10 



Statements have been made by European writers that outbreaks 

 of diphtheria occurred in men, while at the same time poultry kept in 

 the buildings in which the men lived were suffering from roup. They, 

 however, do not state whether the roup commenced before the diph- 

 theria or vice versa, and they give no good reasons for supposing that 

 the outbreaks were actually connected with each other. In fact, we 

 must state that the cases referred to, of alleged transmission of chicken 

 diphtheria to man, are on examination found to be mere assumption, 

 due to ignorance of veterinary pathology. 



In 1898, several articles appeared in the Agricultural Press, writ- 

 ten by H. A. Stevenson, M.D., who said, " Roup is caused by a specific 

 germ, which appears to me to be identical with the Klebs-Loettier 

 bacillus," i.e., the bacillus which causes human diphtheria ; and in an- 

 other place, he sa.ys, " I believe roup and canker to be the t^ame disease, 

 a disease identical with diphtheria in man." 



If the above statements were borne out by experiments, and found 

 to be correct, we should have to demand the most rigorous treatment 

 of diseased birds ; for Dr. Stevenson takes the position that diphtheria 

 may be spread by roupy birds in exactly the s-ame manner as tuber- 

 culosis is supposed to be spread by tubercular cattle. 



These statements of Stevenson are, however, not based on careful 

 experiments, and the human diphtheria antitoxin which he recom- 

 mended as a sure cure for roup, has been found to be absolutely 

 worthless for that purpose. 



The following experiments and observations may be cited under 



this head : 



A student of Professor Tresbot's devoured diphtheritic membrane 

 from fowls without contracting the disease ; and Loffler, the discover 

 of the human diphtheria germ, and Colin were never able to produce 

 diphtheria in fowls by inoculation with human diphtheria germs. 

 Gratia and Lieneaux treated roupy fowls with the human diphtheria 

 antitoxin, and secured very poor results. 



We have also ourselves made a large number of experiments with 

 roupy fowls ; and in about 300 roupy birds that have come under our 

 observation, we have never been able to isolate the Klebs-Loeffler 

 bacillus, i. e., the bacillus of human diphtheria. Roupy fowls have 

 also been again and again treated with diphtheria antitoxin without 

 any result. Were the germs of human diphtheria and fowl diphtheria 

 the same, the antitoxin would certainly have affected the diphtheria 

 in the fowl, since it is the best known remedy for diphtheria in 

 man. 



Further, we find that the diphtheiitic membranes in man and 

 fowls are different. That of the former consists of a fibrinous exu- 

 dation, — granular material, pus corpuscles, and debris of epithelial 

 cells, — and contains the Klebs-Loeffier bacillus in great numbers ; and 

 these can readily be stained by Gram's method. 



