Text 26. Proteins and minerals

Nutritionally, proteins are important for growth, reproduction, lactation and optimum health. Protein is the main component of the soft tissues of the body; it is the structural constituent of the cells making up these parts and is vitally important in many biochemical substances, such as hormones, enzymes, immune bodies and blood. Proteins are also of considerable importance in the resistance to the recovery from various diseases. In a deficiency, for example, the capacity to fabricate antibody protein is low; the production of leukocytes and lymphocytes is decreased, and the bone marrow and lymphoid tissues depleted.

Hormones are proteins that regulate body organs and their functions, enzymes digest food for further use in the body, immune bodies are their principal bacterial and viral defenders of the body; hemoglobin carries the oxygen to the cells so that they have energy; leukocytes and lymphocytes kill and digest bacteria and other foreign substances in the blood.

Minerals are inorganic elements. Organic compounds, which contain carbon (such as carbohydrates, fat, protein and vitamins), will burn. Minerals become a part of skeletal structure, but also play essential role in digestion and in metabolism inside body cells. Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, fluorine, and certain other mineral elements are integral part of the bone structure and of teeth. Approximately 99 percent of the calcium and 80 percent of the phosphorus present in the animal body are contained in the skeleton. When the need arises, calcium and other minerals can be mobilized from the skeleton and ' used for other body functions. Examples are the removal of calcium for milk production after a heifer or cow calves

Text 27. ALEXANDER FLEMING

Alexander Fleming came from a Scottish family of farmers. He was born in August, 1881, the youngest of eight children. He began to go to school when he was five. His lessons came easily to him, he had a good memory and was very intelligent.

It was quite by chance that he came into contact with the man who was to affect his whole life. It was a famous bacteriologist. Fleming became interested in antibacterial medicaments.

After the army service, during which he was able to make studies of the problem of infection Fleming returned to laboratory work.

One day Fleming's assistant brought him a plate on which a colony of bacteria was growing. It was some mould (плесень).

Fleming looked at the plate again and saw that the microbes all round the mould were gone. He was a real researcher. For over fifteen years he was solving that problem. He understood the importance of what had happened and began to study it. He put some of the mould on other plates and grew more colonies of it. Then he discovered that this new product killed microbes. He named it Penicillin. Fleming was finding out more and more about penicillin. He found that the mould began to produce penicillin on the fifth day.

Fleming's dream was to find a new method for producing penicillin. At last his dream came true. A new product was tried on different bacteria. The researchers tried it on animals and had good results. Penicillin had not yet been used on man. Then one day in 1942 Fleming made his own first experiment. His friend was very ill After several injections his life was saved.

Later on during World War II this medicine saved a great many lives. It was a great triumph. In 1945 he was given the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

He died on the 11th of March 1955 in London and was buried in St.Paul's Cathedral.

Text 28. ANIMAL HEALTH

If you own one or more animals, you are concerned with their health and welfare. Your personal commitment and knowledge of the basics — good housing, nutrition, sanita­tion and preventive medicine — are the most important first steps.

Housing is important to provide animals protection from the elements1 and predators. Basic nutrition needs remain the same for all animals — energy foods, protein, vitamins, minerals and lots of clean fresh water. Clean cages, barns, aquariums and other animal facilities are important for pre­venting the entry of disease. Grooming is a good preventive tool — to keep animals clean and free of external parasites. Preventive medicine is the final link in the circle of good animal health and includes vaccinations and internal and external parasite control.

Animal health means more than taking the necessary care, and calling the veterinarian when an animal is ill or injured. There are three important areas of responsibility. First, your responsibility as owner or caretaker. Second, the responsibility of the veterinarian. And finally, the Govern­ment has a distinct and important role in assuring the health of animals.

You, as the owner or caretaker, have the most immediate responsibility. There's an old saying, "The eye of the master fattens the calf," which is to say that you are the one who best can provide the feed, water, shelter, sanitation and health care for your animal.

But at some point, you need to call in the expert — your veterinarian. The veterinary practitioner is the animal health professional. This expert is able to diagnose and treat diseases that threaten your animals. Veterinarians are not there just to help when things go wrong. They can help make sure that things don't go wrong.

They also have another responsibility: reporting certain disease to the Government, either because they are of public health significance, or because they are regulated under Govern­ment animal health programs. The Government is to pre­vent, control and eradicate several types of diseases. These include animal disease that can be transmitted to man, such as rabies, brucellosis (undulant fever), psittacosis (parrot fever), and tuberculosis. And finally, there are potentially catastrophic foreign diseases that could wreck our domestic livestock and poultry industries.