Veterinary relations between Germany and Turkey on the military level at the beginning of the 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century the veterinary relations between Turkey and Germany intensified at the military level. After the Balkan Wars there were urgent attempts to reorganize the army, which lead to the visit of a German military mission under General L. von Sanders, who was appointed to review the army. Along with other members of the German military mission A. Thieme (1881-1949) belonged to the staff of the Turkish Army's Supreme Command as orderly officer and as advisory army veterinarian. During the First World War (1914-1918) there were 44 German veterinary officers, 23 in Turkish and 21 in German uniform. The veterinary officers in Turkish formations were assigned to the military mission, where the veterinary major Dr. K. Dreyer served as official adviser. Moreover mixed German-Turkish special units were formed under German leadership in Turkey, which included German veterinary officers in German uniform. The higher salaries were paid to the German veterinary officers than their Turkish colleagues by the Turkish government. As far as can gathered three German officers perished in Turkey.     

Ca and P supply of ruminants in the 19th and beginning of 20th century in Middle Europe

The present review evaluates veterinary publications about some bone diseases in ruminants till 1925. According to more than 100 publications in some regions of Germany as well as in Scandinavian and Westeuropean countries during the 19th century several cases of bone fractures in ruminants were reported, mainly in pregnant and lactating cattle and goats. From a recent point of view and after feed analyses this disease obviously was caused by a P-deficiency. Bone fractures sometimes were accompanied by licking behaviour, but in other regions pica (without severe skeletal deformations) was probably related to a Cu- or Co-deficiency. Swelling of the jaws (probably by Ca-deficiency) was exclusively described in goats. By preventive measures (feeding bone meal, P-fertilisation) bone fractures diminished in the beginning of the 20th century. After the experience in the past in ruminants bone diseases may come back, if effective preventive measures will be ignored due to the recent trends towards 'natural farming'.     

20世纪末期新出现的动物传染病之流行特点产生原因与发展趋势

随着畜禽饲养业的持续发展，于20世纪末的近年来，陆续出现了许多新的动物传染病。现就其流行特点、产生原因及未来发展趋势作一浅析，又仅参考。共包括新的家禽传染病14种（其中我国新发现的家禽疫病即达7种）；新的家禽传染病8种。现分述如下。     

Adjustment of lactation yield for age at calving in relation to level of production

The influence of age at calving on 305-day milk, fat and protein yield in relation to herd and population level of production was investigated and a procedure for age adjustment was derived.Age differences were estimated by a repeatability model for 49 669 complete 305-day lactation records (kg milk, kg fat and kg protein) from 27 965 Dutch Friesian cows calving between 1 June 1979 and 31 May 1982. Several mathematical functions were applied to the estimated age differences. The best fit was by a second degree polynomial for Lactations 1 and 2 separately (R² ⩾ 0.995) and a linear function including the log of age at calving for third and later lactations (R²=0.967).One set of adjustment factors was found to apply to all herd levels of production. However, age adjustment factors were different from those found by Dommerholt (1975) where the population level was about 1000 kg milk lower. A more accurate age adjustment would be obtained by updating the mean production of heifers at 24 months of age and using mathematical functions for computation of age factors.     

Comparison of two automated immunohistochemical procedures for the diagnosis of scrapie in domestic sheep and chronic wasting disease in North American white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).

Two commercially available automated immunohistochemistry platforms, Ventana NexES and DakoCytomation Autostainer Universal Staining System, were compared for diagnosing sheep scrapie and cervid chronic wasting disease. Both automated platforms used the same antiprion protein monoclonal primary antibodies, but different platform-specific linker and amplification reagents and procedures. Duplicate sections of brainstem (at the level of the obex) and lymphoid tissue (retropharyngeal lymph node or tonsil) from the same tissue block were immunostained for the comparison. Examination of 1,020 tissues from 796 sheep revealed 100% concordance of results between the Ventana NexES and DakoCytomation platforms for diagnosing sheep scrapie from lymphoid tissue (103/103 positive; 405/405 negative) and brainstem (120/120 positive; 392/392 negative). Similarly, examination of 1,008 tissues from 504 white-tailed deer revealed 100% concordance between the Ventana NexES and DakoCytomation platforms for diagnosing chronic wasting disease from lymphoid tissue (104/104 positive; 400/400 negative) and brainstem (104/104 positive; 400/400 negative). Examination of 1,152 tissues from 482 mule deer revealed a concordance of 98.6% in lymphoid tissue and 99.9% in brainstem between the Ventana NexES and DakoCytomation platforms for diagnosing chronic wasting disease. The results indicate equivalence or near equivalence between the DakoCytomation and Ventana NexES autostainer platforms for identification of the disease-associated prion protein (PrPd)-positive and PrPd-negative brain and lymphoid tissues in sheep, white-tailed deer, and mule deer.     

Development of animal husbandry in Groningen in the 18th and 19th century; a broad outline

This overview is mainly focussed on the clay area forming the northern half of the province. It is the wealthiest and most characteristic part, being cultured since the Middle Ages as testified by the many churches that even small villages were able to construct. About 1700 the province of Groningen enjoyed already a modern economy, fitting in with that of the other coastal areas of Friesland, Zeeland and Holland (the last mentioned was the richest region of the world in the 17th and 18th century). As aspects of modernity at that time can be considered: 1) the use of modern agricultural methods with higher yields per hectare and higher milk yields per cow than produced in the land provinces on the sandy soils; 2) Agriculture was aimed at earning money by selling of hte products. In opposition to the farmers in the land provinces, who mainly produced for subsistence farming, the farmers in the coastal areas produced for the trade; 3) A high degree of specialization was found in the rural areas. 30-40% of the families had own farms, 25% of the population were labourers, owing only small pieces of land and the rest of the working population had occupations outside agriculture (craftmen, shopkeepers, shipmasters, merchants etc.). Whereas on the sandy soils practically every family owned a farm, be it mostly a very small one. After reviewing the changes in the distribution of land in use of the production of fieldcrops or for meadows-always in function of the market value of the products-and after a discussion of type of cattle husbandry (breeding, fattening, dairying) it is concluded that a relative decrease of the importance of cattle husbandry in the clay region during the 18th - 19th century can be observed. Intensification of land use had a positive effect on crop-production. The much-heard opinion that the cattle plague epizootic of 1768-1786 caused a transition in land use through a switch from animal husbandry to arable farming, is not held by the author. Economic factors were of prime importance here. The introduction of fertilizer in the 19th century took away the necessity to keep cattle for manure. And mechanization did the same for the horse in the 20th century. In some parts of the clay region, however, cattle husbandry returned in the second half of the 20th century, due to the low prices of the fieldcrops. The arable land is then transformed again in meadows. Attention is given to the role of veterinary care given by the farmers themselves and in a later phase by veterinary professionals.     

Distribution and management of cattle in relation to climatic zones within North America

The United States has a diversity of climates, as noted earlier. Although one can describe, as was done here, a grid of zones based on average temperature, rainfall, and terrain, the complexity of climates within these zones based on elevation, rainfall, and temperature requires much closer evaluation. The practicing veterinarian or animal husbandman must evaluate the specific climatic conditions prevailing on the farm or ranch in question and integrate the components of that climate into the management or health practices to be recommended. There is no substitute for careful observation.