CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 166, 22 October 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

INSPECTION OF PIGS. II has been repeatedly shown that New Zealand will in (.lie future reap much cash from the breeding of pigs and the sale of bacon. In Taranaki pigs are a. most valuable adjunct to the dairy farm, and it behoves every man who becomes a pig-breeder 'to exercise the greatest possible <'iive. The most important point. in connection with the matter is Ihe one that the pig is peculiarly liable to tuberculous itlTccfious; that individuals, who are not under inspection, kill a. large proportion of the swine used in New Zealand, and that the liacnn passes into the. food supply of the people. The Chief Government Veterinarian (Mr. lieakcs) has on various occasions insisted on I lie necessity for 11. more thorough syslcni of inspection of pigs, but. wbiie (he system in dealing with the cleaner and more healthy animals used for food, is rigid enough, there seems to he no improvement in Hie matter of swine inspeelion. Mr. Rcakes reports the percentage of eon demnationg as being: ('atile, :!. i:: per cent.; calves, 0.0-2 per ecu I.: sheep, o.o!) per «nt.; lambs, 0.07 per cent.; pigs, 5.44 per cent. Ell'ectivc steps, he says, must be taken to get tuberculosis under control. Tuberculosis, as directing pigs alone, has caused an enormous loss, and is "a matter dcmiuidiiig most serious consideration." It will do lit lie good by way of stamping out tuberculosis for pigowners to make returns of Ihe numbers of 3wine they keep on I lie census papers. It should be made compulsory dial every owner of pigs be rcg'udeml and I ha I Ihe animals be liable to inspection at an\ time. There is not the least d-.ubl fha'l a great deal of diseased pig meal, is sold and that in many cases the killers of the beasts are quite ignorant of the malter. It is a question for Ihe most expert and careful investigation. WHAT NELSON GAVE. Foolish questions, like "Ts the Empire worth keeping?" "Ts the race decaying?" and so on have become topics for heated controversy at Home of late. Most people answer that the Empire really is worth keeping; and the next question to be asked is, "What are yon doin? to keep if?" Yesterday was the anniversary of the greatest day in Imperial his-

ton', ami mi it is :ipi>n>[niato to mention what Nelson gave to the Empire. Nelson lost an arm ami an eye ami then Ills life for ins country, and between these losses lie was more than once sorely wounded. Nothing could daunt his spirit, nothing chill that heroic soul, nothing induce him to press his claims to attention before others, "1 will take my turn," he said at the Nile, when the surgeons pressed round him to dress his grievous wounds. "Attend to the others; i am past help," lie said at Trafalgar. Never wan seil placed lirsl, but always Cod, his country, his officers and men, his duty. At times the sense of his losses was pointedly brought home to his admiring fellow-countrymen. When he was accorded the freedom of \annouth the town clerk observed that Nelson placed Ills left hand on the Book when taking the oath. Deferentially he said: "lour right hand, please, my lord! ' "That, replied Neison, "is at TeiicriHe." fie himself did not live to catch more than the barest glimpse ol file extent of the Empire which his achievements had largely helped to bring into being, "God buries ilic workman, out cameo on the work. Also the memory of tile worker remain.-,, ami uecomes a very precious heritage. In the last hunured years other Empire builders have come lorlh who haw: given Lheir lives to I hi; cause, added to and strengthened its wealth and. prosperity and supremacy, and then, in Ihe inline.-,, of tilm, crossed over to the oilier slue. But among them all there is none w iio has .surpassed Horatio Nelson in the individual and personal sway that he lias exercised over the hearis and. imagination of his felloweounirynien.

VACCINATION FOR TU'HOID FE\ ER. It was stated in our cables the othei day that inoculation had eJlected a reduction tu oli per cent, in typhoid cases in the Army. Several of Uie leading medical journals in their current issues, note tiie. discovery of Aaceine treatment for typhoid by Frotessor fi. Vincent, surgeon at a French military hospital, ft is at the present time impossible, says the British Medical journal, to pronounce a decided opinion on the matter; but the prospect of vaccination against typhoid appears to be very promising. Ol lite eilicacy of Uie discovery, Proicssor \ lucent hiinseif has not tile least doubt. Atter a certain number of trials, he loiind it possible and even easy to vaccinate animals against experimental infection by means of the bacillus of typhoid lever. They could be injected with bacilli which had not been killed or with the product of maceration or the living microbe in, water into which chloride of sodium had been infused in the proportion of seven per thousand. He says: "\aceiues made with dead bacilli axe eiiieaeious, but they cause local and general reactions which are often troublesome. For this reason 1 have tried to employ as vaccine the producv of the maceration of live bacilli, aud 1 have thus obtained un anti-typhic vaccine, which thoroughly immunises animals against, a very severe inoculation of the virulent microbe." The eminent physician has not confined his experiments to animals. He has tried them on as many as thirteen persons, in each ease with success. The subjects all bore the ordeal vexy well, as they were absolutely free from paiu or from feverish symptoms which usually accompany vaccination with bacilli. The professor himself, adds that an examiuation of the blood of the subjects showed it very rich in "anti-bodies," which destroy the bacillus of typhoid fever. Professor Vincent contends that his serum is quite inoffensive and docs not produce any troublesome symptoms. This is in itself a very encouraging circumstance, as hitherto such experiments have not proved rich in innocuous results.

Til E Nil )RT 11ERN T ERRiTURY. The discussion in the Federal House of Representatives on the Northern Territory Transfer IJill indicated that the question of settlement is being approached iu a serious spirit by the Commonwealth Government. The Minister of External Affairs said that the development of the Territory was entirely suspended and nothing could be done to secure the* prolitable use of land comprising onelil'lh of the area of the Continent until the question of control had been decided dually. For ten'years the position had beefi allowed to remain indefinite and he could not say that the Government either of South Australia or of the ■Commonwealth was free from blame for the existing statu of affairs. The completion of the railway through Uie territory was absoluiely necessary and Uie -transcontinental line must be built to connect the north with the south. The annual delieit in the accounts of the Northern Territory at thy present time, including the loss on the railways, was about £23u',oUo. The Minister added that past .South Australian Governments had practically alienated large areas of laud in the Territory. Some Ut),tWJo,olil) acres had been let under pastoral leases for terms of from twenty-live to forty years, and the rentals were extremely low, amounting ill some cases to 2s lid a square mile. Alter ten years the Government, by giving two years' notice, could resume the. land for agricultural purposes, but the compensation payable for the tenant's improvements would have to cover increased values created by the expenditure of public money. The discussion showed that some members of the House were by no means impressed with the prospect of the advantages to be gained by the transfer of the area to the Commonwealth. It was suggested that South Australia -«"».> driving a hard bargain with the Federal authorities, ami an Adelaide member retorted that the Commonwealth owed the State something for having "kept the Territory white.' Before the Bill was passed tin: Minister of External Affairs remarked that the burden of'developing a vast vacant area had proved too much for idO.UIM people, but it should be within Ihe capabilities of the four million citizens of united Australia.