30 INOCULATION AS A PREVENTION OF PLEURO -PNEUMONIA. 



gradually softens. The mass inside liquefies beneath the skin, 

 which latter finally breaking at a point, the contents gradually 

 escape, and the pa,rts healing up the animal is left none the 

 worse. During the formation of the abcess some go off their 

 food and milk, others don't. 



The really most unfavourable termination to inoculation is 

 where the inoculative action spreads to the muscles of the 

 haunch or back, or to any other part of the body that has been 

 severely bruised or injured in any way ; or what is worse, when 

 it spreads from the tail to the anus and vulva, and from those 

 parts inside to the bowel and urino-genital organs. Many cases 

 of the latter get better if the swelling extends no further than 

 the vulva, but if the process does spread and extend inside they 

 end fatally. The symptoms are, more or less, loss of appetite, 

 symptomatic fever, inability to remain for any length of time 

 in a standing posture, swelling of the external parts, discolora- 

 tion of the skin, difficulty in passing faeces and making water 

 and straining. Such cases should be destroyed, as they are 

 hopeless, in fact they are the only hopeless ones I have met 

 with. I think they are very apt to happen in the case of animals 

 recently calved, especially if the calving has been difficult — 

 hence my reason for advising the delay of inoculation in the 

 case of newly calved cows to at least three weeks afterwards, or 

 even longer if the parts be considered weak. 



In those cases mentioned where the inoculation extends to 

 the haunch, there is danger of a fatal end from the beast losing 

 the use of the limb, and so getting down ; where, however, they 

 retain their ability to move about, rise easily, and take their 

 food, they generally come all right, and are best assisted to 

 this end by being turned into a comfortable loose box. I have 

 not found that any application to the swellings is of any benefit, 

 I am on the contrary of opinion that interference with them 

 frequently makes them worse. Such are the unfavourable 

 terminations ; formidable as they, however, appear on paper, it 

 must be borne in mind they are not really so in practice, and 

 that the worst of them, those ending fatally, are of comparative 

 infrequent occurrence. 



Where care is taken in undertaking and carrying out the 

 inoculation, the mortality need not exceed two percent.; such at 

 any rate is mine, and I see no reason why any one should have 

 a higher rate, providing they go about the work carefully. In 

 my early clays my mortality was certainly higher (five per cent.), 

 but I have explained that this arose from the fact that I had 

 everything to learn, and was absolutely ignorant of a great many 

 things, the knowledge and observance of which has since led to 

 better results. 



In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to explain and 

 illustrate the theory and value of inoculation for the prevention 



