642 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



TABLE Xir.— A COMPARISON OF THE ANTIBODY AND CELLULAR CONTENT OF THE 

 FORE MILK AND STRIPPINGS OF REACTING MILK NOT CAPABLE OF CAUSING 

 TYPICAL BACT. ABORTUS LESIONS IN GUINEA PIGS WITH THE 5 c.c. USED FOR 

 INOCULATION. 



(Agglutination reaction when various quantities of milli were added to test tubes containing bacterial 



suspension.) 



A. Guinea pigs inoculated with 5 c.c. of milk from each quarter did not develop Bad. abortus lesions 

 and blood reaction. ,. , j , ,. , i 



B Guinea pigs inoculated with 5 c.c. of milk from each quarter did not develop Bad. abortus le- 

 sions or blood reactions. Milk from L. R. quarter produced typical lesions in guinea pigs 2 years 

 previously. 



Here we see a tendency for the strippings to have a lower antibody 

 and cellular content than the fore milk. It seems to the writer that 

 this might be due to the fact that infection is slight and of such a super- 

 ficial nature that any antibodies and cells resulting may easily be washed 

 away with the early portion of the milking. 



Part II. 



A Study of the Effect of Bacterium alortus upon Man. 



The investigations of Schroeder and Cotton, Fabyan, Moore, Zwiek 

 and Krage, Evans, Williams, Cooledge, and others prove that the or- 

 ganism Bad. ahortus is often present in milk when drawn from appar- 

 ently normal cows. It is further shown that this organism is sometimes 

 present in great numbers, and that the infected milk may be pathogenic 

 for guinea pigs when five cubic centimeters are inoculated intra-ab- 

 dominally. That this bacterium is the causative organism of infectious 

 abortion in cattle, and will produce serious lesions" in guinea pigs, and 

 affect other experimental animals, is generally admitted. These facts 

 have led a number of investigators to fear that milk containing this 

 organism might be pathogenic for human beings, especially for children 

 whose principal food is often raw cows' milk. 



In writing of this organism Melvin says in this connection : "This 

 bacillus may prove to be another danger in the use of raw milk as food, 

 and may furnish an additional reason for taking advantage of the safe- 

 guard afforded by pasteurization." 



Note: — The autljor wishes to thank Mr. I. F. Huddlegon for making many of the tests tabulated ii^ 

 Part II of this paper. 



