REVIEWS. 249

!ttvitw.5.

Annual Reports of Proceedings under the Diseases of Animals Acts, etc., for the Year 1899.

THE annual Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Board of Agriculture contains a number of interesting articles dealing with the incidence of the con­tagious diseases of animals in Great Britain during the past year. During the year, only nine cases of rabies were reported, as against seventeen in 1898. The results of the year's operations against swine-fever are admitted to have been disappointing, seeing that the outbreaks reported numbered 2322, or only 192 fewer than in the previous year. In the case of glanders the failure of the present methods of dealing with the disease is ,till more apparent, the outbreaks for 1899 having been actually 105 in excess of those for the preced­ing twelve months. Anthrax preserved what may be called its normal rate of prevalence, and sheep-scab showed a tendency to decline. No cases of foot­and-mouth disease or pleuro-pneumonia were detected during the year.

The Assistant Secretary of the Animals Division contributes a report of which the most interesting part is a defence of the employment of lay inspectors by the Board in carrying out the provisions of the Diseases of Animals Acts. In this report Major Tennant says: "It is, of course, qUIte open to question whether the duties that have thus always been performed by laymen could not be as well, or perhaps better, performed by veterinary surgeons. The inclina­tion of most persons newly considering the question would probably be in favour of the employment of the latter. On closer examination, the advan­tages of this course are not so very apparent, whilst the disadvantages become more obvious." It may confidently be asserted that outside the circle of the Board of Agriculture, the first, second, and final opinion is, that it would be an advantage to the country if these lay inspectors were replaced by veterinary surgeons. The present system of employing retired naval and military officers in such duties as the tracing of diseased and suspected animals is an ana­chronism, and it is to be hoped that at no distant date the force of public opinion will compel its abandonment.

Stable Management and Exercise. By M. Horace Hayes, F.R.C.V.S. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1900.

CAPTAIN Hayes is one of OUf most prolific writers on all subjects connected with the horse, but it may be doubted whether any of his previous works sur­pass the present one in point of usefulness. Starting with some chapters on exercise and work, it deals in succession with dietetics, construction of stables, bedding, clothing, handling and leading of horses, and grooming. It also contains chapters on the management of horses on board ship, summering hunters, wintering polo ponies, and stable servants. In short, it may be said that it covers every detail of stable management, from the composition of saddle soap to the morning salutation proper from a groom to his master. The book is pleasantly written, its language is clear and concise, and it contains a number of useful illustrations. The work ought to be of great servIce to the numerous owners of horses who lack that knowledge of details which is necessary to enable them to exercise a useful personal supervision over the doings of their stable servants and the welfare of their animals.

R

CLINICAL ARTICLES.

Canine and Feline Surgery. By Frederick T. G. Hobday, F.R.C.V.S. Edinburgh and London: W. & A. K. Johnston, 1900.

IN the present volume Professor Hobday has placed before the profession a work that fills up what has hitherto been a distinct blank in veterinary litera­ture. In thIS country the surgery of the smaller domesticated animals has been to a large extent neglected. It was perhaps natural that in the early days of the science the larger animals should, on account of their greater value, have come in for the main share of attentIOn, but at the present time, at least in towns, the treatment of the ailments of the dog and the cat forms a by no means unimportant part of veterinary practice. Professor Hobday'S concise treatise on canine and feline surgery is therefore sure of a hearty welcome from both students and practitioners. The readers of this Journal are to some extent already acquainted with its contents, inasmuch as the author has taken for its basis the series of excellent articles which he contri­buted to the preceding volume. The author first describes the prf'n2ration of patients for operation, the methods of securing them, and the prel " j:0n of instruments, and the operator's hands. The succeeding two chapters deal with wounds, abscesses, cysts, and tumours, while the remainder of the work treats in detail of the various surgical operations classified according to the regions of the body on which they have to be performed. Numerous excellent illustrations have been introduced where necessary to supplement the text. The entire work deserves the highest praise, and we trust it will have a large sale.

CLINICAL ARTICLES.

--0--

TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF IZAL ON THE DOG AND CAT.

By FREDERICK HOBDAY, Professor of Therapeutics, Royal Veterinary College, London.

IZAL is a disinfectant and parasiticide which has gradually worked its way into general use both in veterinary and medical practice. A few words, therefore, upon its toxicology, with regard particularly to its application as a skin dressing for mange in dogs and cats, must be of general interest.

According to the labels and pamphlets issued by the proprietors, izal is "absolutely non-poisonous and non-irritant." One pamphlet (pages 30 and 31), says: "The problem has always been to find a substance at once genuinely antiseptic and non - poisonous.

The problem has now, however, been satisfactorily solved by the discovery of izal, a substance which combines in itself all the valuable properties of the antiseptics previously known without any of their admitted drawbacks. More powerful as a germicide than carbolic acid or iodoform, it is absolutely non-poisonous and unirritating. It causes neither constitutional disturbance nor local