EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 163 



June 19.^ — Visited fjirni of 'Mi: Wm. W , Iiiilay Ci<y to in- 



M'slioate a disease of liorses. This farm was visited by Dr. Giltner iu 

 Apiil, 1910, to investigate this same disease. A report of his investi- 

 ••ation is contained in the 1910 report of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture. Tlie evidence at liand points to tlie water as the most ])robable 

 cause of the trouble, since a change of watxu* will give relief. Strange 

 to say, water from the same well is used by the family without injurious 

 etfects. l"]vidently the water contains an excess of some salt or salts, 

 the etfecls of which are more ]tronounced on the horse than on man. We 

 are now having made a com])lete chemical and biological analysis of the 

 water with the hope of throwing more light on the situation.- 



Mv. W. S. Robbius has continued in charge of the serum production 

 work and has kept us supplied with a serum of high potencj'. He 

 has demonstrated the great value of intraperitoneal salt solution in- 

 jections as a means of greatly increasing the amount of virulent ma- 

 terial for hyperimmunization. Mr. Robbins is now making a compara- 

 tive study of virulent blood and virulent salt solution with a view to- 

 ward a bettor understanding of the nature of the latter. 



Miss Xorthrup has started experiments designed to corroborate the 

 results of former experiments to elucidate the uncertain points con- 

 nected A\i(h her investigations with lactic bacteria and a chromogenic 

 acid-destroying yeast. The progress of this work was interrupted by 

 the presentation of a problem that seemed to demand immediate atten- 

 tion. I refer to the possibilities of controlling the ravages of the June 

 beetle larvae by means of a bacterial disease. Miss Northrup appears 

 to have isolated the causal microorganism of this disease and the report 

 of her findings has already been- submitted to you for publication. We 

 have already received requests from Porto Rico for a culture of this 

 organism to be used in an effort to control this pest. 



Mr. Himmelberger has assisted Dr. Ilallman iu the investigations 

 relative to infectious abortion and has continued the work on avian 

 tuberculosis which I inaugurated sometime since. Avian tuberculosis 

 has been produced in the calf in two instances and it has been demon- 

 strated that the presence of this disease causes a response to the in- 

 jection of avian tuberculin with the possibility of no response to the 

 injection of tuberculin usually employed iu the diagnosis of bovine 

 tuberculosis. An attempt has also been made to utilize the principle of 

 the agglutiuatiuu test in the diagnosis of tuberculosis iu the domesticated 

 fowl. This work i)romises well. It would be of great value in high- 

 priced stock. We are quite alive to the fact that poultry diseases in 

 Michigan must be studied for economic reasons. 



The commercial work, as for some time past, has been immediately 

 in charge of Miss Rademacher. The importance of this work to the 

 agricultural interests of the state is beginning to be felt. A comparison 

 of the reports for the recent successive years shows the growth of these 

 activities. Miss Rademaclier's coutinued coinu'ctiou A\ith (his work 

 ensures satisfaction. 



