Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/587

Rh meat products. This enormous quantity is only the part that came under federal inspection in 936 establishments located in 255 cities. It is estimated that the packing houses having federal inspection kill only about 60 per cent, of the animals that are used annually for food. Of the remaining 40 per cent, about one half is under municipal or state inspection and the remainder is judged by the butchers only. It is not necessary to go further into figures to emphasize the importance of domesticated animals in the business of the country and their more personal value to us as producers of food and clothing.

In addition to the burden-bearing and the food-producing animals, the pets in dumb creation can not be ignored. The bird, cat and dog have gained a recognized place among the objects of human interest. The breeding of the best species and varieties of these animals has become a large industry. Veterinarians who are specializing in the diseases of pet animals are becoming numerous and many of them have large and well-appointed hospitals.

An investment of such vital importance to mankind as that in domesticated animals should be looked after in a business-like manner. Yet we find in this country that the conditions which tend toward the efficiency and comfort of animals are far from ideal. The necessary precautions by way of food and shelter to safeguard animals against general diseases and to protect them from various forms of infection are not observed by animal owners as fully as would be expected from the present knowledge of those subjects. The losses from disease resulting directly from the lack of such protection are estimated at between three and four hundred millions of dollars annually. Besides this enormous financial waste there is the physical suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of animals. These losses are of more significance than even their totals suggest. The death of a few hens, a hog or a milch cow means but little to the country, as a whole, but to the unfortunate owner it brings not infrequently positive privation. Of productive property there is none more widely distributed among the poor than fowls, swine and milch cows. In thousands of instances these animals constitute the only source of income. When they fall victims of disease, the suffering of their owners for want of food and clothing is often more severe than can be appreciated or understood by those who have not witnessed it. These losses, therefore, in addition to their effect upon the economics of the nation, have a very direct influence upon the physical well-being of thousands of people. The difficulty does not stop here, for the spread of the diseases themselves from animal to man has been the cause of much suffering and many deaths in the human family.

The interrelation of the diseases of man and animals has been the subject of many researches, dissertations, laws and regulations. The Mosaic laws are among the earliest of those for protecting man against infection from animals. In these it is not clear whether or not the