VETERINARY RESEARCH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21932, 16 October 1934, Page 8

VETERINARY RESEARCH

A present visitor to New Zealand, Sir Arnold Theiler, is a distinguished scientist with practically a lifetime's experience of research into animal diseases. It is now announced that advantage will be taken of his visit to discuss with him certain deficiency diseases in stock. It would have been an inexcusable omission if this had not been done. Within the past few years realisation has come that diseases of stock which were thought to be peculiar to New Zealand, and to be confined to certain specific areas, were actually of much wider incidence, and, broadly speaking, due wherever they appeared to the same cause. The name "bush sickness" in itself typifies the association of trouble with stock pastured on certain types of country. When scientific methods were applied to the problem it was soon established that the unthriftiness of the young cattle and the sheep should not be attributed in any way to the. bush, but must be traced to the constituents of the soil. In short, it was shown to be due to mineral deficiency. With that realised, a great step forward had been made. Yet the problem is far from being entirely solved yet. Work c(?ntinues centred on the Cawthron Institute as actively as restricted finance permits. On this, and other aspects of malnutrition among stock, there should be much value in consultation with Sir Arnold Theiler; for similar difficulties are to be found in territory with which he is familiar. When the Empire Marketing Board took up this question of animal malnutrition, it was shown to arise in many parts of the world. The fact that inquiries concerning it were made in Scotland, the Union of South Africa, Kenya, Australia, Southern Rhedesia and Palestine shows there must be a great body of experience to be pooled in determining causes and cures. Sir Arnold, from the position he has held, and the nature of the work he has done, should be able t-o give valuable information derived from experience in Africa. By tapping this source of possible enlightenment the New Zealand investigators may be helped greatly toward the attainment of their goal, the conquest of animal malnutrition, of which "bush sickness" is a regional example, giving the popular name for a difficult pastoral problem.