260 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



York (Cornell), Connecticut and Massachusetts Experiment Stations. 

 There is i-eason to believe that the disease is quite ])revalent in Ihis State 

 and steadily beconiinj^ more serious to the i)onltry industry, probably 

 due to importations of diseased breeding stock from the east. 



It seems advisable to make a complete investigation of this problem, 

 including a survey of the State in respect to the present spread of the 

 disease and also if possible to perfect diagnostic and preventive methods 

 or curative agents with the idea of identifying and, if possible, stamp- 

 ing out the disease. 



It seems possible to adapt the complement fixation method to the diag- 

 nosis of this disease in adult carriers, as preliminary work has demon- 

 strated. 



A considerable amount of outside clinical diagnostic work has been 

 handled throughout the year. (L. C. Ludlum). 



We hope to be able to continue the work with white diarrhea of chicks 

 and arrangements have been made to place the problem in the hands of 

 a graduate assistant and to cooperate with the Poultry department of 

 this Station. 



While still connected with this laboratory Mr. W. S. Robbins, in 

 charge of the hog cholera serum plant, conducted some experiments with 

 virulent salt solution that have remained unpublished. He was able to 

 find that the virulent salt solution (25 cc. sait solution per pound of body 

 weight remaining in the abdominal cavity 6 hours) would hyperimmun- 

 ize a pig successfully when injected subcutaneously but not when in- 

 jected intravenously in reasonable or practical amounts. He attributes 

 the success of the subcutaneous injections to the perfect absorptive pow- 

 ers of the salt solution virus due to its low fibrin and protein content as 

 well as low B. cholerae siiis content as compared with virulent blood. He 

 found the composition of the 25 cc.-6 hour salt solution to average, in 

 comparison with the blood of the corresponding animals, as follows: 



Adams project 3b. bovine infectious abortion, has suffered during the 

 year due to our inability to fill the vacancy caused by the removal of Dr. 

 Hallman to the Department of Animal Pathology, newly created. While 

 we congratulate the College on its acquisition we deplore the loss to the 

 Station. Dr. Hallman's results are to be found in the ''Journal of the 

 American Veterinarv Medical Association," N. S. Vol. 2, No. 3, June, 

 1916, "Studies in Infectious Abortion in Cattle." Ward Giltner, E. T. 

 Hallman and L. H. Cooledge. The main facts are as follows: 



''The use of living cultures of the abortus bacterium on open females 

 and dead cultures on pregnant females, has been applied to a few herds 

 with the object of observing their pyrogenic and immunizing effects. 



"Not a large enough number of animals have been under observation 

 to make any valuable deductions, nor has any herd been treated with a 

 part of the herd left as controls. It has been difficult to get owners to 



