ILLS OF THE FLESH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13798, 10 July 1908, Page 6

ILLS OF THE FLESH.

A REMARKABLE COLLECTION. VETERINARY DEPARTMENT'S WORK. "Tins is the carpal bone of a, horse," said the Government veterinary expert to a knot of farmers at the Hamilton Show yesterday morning, exhibiting a peculiar bone structure that might have been part of some prehistoric m vister. • On examination the specimen was found to have successive layers of bone formation on the outside, while between the new bone and the original with which Nature had endowed the animal, there was a piece of plain fencing wire which worked round as smoothly as an axle. "When this horse was a foal," explained Mr. Barker, "he managed to get entangled in the wire. The skin grew round it, and Nature tried to make good the damage by putting on fresh layers of bone, and the result is the freak you see. " And this," he continued, "is a hairball from the stomach of a cow," showing a hard ball of short hairs fully three inches m diameter, woven together in the most wonderful manner.

"That cow must have been brought up near a barber's shop, mister," said a bystander disposed to scoff. "It is a fairly common thing to'."find these hair balls in cows," : returned Mr. Barker. " Here is another from your own district," and he produced a specimen with a hard outer surface which, scraped off, showed precisely the same formation underneath. These specimens, with over a hundred others, formed the exhibit of the veterinary division of. the Agricultural Department's display in cbnnectiofi with the show; The expert showed a bottle containing the liver of a horse oadly affected with Winton disease (hepatic cirrhosis), due to the dreaded ragwort and first discovered in New Zealand at Winton. "We worked for years and years," he said, "before we definitely established the fact that the disease was due to ragwort. In the end a perfectly sound horse was obtained from art unaffected area and fed 'on ' the weed. He produced exactly the same condition of the liver." The depredations of the bots were evidenced in sections taken from the affected stomach of a horse deceased, showing two separate varieties, which made it clear that there was no perforation of the mucus lining, although the damage appeared to be considerable. "The trouble is," said Mr. Barker, " that the only thing that will kill the bots kills the horse as well." _ ■' The skull of a horse showing osteoporosis was next shown. Her?, instead of the bone being smooth and hard, it was porous and resembled pumice, and the ' teeth, particularly where most affected, had.attained an enormous size. But while the bone increases in size it loses strength. "In this case," said Mr. Barker, " the affected ani- * mal was a draught entire. He snapped his four legs one day while being exercised. All his stock, unfortunately, show- a tendency to the disease." ■ ■ > It is almost incredible that a cow should have a wart in the gullet as big as a fairly large apple, but such a specimen is included in the museum. The passage was completely blocked up. causing death. Flukeworm, which attacks the livers of sheep but which fortunately as yet has not established a stronghold in the Dominion, also attracted much attention. Many were inclined to ridicule a specimen in which wool was shown crowing out of the eye of a sheep {Dermoid pterygium) for some three and ahalf inches, but the exhibit, which comes from Southland, is perfectly genuine. ; Cancer in various forms and stages was one of the most interesting divisions in the exhibition. Several affected trout .were shown, and the effects of the dread disease were very apparent in the heart and lungs of sheep and cattle. Different forms of tuberculosis in"' its "attacks on stock gave some idea of the ravages of the disease. Its effect on the bones of various animals was shown in several specimens which have been picked up by the Department from time to time. Speaking of the detection of cancer, Mr. Barker produced an ox kidney badly affected with the disease in a malignant form. "This is sometimes not noticeable until the animal is killed at the abattoir," he ' said.

" This is a nasal calculus, taken from a cow," he continued, indicating a hard, white object weighing nearly four pounds, ," and here is a wart which grew on the jaw of a sheep, forcing the teeth out of line during life. - This growth differs from cancer in that it is non-malignant. It is located, in the one spot, i And this," said the "expert, exhibiting a bottle containing a white object about five inches ir > length and in appearanc* like the root of a plant, "is a bronchial cast from 'a sheep." Next was shown an illustration of the sheep map-got flv, which- lays eggs in the sheep. Then the maggots hatch out and force their -way into the flesh. v " That-is the difference between this fly and the ordinary blow-fly." said Mr. Barker. "The latter blows* dead . meat; this one attacks live meat. ; The damage done by this fly is very great! indeed, and should it get a hold in the Dominion the loss to the farmers would be. very great." .' In addition tubes of bacilli of every colour and variety were shown. - There was tuberculosis of three varieties J (human, bovino, and avain), bla?kleg, which when grown forme- a gas and is one of the most resistant spores. known, and typhoid in various forms. . ,'■ -.'..-. • ■•■.:..',-■'■■,•-.

Instancing • the work ; of.. the - Department at the laboratory, at Wallaceville, 1 Mr; Barker" quoted the case of a man- at. Christchurch who made a complaint that a numbur of his canaries were dying in a mysterious manner. He forwards:*! one, of the dead birds to the Department, and the microorganism was isolated which was evidently the cause of the mortality. .This was found to be fatal to pigeons, guinea pigs, rabbits, mice, and other canaries, and since following the Department's instructions the fancier has lost no more of his birds. ■ : ' i

" And if these microbes were let .loose; what then?" inquired' a bystander, who showed an inclination; to remove the cotton wool from one of the. tubes. ' ,

"Well, it * wouldn't do much harm as far as you are concerned," responded Mr. Barker, " but the trouble would be that other varieties would get in from outside, and that would not improve the strain." .