OCR Text |
Show SEATTLE'S GUINEA PIG FARM Somewhat Remarkable Institution That Is Conceded to Be of Very Great Value. Among the various industries Seattle lias undertaken for the common good that of guinea-pig farming would seem to rank as the most curious. Seattle is a guinea-pig -farmer on a considerable consider-able scale and at times the principal tttrry of thor.e in charge of the "ranch" is that the guinea-pig supply will exceed the demand. The municipal guinea-pig herd numbers num-bers 700. The guinea-pig farm is a necessity, not ai. idle experiment. In their humble way these funny little' animals play an important part in the daily work of preserving the city's health. They are the official "goats" for the chemists In the city's bacteriological bacterio-logical laboratories and at the federal plague laboratory, which the city helps to maintain. In fact, the little guinea pig is one of the most unfortunate of all animals. ani-mals. Since doctors have learned that he is subject to almost all the ills that human flesh is heir to, life for him is one leng feast of germs. Because the blood of the little cavvy is bo like human blood, he is ideal for many bacteriological tests. Give him a cold germ and he will promptly start to sneezing- and coughing; give him too much red liquor and he will acquire ac-quire a ridiculous headache. So good-natured good-natured is the guinea pig that he will accept the present of any sort of germs without protest and during the course of his life at the city laboratory he gets all sorts. |