CENTURY OF ANIMAL PROGRESS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20087, 6 November 1939, Page 6 (Supplement)

CENTURY OF ANIMAL PROGRESS

HISTORIC REVIEW OF VETERINARY RESEARCH

By R. E. Alexander, M.R.C.V.S., Government Veterinarian, Department of Agriculture, Gisborne.

’J~N order that we may obtain the true 'perspective of our subject, let us first consider the Gisborne of 1840. This was the year that Bishop Williams and his family settled at Turanga, as the settlement was known in those days. Mr. Richard Poulgrain also made his appearance, and in the following year Mr. and Mrs. U’Ren and their family became part of the population. It was actually in 1841 that Tom U’Ren was born, being the first European child to be born in Poverty Bay.

An intriguing story of how the knowledge of animal disease has progressed during the last 100 years.

brating his third birthday, far away in the Old Country the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons was founded. This was in 1844. This body regulates the examinations of students who must be trained in an affiliated veterinary college, appoints examiners and admits as members of the college all who pass the qualifying examinations.

It was 'a lonely and isolated life that the bearded settlers faced in those days, together with those wives who look so prim and Victorian in the faded photographs handed down to us. Two or three years previously Captain Harris had established a whaling station at the mouth of the Turanganui River, and in 1840 whaling was also introduced by Messrs. Morris, Ralph, and Brown at Mahia.

Previously the greater part of the animal population were treated by farmers, who certainly possessed some practical knowledge, and by quacks, who possessed none at all. Methods were regulated by tradition rather than by science. Let us glance at the practices of those days.

First Cattle and Horses The weeping willow that is now so prevalent was first planted by Captain Harris, who also introduced peach and apricot trees. Of more importance is the fact that Captain Harris brought the first cattle and horses to this district, exactly 100 years ago. Sheep did not appear until 10 years later. When these pioneers had been established for four years in Poverty Bay, and little Tom U’Ren was cele-

Early Blood-letting:

From the veterinary point of view other stock faded into .insignificance beside the horse, who was monarch of all he surveyed. The practitioner carried a set of tiny knives constantly in his pocket, and practised bloodletting upon nearly every occasion. Like many other things, it was often efficacious when used with discretion, but it was unfortunately overdone,

and ultimately died out about the beginning of the present century. The other stand-bys were rowelling. setoning' and blistering, the last-mentioned form of counter-irritation still being employed. The hot iron was extensively used for many conditions besides that of firing the legs of horses, and its use was considerably abused. The drugs chiefly in vogue were violent purgatives. At that time Pasteur had not- commenced his researches, so that little was known of the causation of infectious diseases. One recollects elderly

■the mouths of the sound cattle, so that all the stock might be ill at the same time and the epidemic therefore bo over in a shorter time. Foot-and-mouth disease, of course, is not fatal, but leaves the stock in a very debilitated condition.

Contagious Disease The usual explanation of contagious disease at this time was that it was caused by certain “humours” or body fluids produced by faulty nutrition, over-exposure, or other causes. We retain this expression to-day when we describe a person as being in a good humour. Another explanation was that certain “miasmas” existed in the farmers at home relating how their grandfathers deliberately infected all their cattle with the virus of foot-and-mouth disease. The fluid from a blister on an affected beast was rubbed into air, a belief still commemorated in the name malaria final aria, bad air). Nevertheless, it was in this momentous year of 1840 that the germ theory of disease was propounded by Horde, who held that the cause of infectious diseases must be looked for in minute living organisms or fungi. As is often the case, his work attracted no attention at the time. But many larger parasites causing .widespread losses :n stock had beem previously described by Rudolphi,\Zeder and others. In 1842 Gruby demonstrated a form of mould in. the human affection known as “barber’s itch,” and in the following year a similar class of organism was found to cause ringworm. In 1850 the experimental method of research was instituted, particularly by Continental workers. Pasteur’s Research Ten years later another milestone was reached when Pasteur discovered the part played in the production of disease by minute living organisms and in showing how methods for the protection of the animal body could

be devised in which the germs themselves were employed. Many readers doubtless will recollect the recent film dealing with the life of this great man. This work was going on in the days when Te Kooti was a thorn in the flesh of the settlers of Poverty Bay. In 1872 Klebs and others pointed out that bacteria were always present in ■the discharge from infected wounds, and these facts, together with the results of Pasteur, led Lister to adopt a new method of dressing wounds. He applied antiseptics, and revolutionised surgery. Gisborne hacl increased in size by this time, and we read that in this year the first Presbyterian minister conducted services in Poverty Bay. In a photograph taken in 1871 we can count, about 20 houses, and two sailing vessels can be seen moored in the river, which appears much wider than it does at present. Work of Microscope

In 1878 Koch published liis work on anthrax, and showed that it was only by the actual inoculation of the bacillus or its spore, and not by other bacteria, that anthrax could be produced in animals. The improvements brought about in microscope construction and methods of growing germs in culture media now assisted workers in their investigations. The glanders bacillus was discovered in 1882, the tubercle bacillus in 1875, and contagious abortion of cattle in 1890.

That much of the evidence gradually reached New Zealand at varying limes there can be no doubt, for a considerable amount of literature dealing with animal disease exists in this country, imported at various times. One was forcibly reminded of this fact when appearing as an expert witness in Wellington some years ago. The court was dealing with a cattle case, and the legal l-epresenta-tives on either side had feverishly ransacked the city for books dealing with stock diseases. The vision stiil haunts me of the vast pile of tomes that faced me upon that occasion, ranging in date from 1845 to the present era. But this accumulated knowledge proved disconcerting to the l'espective advocates, for the positive assertions of one author were flatly contradicted by the dogmatic statements of another.

Losses of Stock It has often been pointed out to me by old settlers that in the early days losses in stock were not so heavy as they are at present. We must, however. take into consideration the vast scale of farming operations at' the present lime, and the heavy stocking made possible by land improvement, irrigation, and fertilising. Parasitic infection, especially, is favoured by the extra carrying capacity, and the fact that the germs of certain infectious diseases can live for long periods in suitable soil must not be forgotten.

I have not the space to describe the growth of the Department of Agriculture. but it is interesting to note that in 1903 Bulletin No. 1 was issued by the then Division of Veterinary Science. This booklet dealt with the subject of pseudo-tuberculosis in sheep, and was written, as were many others, by the late Dr. Gilruth. It was notable for the commonsense of its views, and indeed many of Gilruth’s views are equally sound to-day. Bulletins, of course, are now available dealing with a variety of animal diseases, together with their prevention and treatment, and such matters are also considered month by month in the recently-improved Journal of Agriculture. Modern Methods And so we have x-eached the end of our 100 years, and we find, to continue our analogy, that Gisborne is now almost a city, with its numerous roads and bridges. No longer does the sand blow in clouds down the tree-lined Gladstone road or the bullock team plod its way into town with a wagon load.

To-day we possess efficient medicines for the eradication of many parasites; curative agents such as potassium iodide for the relief of actinomycosis; diagnostic agents, such as tuberculin to aid in the elimination of infectious disease; and knowledge of mineral deficiencies as in the case of cobait. Some diseases, such as anthrax. have been stamped out altogether. The introduction of many diseases from other countries has been prevented. Our system of meat inspection is second to none in the world.

We have still much to learn. Mastitis in cows awaits a cure, and facial eczema in sheep remains a problem to be solved. But even in these cases much has been learned, and when we consider the progress that lias been made in this hundred years we surely cannot but feel that the time is not far distant when these obstacles, too, will be things of the past.