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EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 279 



iug results were obtained : Bad. abortus could not be isolated from soil 

 after one week and from sand plus soil solution after less than seven 

 days. The hay became contaminated and the experiment was discon- 

 tinued. The bacteria survived in tap water for nineteen days. 



"Since other bacteria which may have grown in symbosis, antibiosis 

 or metabiosis with Bad. ahortus were not taken into consideration in 

 these experiments, only tentative practical conclusions can be formed 

 from the results. The importance of the results, however, is apparent 

 when one takes into consideration the above materials as a means of 

 conveying the causative organism of abortion from animal to animal 

 and from one herd to another and the disaster that may result there- 

 from. 



"The following combinations were employed in an effort to arrive at 

 a medium upon which Bad. ahortus would grow more luxuriantly and 

 with greater speed: 



Blood Clot agar (blood clot one volume, Avater two volumes), 



Ascitic agar (ascitic fluid taken from fetus), 



Amniotic agar (fluid taken from amnion). 



Fetal agar (aborted fetus ground and made up as meat infusion), 



Glycerin agar and plain agar varying in different degrees of acidity. 



Eesults: Bad. ahortus grew Avell on all media excepting glycerin agar, 

 and plain agar made neutral or 1.5 acid (Fuller's Scale) to phenolph- 

 thalein. Plain meat infusion agar or blood clot agar made 1.2 acid to phe- 

 nolphthalein are much more to be preferred for the growing of Bad. ahor- 

 tus owing to the fact that the organism can be isolated on these media 

 without difficulty when anaerobic conditions are employed (Nowak). One 

 should never attempt to isolate Bad. ahortus without employing the 

 anaerobic method. The writer has found that it is absolutely impossible 

 to isolate the organism under aerobic conditions. 



"Nine aborted fetuses and one still born were examined bacteriolog- 

 ically during the past year. Bad. ahortus was isolated from the stom- 

 ach contents of eight. The organism was not isolated from the still born 

 or from one of the aborted fetuses. In only one instance was the or- 

 ganism isolated from the fetal blood, spleen, kidney and liver, as well as 

 from the stomach content. Bart, ahortus apparently establishes itself 

 in the fetal stomach, and cannot be easily found in the other fetal or- 

 gans. 



"During the past year 313 blood samples have been tested by the com- 

 plement fixation and agglutination tests for infectious abortion of Avhich 

 13G, or 39 percent gaxe positive reactions. These results give one a fair 

 representation of the extent of the infection in the state of Michigan. 



"At the beginning of the year an abortion record sheet was designed 

 for the collection of data concerning sterilit;\% retained placenta and the 

 number of aborters that give positive reactions. Forty-six of the record 

 sheets were sent to different veterinarians and breeders who had sent as 

 blood samples to be tested for infectious abortion. Only 28 of the sheets 

 were returned. 



"The blood of 9 bulls, all located in badly infected herds, was tested 

 during the year. There were 2 reactions obtained by the complement 

 fixation test. 



"Experiments are being conducted at the present writing to find a 



