instances the trouble has appeared very soon after the arrival of the animals at their destination, even before they have recovered fully from the serious strain incident to the long journey by rail.

There is always a value to be derived from the confirmatory statements of many witnesses. Various observers are sure to offer a variety of observations upon any subject in which they may have a common interest, and for the purpose of presenting to the reader as generalized a knowledge as possible of the effects of takosis upon a flock of goats, and also for showing how diversified is the territory in which the ravages of the disease are being felt, it has been deemed advisible to present the following extracts received by this Bureau with reference to the disease.

From Knapp, Wis., the following was received:

I have in my charge about five hundred goats, and they have been dying from what I called stomach worms; but of late I have come to the conclusion that something else is the matter with them. They lose their appetite, grow thin in flesh, cough and get weak, and then lie down and die. Some linger along two or three months. There is from one to five in the flock that show the symptoms all the time, and from one to two die per week. They first cough, then lag behind the flock at night when coming to the barn. Then there is lack of appetite, they grow poor and weak and look gaunt all the time as though they have been starved

A letter of inquiry from Pittsburg, Pa., asks:

Would some of you let me know what the proper feed is for goats through the winter when they have no pasture? I bought a few Angora goats and so did a few of my neighbors, and they are dying. The flock that we obtained them from was very poor; in fact, I never saw anything poorer to live than the goats were when we received them. I feed mine on corn and oat chop, half and half, and corn fodder, and cut some apple brush, but for all I would do my goats died with scours.

A writer from Langhorne, Pa., sends the following record of his observations:

To look at our goats in the yard you would say they looked fine, and you could hardly pick out one that you might think was not quite up to the average, yet to-morrow morning you would find four or five down on their sides or otherwise. If picked up they might move off slowly and eat a little, but the next morning they would be down again. The animals will not get up or stay up, but will linger in this manner for some days, smelling badly and bleating occasionally or groaning, with head bent around on side or under them, and finally die. Sometimes, as a result of lying so long, they get apparently choleraic discharges from the bowels, which is offensive, but this does not show at first, and is not the primal cause.

Tioga County, Pa., has for several years had a flock of Angora goats, representing among its members some excellent specimens of the breed. The owner of this flock, in describing the course of takosis, writes:

None of the diseased goats recovered. It took a long time for many of them to die. They tried very hard to live, and some of them succeeded in living for weeks, only getting weaker and weaker and finally just fading away. Some had diarrhea but many did not.

In making a report of postmortem findings, a correspondent from Iowa mentions one of the characteristic symptoms of takosis as follows:

The amount of bile is from one-fourth to three-fourths of a pint in each goat. A healthy goat only has, as I find, about a tablespoonful. This goat has been ailing for two weeks, but only refused to eat for two days. I have lost one-third of my flock and have not been able to save even one goat that has become sick.

A breeder in western Illinois states that he has lost one hundred out of a flock of four hundred, and that two of his neighbors have suffered proportionate losses. These goats were all well sheltered. He considers the disease some sort of cholera, reasoning from the fact that the animals were all affected with diarrhea.

The following extracts, from a letter received just as this paper was ready for the press, from the owner of a large flock of Angora goats in Michigan, confirm several of the statements made in the introduction of this article:

*

We personally suffered a loss last winter in animals that we had brought from Texas in November, 1901, from this disease, and thus learned of the trouble. * * We gathered together a herd of all grades of goats for the purpose of studying them and finally arrived at the conclusion that, so far as the Angora goat is concerned, the animal most susceptible to the disease, was the result of careless breeding, or to be more exact, too much inbreeding, thus lowering its vitality and leaving open to the attack.

it

* * *

The care, feed, and shelter of the various grades of animals we have had was all alike, and it resulted, as stated, in the survival of the carefully bred, free from inbreeding Angora goat.

Other reports of like nature have been received from goat owners in Oregon, Missouri, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Maryland, all describing the affection as an incurable weakening and wasting away, usually accompanied by uncontrollable diarrhea and occasionally cough. The death rate has been very high in the flocks from which reports have been obtained and ranges from 30 to 85 per cent. Another feature of takosis, which is of great economic importance to the breeder of goats, is experienced in the unavoidable tendency to abortion which is manifested by all pregnant females that are affected with the disease. Females of the sheep and goat families will never reproduce in a prolific manner if in a wasted, emaciated condition during the breeding season. Many of them will fail to come in heat, and others, although passing through the period of estrum normally, will fail to conceive. Takosis is essentially a wasting disease, and one of the marked results of its attack upon a flock of breeding goats is seen in the shrunken kid crop of the following season.

It is rare indeed for a pregnant doe to complete her term of gestation if attacked during this period by takosis. Abortion follows almost invariably. As might naturally be expected, the accident of abortion under these circumstances always ends fatally, as the animal is unable, in her already weakened condition, to withstand the shock

incident to delivery. Many times the fetus dies in utero, and thus becoming a foreign body to the maternal organism, it but hastens the eventual collapse of the doe. In holding autopsies on the bodies of affected pregnant does, it has been occasionally noted that the death of the fetus preceded that of the mother by a few days, and the fetal decomposition present has indicated that it played a prominent part in causing the death of the adult.

One flock has been brought to our notice which contained about 1,600 does at the commencement of the breeding season in the fall of 1901. They were seriously affected with takosis at this time, and in consequence there were but seventeen living kids produced in the following spring.

Another instance is reported where the total increase of a flock of over 1,000 does for the year was limited to eleven living kids.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS.

PARASITISM.

