these the choleraic diseases from bad water ard
dirty soil. and we have forms of natural death
sufficient to account for the total disappearance
Of whole species. did not the generally healthy
conditions under which they live &C, as a safe
guard
ANIMAL EPIDEMICS.
Unfortunately. AMOS these conditions is one
which does lot make for the preservation Of
health namely the tendency of nearly all non
carIi.voroUs animals to herd together and, even
wheH ron related. to seek one another's society.
Hence the astonishing violence and fatal results
q animal ep.demics. During their prevalence
the absence Of the animal dead is no longer
marked. On the contrary. the bodies are in e''i-
GeECe Among the r,ul:I.ude Ct examples col
lec.eG by George Fleming in his work on Ami
nal Plaques" are eighty-six cpd rnics affeo Jig
wild quadrupeds and birds. and twenty seven
afr citing fish. Among the former nearly every
wild species in Europe is mentioned, ard sCTne
in the New World including red der. reindeer,
wolves foxes, peiicans, bears, channels, hares,
Wild hogs. rabbits, rats. Wild ducks, rocks gaurs
az monkeys.
Disorders usually somewhat rare ard sporadic
are capable Of developing into erdenics and
calming victims to disease Wholesale Per-
hals one of tie rlost curious instances is that
Of rabies among foXes This prevailed on the
c. ntinent during the years 1899 to ISIS In
the Canton of the Vau1 in Switzerland. the
bodies Of the dead foxes were often picked up
ard examined, and it was thought that they
Mere suffering from malignant quinsy; but as
they entered villages and biz men, dogs and
swine. which aftcrwarG died from rabies there
was 10 doub; as to the nature OF the malady
IN WurtemhCrg ard Baden The fox rabies be
cane so serious that regular hunts were organ
ized until Tie animals were killed OF. Ike The
dogs of Lima under similar conditions.
The effect Of epidenics among animals is
so well known tl:at we have dwel; in these re-
marks mainly on the less striking but still con-
slant causes cf natural ath. But TO those
which perish in this normal course Of mortality
there must be added vast number of wild ami
mas which escape constitutional or contagious
disorders. and die Of lingering starvation hast
encd by exposure. This fact in great degree
jus tifts the doTesticatiCn and appropriation Of
animals TO the service Of civilized man. who
in his dealings with their last years shows an
cvcr- ucre asinc tendency to rectfy this aberrant