186 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



it may be in somewhat modified form, excreted by the kidueys. The fact also 

 that the colostrum of the cow during an attack of parturient paresis invariably 

 caused an abortion in pregnant guinea pigs is a matter of considerable physio- 

 logical significance and will be discussed more fully in the following paper." 



The internal secretion of the mammw as a factor in the onset of labor, D. J. 

 Healy and J. H. Kastle (pp. 101-104). — In this third paper the authors report 

 experiments in which they found that the colostrum of the normal cow, as well 

 as of the cow suffering from parturient paresis, contains a substance or sub- 

 stances, capable of bringing about abortion in pregnant guinea pigs. "The 

 substance or substances in the fresh colostrum of the normal cow which excite 

 the pregnant guinea pig to premature labor, withstands heating to boiling 

 for a short time. In this respect it is similar to the hormones and differs from 

 the soluble ferments and many toxins." 



An uniieual cause of udder disease, L. A. Klein (Ainer. Vet. Rev., 41 

 (1912), No. 1, pp. 30-37). — The author describes an affection in which the skin 

 of the udder, especially about the base of the teats, was irritated, dry, stiff, 

 scaly, and sometimes swollen or thickened, while the milk of affected animals 

 contained small flakes and white jelly-like clumps. At the time the cows were 

 first examined only a few animals were affected but the number gradually 

 included 90 per cent of the cows of a large dairy herd, clumps and flakes being 

 so numerous that the cotton strainer was clogged and the milk would not pass 

 through. In many instances small scabs were present, indicating the previous 

 existence of a crack or fissure, and in some cases small abrasions or excoriations 

 were present. The condition resembled in all respects a mild acute or subacute 

 inflammation of the skin. Of the 48 cows showing the milk changes or teat 

 symptoms, indicating the presence of catarrhal mastitis, 30 also exhibited the.se 

 alterations in the skin covering the base of the teat." 



The author's investigations showed the disease to be due to the exposure of 

 the wet udder to cold, it having been the practice to wash the croup, buttocks, 

 flanks, the legs (inside and out, down to the claws), the tail, and the udder 

 with a mild disinfectant solution. " The udder trouble began about the middle 

 of November, just after cold weather had begun, lliere were more affected 

 cows in the end of the stable where the doors were frequently opened and kept 

 partly opened for ventilation than in the other end where they were almost 

 constantly closed. The irritated condition of the "i observed on the udders 

 was just at the point where fluids placed on a clipped udder would collect by 

 gravitation, and which, therefore, would remain wet longest." 



The aiiplication of excessive quantities of water in cleaning the cows was 

 replaced by dry brushing, using water only when necessary, wiping the Tidder 

 with a cloth dampened with a 2 per cent solution of sodium carbonate, and 

 then anointing with a small amount of vaseline. This, together with the ad- 

 ministration of 3 drams of bicarbonate of soda and li drams each of sodium 

 sulphate and potassium acetate upon the feed twice daily, resulted in the 

 recovery of the animals. 



Primary splenomegaly in sheep, L. E. Day (U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. 

 Indus. Rpt. 1910, 2>p. -M-M^S).— Splenomegaly as a distinct pathological process 

 was first described in 1SS2, but so far as the author has been able to determine, 

 has not been reported in the lower animals. An examination, both macroscopic 

 and microscopic, made of an enlarged spleen and the liver from a sheep, which 

 were received for diagnosis from one of the large slaughtering establishments 

 in Chicago, is here reported in detail. The changes in the tissue were so char- 

 acteristic that a diagnosis was made of primary splenomegaly. 



The preparation of hog cholera serum in Hungary, A. Eichhobn (f7. 8. 

 Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. Rpt. IdlO, pp. .',01-1(13, pis. 2, figs. 6).— This is a. 



