itself in the animal's pelage and cause them to become unthrifty in appearance, but the attendant weakness and incompetency of such animals to withstand herd-life among vigorous companions exposes them to serious injury which, once gained, for obvious reasons can seldom receive the treatment which is extended to other animals. Tuberculosis, the fourth disease of importance with which I have been confronted up to date, has not assumed, I am pleased to say, anything like the prevalence in our various installations which has attended the keeping of large collections of animals in this and other parts of the world.. Since all animals which die within the Park are systematically examined after death, I am in a position to report that no traces of this disease have been found in any of the various installations beyond four cases of small monkeys and one case of avine tuberculosis (eagle) in the bird collection. Since every possible effort has and constantly is being made to avoid crowding of the collections, and to keep up a system of thorough cleansing and disinfection of all cages, and particularly those of subjects of known susceptibility, we hope for still greater immunity from this scourge, which is so truly the bane of animals in captivity. Of the cases examined, the lesions were located mainly in organs other than the respiratory, which fact greatly mitigates against rapid dissemination of the contagium. While the above briefly summarizes the character and treatment of diseases which have in the main constituted our greatest perplexity, and have in part been more or less satisfactorily solved, much still remains to be worked out, particularly along the line of gastro-enteritis of Western ungulates. The remaining named conditions of disease which called for treatment were, with few exceptions, such as occur in general practice among domestic animals, and have given quite as satisfactory results when treated. ANÆSTHETICS. It will be of special interest to those humanely as well as scientifically interested in this particular study to learn that the conduction of our surgical work among the animals, of which a goodly amount has been done, has at all times and without exception, when it was in the least degree possible, been prosecuted with the strictest regard to the prevention of animals suffering. The anæsthetics selected for operation were chloroform, sulphuric-ether, and cocaine according to the nature of the work to be done and the class of animal to be treated. Among the animals to undergo operations requiring general anæsthetics I would report: I Alligator. I Wolf. 5 Bears. 3 Antelopes. Not only has the constant use of these agents been prompted by reasons of humanity, but along with modern antiseptics, carefully selected to meet the peculiar idiosyncrasies of various species, conditions have been easily and successfully treated which would have been quite impossible without the aid of such agents. My frequent examinations of the food supplies for all animals within the Park have, with one or two exceptions (which were immediately corrected), showed them to be at all times highly satisfactory in quality and state of preservation. It may not be inopportune at this time, in view of the nature of my special charge, and the tendency of our Buffalo to easily acquire digestive disturbances, to suggest that the permanent improvements of the coming year include such measures as you may think would insure a more perfect drainage of certain lowlying parts of the Buffalo Range, to the end that a more perfect grazing sward may be produced. I would also advise the consideration of methods to regulate the manner of inflow and outflow of the various pools and ponds made use of by the animals, in order that such currents may be produced as would tend to materially check the rapid growth of algæ, etc., and render fouling less possible during the warmest weather, when the vitality of our animals is necessarily at the lowest point of the year. The detail work of your Veterinarian has been greatly facilitated by the employment of the laboratory attendant, whose services I trust it may be your pleasure to continue. Not only have his efforts in the laboratory been very gratifying, but the service he has rendered in the capacity of dispensing and hospital steward has been highly satisfactory to me. In closing, I wish gratefully to acknowledge the kind consideration I have at all times received at the hands of Director Hornaday, and the support accorded my work; also the hearty co-operation and courtesy of the assistants and keepers, and their invariable interest in the animals both in and out of treatment. Respectfully submitted, FRANK H. MILLER, V.S., Veterinarian New York Zoological Park. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PATHOLOGIST. BY HARLOW BROOKS, M.D. T HE period of time covered by this report extends from July, 1901, the time of my appointment by the Executive Committee on the recommendation of Professor Osborn, to January 1, 1902. It has been impossible to make observations on all the cases of death among the animals because of insufficient facilities and lack of time. For these reasons, examinations have to a great extent been limited to those diseases of greatest frequency, or those occurring in animals of the greatest value. The character of the studies made has often been unsatisfactory from a purely scientific stand-point, inasmuch as frequently they have, of necessity, been superficial and incomplete; for the primary object in each case has been to attain, by as direct a method as possible, the practical points which might serve us in the immediate identification, prevention, and treatment of the disease. Notwithstanding this general statement, several minor contributions have been presented by the writer before various scientific societies, and other observations and material have been so preserved as to form the basis for future studies of this character. In this report it will be possible to consider only those diseases which we believe to be of the greatest importance. The most frequent and the most serious disorders with which we have had to contend have been those of the digestive tract. This is to be expected, since such diseases are always among those most frequent, especially when large numbers, either of men or animals, are under more or less artificial conditions. For instance, note the frequence of this class of diseases as reported by the army surgeons. In the army, conditions are much less complicated than among our animals, for in the Park we have to contend with the greatest extremes in alterations of climate and habitat, as well as to comply with the most widely varied demands in alimentation. GASTRO-ENTERITIS AMONG THE RUMINANTS. It is not at all unexpected, therefore, that our most serious mortality has resulted from gastro - enteritis; but, contrary to the ideas of the layman, this condition has been most severe and frequent in specimens of our native wild animals-notably in deer, caribou, and moose native to this country, and largely taken from climates not widely differing from that of New York. In the most acute of these cases, those in which death occurs in from ten to thirty-six hours after the onset in animals previously healthy, the lesions are generally limited to the abomasum, or true stomach. The lesions consist of an acute injection of the submucous blood-vessels, not infrequently with smaller or larger submucous blood-extravasations. In none of these acute cases have I found ulcers, though they may be present when the process becomes subacute or chronic; generally the viscus contains a somewhat limited quantity of substance which consists of fermented food mingled with a fluid which contains many leucocytes and occasional red blood-cells. Most frequently in these cases the other cavities of the stomach are filled, or over-filled, with food which is almost invariably so much fermented that enormous gaseous distention takes place, quite frequently before death. In those cases in which the disease has been of longer duration the process extends downward, successively involving the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. I have seen an extension into the cavities of the false stomach in but one case; that was an extremely severe one, which occurred in a young bull-moose. The lesions which are produced in the intestine are identical with those of the stomach. As is to be expected, diarrhœa, with a very much decreased food-assimilation follows, and the animal rapidly emaciates, finally dying in a state of general exhaustion and malnutrition. If the disease extends to the colon, dysentery follows, and at the same time the process in the stomach and small intestines becomes more and more marked, finally resulting in an atrophic |