The Yale expositor., 1901-10-25

thrax, which came like a bolt out Of
a clear sky to the dairy farmers
around Palatine, Ill. Thousands OF
times during the past twenty years
agricultural papers have published ar
ticles giving full descriptions Of the
symptoms Of this fell disease and tell
ing people what to do should case
occur. Despite this fact when anthrax
came into the locality indicated the
farmers did not recognize it and some
lost their lives by SHINING carcasses
and so acquiring the dreadful poison
of the disease. This was but one
phase of the matter and new one has
to be reported. In the district where
the first outbreak occurred the vet
erinarian promptly recognized the dis
ease and very wisely proceeded to stay
its further progress by vaccination
with reliable vaccine and with such
succec= that out OF goo cows vaccina-
ted but two died, representing NOR
tality of one-tenth of one per cent.
This was surely fine showing for the
reliable vaccine used and quite prop
erly made farmers of neighboring
district anxious to have their cattle
vaccinated also. The veterinarian or
that district tried to procure the same
make of vaccine used around Palatine,
but failed, as the supply had been ex-
hausted.
This being the case, he was led to
employ another alleged vaccine put
upon the market without proper ex-
detrimental tests to prove its RELIABLE
ity and protective merits. The results
were disastrous. From 10 to 100 per
cent of the cattle inoculated with this
crude vaccine died and the results are
not yet complete, as remaining cows
are sick and likely to die. The manu-
facturers of the fatal vaccine will, OF
| course, have to pay every penny or
loss and damages also as the results
Of this wholesale introduction OF
anthrax virus into the district may be
serious for years to come. 1t should
| be remembered in this connection that
| the new vaccine was used prior to the
appearance of a case of anthrax in the
district where it was used Barring
toni; that it was used entirely with
the object of preventing an outbreak
and that it was employed wholesale
without first trying it upon few test
cows. After injecting some three hun
| dred head the cattle first inoculated
| commenced to sicken and die. Then
| all became sick and deaths occurred
on every farm where the stuff had
been used. Despite this fact, the al
| 10 al
will over the pastures, the dead were
buried in shallow graves, people came
and went at will among the affected
| animals. One can scarcely credit the
absolute foolishness and foolhardiness
of such procedure. 1t has been stated
time and again that anthrax is COM
municable to man, that its spores live
practically for ever, that they may be
brought to the surface from graves
of anthrax-dead animals by earth
worms and spread upon the grass
years after the burial for the sure in
lection of other animals pasturing
about the graves. 1t has been advised
hundreds of times that animals dead
of anthrax should be burned or buried
deeply in quick lime and that people
should not skin the carcasses. II
should be understood without telling
that cattle showing symptoms of the
disease should be isolated and kept
from spreading the germs upon the
pastures, And, lastly, can one i'm
agine anything more foolish than the
wholesale use OF a vaccine that had
apparently been put out by the max
ers as an experiment? A test should
have been made by the attending vet
erinarian, who had, however, conf
dence in the manufacturers good
name and known reliability, so that
he cannot be deservedly blamed in the
matter. What shall we say of firm
that would offer for sale virus that
evidently contained the virus in vir-
ulent form so that it would give the
disease to the inoculated animal in
stead Of preventing it from contagion
The courts will answer that question;
meanwhile readers Of the Review
should take this lesson to heart and
know how to act should anthrax APP
pear in their districts.
Germany pays 81 10000 year for