584 EXPERIMENT STATION HF.CORD. 



finest and boPt of the growinj; (■.illlc Imt splenic st-ldoin ntlnrks iiintnro boasts, 

 and only ydnnjr animals aiv snb.i(M-t lo blacklc},'." 



Anti-rinderpest serum, its production and use, C. (i. Thomson ( I'hilijiiiine 

 Agr. Rev. [IJnffli.sh Ed.], 2 il!)0!l). No. J 2, pit. 610-67(1 plfs. 2).— An account is 

 given of the use of this serum, particularly in the rhilippine Islands. 



"Anti-rinderpest serum, properly i)repared and kept, will iirotect over 90 per 

 cent of treated animals, as shown by tlie results obtained during the past 2 

 years. In the fiscal year of 1907, a total of 16,495 animals were inocnlate<l, 

 with 269 reported deaths, a mortality of 1.6 per cent. In 1908, a total of 21,005 

 were treated, with a mortality of 621, or 2.95 per cent. It is improbable that 

 all deaths following inoculation were reported." 



Epizootic abortion in cattle, J. McFadyean et al. {Rpt. Drpt. C'ltm. lid. Agr. 

 and Fisheries [Gt. Brit.], Epizootic Ahortion, 1909, pt. 1, pp. 2'i ; App.. pp. Ji3). — 

 This is the report of a committee appointed by the president of the Boai'd of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries to investigate contagious epizootic abortion among 

 bovine animals. In the appendix, Drs. J. McFadyean and S. Stockman give a 

 detailed account of the experiments and observations upon wliich the report is 

 based. A liistorical review is first presented, followed by an account of the 

 method of obtaining material and the post-mortem jippeai-ance of affected cows. 

 The causative agent is then considered, its morphological, tinctorial, and cul- 

 tural characteristics being described. 



" If a suitably stained preparation made from the uterine exudate of an 

 affected cow be examineit under the microscope a large number of white blood 

 corpuscles and catarrhal cells from the uterine nnicous membrane can be seen. 

 Between the cells there are numerous small single bacilli, which are mostly of 

 an oval shape; some, however, are distinctly rod-shaped, like the tubercle bacil- 

 lus, and show 1 or 2 unstained areas in their substance. In many places the 

 bacilli are collected into dense groups or colonies. ... As a rule the majority 

 of the bacilli are between 1 and 2 microns in length, but many are less than 

 1 micron. The longest measure about o microns. The bacilli are nonmotile. . . . 

 In no affected uterus Avhile fresh were abortion bacilli found in the fluids 

 contained inside the fetal membranes. In the fetus itself, however, they were 

 frequently, though not always, found in the fluid contents of the stomach. . . . 

 The abortion bacillus grows best at temperatures between 30 and 37° C. The 

 bacillus is an aerobe. 



" There seems no reason to doubt that the Danish and English diseases are 

 one and the same, and we have not thought it necessary to coin a name for the 

 bacillus, as it seems appropriate that it should b(> known as ' Bang's bacillus of 

 cattle abortion ' in deference to the work of its distinguished discoverer. . . . 

 It was found tliat in the moist state it was not destroyed at a temperature of 

 55° maintained for an hour, l»ut 2 hours at the same temperature proved fatal. 

 If it be kept for 10 minutes in water at a temperature between 59 to 61° and 

 above, its vitality is destroyed, but after exposure in water at 55° for 10 min- 

 utes it retains its vitality. 



"The contents of the infected uterus, tliat is to say, the exudate, the fetal 

 membranes, and the fetus, are all virulent, since th(>y lontain the microbe. It 

 is improbal)le that abortion bacilli are excreted in the milk of affected cows, 

 and some experimental observations which were made show that the bacilli can 

 not be found in the milk a week after ;i large amount of culture has been injected 

 up the teat. ... It ai)pears that virulent m;i1erial may, if keitt fluid and free 

 from putrefaction, remain infective for 7 uioiitlis Imt not for a year. . . . Desic- 

 cation has a destructive influence on the vitality of the virus. . . . 



"Affected in-calf cows may be introduced into a clean herd, and be tlie 

 lueans of establishing fresh centers when they abort. This is one of the most 