The condition which will most frequently be mistaken for takosis in goats is parasitism. In common with sheep, goats serve as hosts for a formidable array of animal parasites, and the loss directly or indirectly due to parasitic invasions must annually serve as a serious tax upon the goat raisers of the country.

The effects of internal parasites upon the goats are very similar in many of their outward manifestations to the symptoms of takosis. There is a persistent unthriftiness, although the appetite of the animal remains good. The fleece does not retain its proper luster. There may be considerable snuffling of the nose, accompanied by frequent coughing. The animal may become affected with diarrhea, more or less severe, and its accompanying weakness. The eyes lose their brilliance and gradually assume a dull sunken appearance. The formation of an edematous tumor beneath the jaws is frequently noticed during the later stages of a serious invasion. These, in a general way, are the symptoms resulting from an attack by animal parasites, but it must be remembered that there are species of worms that find their natural habitat in some particular organ, and that, in consequence, it is impossible to give an accurate enumeration of the symptoms that may be manifested in any given case under the general heading of parasitism.

The symptoms produced by the local disturbance of the affected part will predominate, while others, frequently caused by parasitic invasion, will be entirely lacking. Careful postmortem examination will quickly disclose the presence of parasites. A differential diagnosis previous to death of the animal may, however, be made by giving due consideration to the various symptoms manifested by these

diseases. First of all, the infectious nature of takosis, when compared with the enzootic course of a parasitic invasion, will justify one in making a definite diagnosis. In attacks of takosis, symptoms of pneumonia will be frequently noted, especially labored breathing or rapid respiration. These symptoms are not diagnostic of parasitism. The edematous lump under the jaw, so frequently present in cases of parasitism, fails in takosis. The luster of the fleece is less affected in takosis, while diarrhea is more frequently noted. Continuous coughing and snuffling, while diagnostic of the presence of lungworms, are not characteristic of takosis and are noted only occasionally in cases of this disease, unless there is a complication with some other affection.

ANEMIA.

In goats this is very rare, and when it does occur it is usually secondary to some previously existing disease, such as chronic pneumonia, peritonitis, or to poor food and starvation. It does not assume an infectious nature, and may be differentiated from the anemic condition accompanying takosis by the absence of the specific organism on microscopic examination.

WATERY CACHEXIA, OR HYDREMIA.

This usually results from poor feeding, innutritious food, or pasturing on low ground. The natural goat pasture is high dry land. The animal is weak, readily exhausted, breathes rapidly, and its heart palpitates. The mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth are pale and swollen. The edema which is present about the head, neck, and abdomen will serve to differentiate this disease from takosis. This edema of the head disappears when the animal lies down. Icterus may accompany the disease when the discoloration of the mucous membrane easily establishes the nature of the affection. A change of pasture and a more nutritious diet are accompanied by a return of health to the flock.

CONTAGIOUS PNEUMONIA.

There have been several instances recorded in which flocks of goats have been affected with a contagious pneumonia.

Hutcheon (6) has met with this epidemic in South Africa; Steel (13) has seen it in East India; and it has also been brought to the attention of French (3 and 8) and Italian (9) veterinarians.

Soon after the outbreak of this disease in the flock many of the animals will become affected with a cough. The temperature rapidly rises until occasionally as high as 107° F. is recorded. The appetite becomes disturbed or disappears altogether, and there is slight nasal discharge. The conjunctiva appears brownish or bronzed, the vesicular murmur of the lungs becomes modified, the pulse quickened, and the

breathing accelerated, labored, and painful. The affected animals. always evince pain when pressure is applied between their ribs.

The postmortem examination of these cases shows the lesions to be chiefly confined to the thoracic cavity. The visceral pleura is usually adherent to the thoracic walls. The diseased lung is solidified and enlarged throughout one-half to three-fourths of its substance. It is covered with a firm elastic fibrinous membrane.

Respecting the nature of the disease, Dr. Hutcheon writes:

It was a specific infectious form of pleuro-pneumonia, affecting goats only, cattle and sheep remaining free from infection, although constantly exposed to it. The disease was introduced into the Cape Colony by a shipment of Angora goats from Asia Minor, where the disease is represented as being indigenous.

At the present time contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia has no existence among the flocks or herds of America, but since the goats of other countries have been proved susceptible to an analogous disease, the above mention of its leading characteristics may not be out of place.

TREATMENT.

PROPHYLAXIS.

In the study of takosis four points have been brought prominently into view which may properly be grouped together when considering measures for the prevention of the disease. It has been shown that the most destructive outbreaks have occurred among the goats that just previously have been shipped from a southern locality to a more northern latitude, and this fact suggests the need of caution in the removal of animals in this direction. Sudden climatic changes should be avoided so far as possible, and when shipments of goats for breeding purposes are to be made which necessitate their transportation northward over considerable distances the changes should be made during the months of summer or late spring, and not in the fall or winter, when the contrast of temperature will be so much greater.

Earlier writers have called attention to the fact that Angora goats do not take kindly to transportation from one climate to another. Hobson (4) states that the native proprietors of Angora flocks in Asia Minor unanimously assert that this goat can not be transported from the place where it was born to a neighboring village of a different altitude without suffering a deterioration, and although able to resist both heat and cold they can not withstand much humidity, either in their pastures or folds.

The second precautionary measure is closely allied to the first, namely, Angora goats should be provided with stables that are thor oughly dry, not alone in their ability to shed rain, but on account of being erected upon ground that has perfect natural drainage, and these should be accessible by them at all times, as the effect of rains