ENZOOTIC ABORTION IN COWS. 115 



ing to wliat Fleming has given us, from whom he largely 

 quotes. 



Mr. Fleming is influenced by the work of continental 

 veterinarians. I know nothing about it myself, and the con- 

 clusions which will be arrived at are entirely drawn from the 

 critical study of the writings of others. It would really seem 

 as if very little attention had been given to the subject by 

 the profession in England ; for if we look over the contents 

 of the London Veterinary Journal during its existence, from 

 1875 to date, we shall find the subject indexed but once, and 

 then as a translation of a German article. The reports of 

 the papers read and discussions held at many of the meet- 

 ings of English veterinary societies have also been published 

 in this journal, and though not indexed I have looked them 

 over in vain for any allusion to this subject. 



If we turn to French and German literature we shall not 

 find very much satisfaction, though more has been written 

 upon the subject and more thought given to it. The hypoth- 

 esis that it is due to infection is well defended and supported 

 by some experimental proof. The best treatises upon this 

 subject are two of purely American, and, strange to say, 

 neither of them of veterinary, origin. One of them is to be 

 found in the Transactions of the New York Board of Agricult- 

 ure for the years 1867, 1868 and 1869, and is the report of 

 a commission appointed by the governor of that State for the 

 purpose. The other is a report of the discussion held at the 

 " Farmers' Meeti no- " of the Massachusetts Board of Aot- 

 culture, published in 1883. The New York commissioners 

 do not seem to have arrived at a suspicion of the infectio- 

 contagious nature of the trouble, as we shall eventually see ; 

 while the New England farmers appear to have become more 

 or less convinced of it. 



After looking over all these authorities, the reader will, 

 like the writer, come to the conclusion that it causes an im- 

 mense loss to the cattle interest, and further, that it is one 

 of those questions that it becomes the duty of the State to 

 spare no expense in having its causes sought after in the 

 most exact and experimental scientific manner. 



This trouble does not appear to have attracted much of 

 any public attention until towards the end of the last cent- 



