280 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



shduld adopt a better method of disjiosiiig of carcasses. There should be coui- 

 l)n]sor.v iiotiflcalion of all sudden deatlis in farm stock." 



On the excretion of anthrax bacilli in milk, W. II. IIorrocks {Jour. Rny. 

 Army Med. Corps, 11 {1908), No. 1, pp. JiG-J/S). — "The results prove conclu- 

 sively that virulent anthrax bacilli are excreted in the milk of animals dying 

 from anthrax acquired either naturally or artificially, but that the excretion of 

 the bacilli only occurs a fevv^ hours before death, and consequently, the risk to 

 the public is practically limited to one milking." 



Protective and curative inoculation against dog" distemper, F. Richter {Die 

 Hinulvxtaupc, ihrc Yorhciigiing und BcluuidJung dtirch Impfung. Dessau, 1908, 

 pp. 211, pis. 8; rev. in Vet. Rec, 21 {1909), No. 1077, p. 566).— After reviewing 

 the work done by various investigators the author reports his own investi- 

 gations. 



In a systematic test made of various prophylactic and curative sera used 

 according to the directions of their inventors, only negative results were 

 obtained. It was found that the virus of cow pox could be transmitted to 

 the dog and that it produces in such cases the eruption of typical variolous 

 jiustules, which much resemble those of man. The author could not produce a 

 disease resembling distemper by the inoculation of Copeman's bacterium or 

 Lignieres' I'ustrurrlla eauis. 



On the relationship between Bacillus pestis and B. pseudotuberculosis 

 rodentium, A. T. MacConkey {Jour. Hyg. [Camhridge], 8 {1908), No. 3, pp. 

 335-3-'il). — The author reports experiments made with guinea pigs and rats, 

 and draws the following summary : 



" Morphologically and culturally the Bacillus pseudotuberculosis rodentium 

 liears a strong resemblance to B. pestis. The iiltrate from an autolyzed agar 

 culture of B. pseudotuherculosis rodentium and a similar filtrate from a B. 

 pestis culture both gave a precipitin reaction with pest serum. It has been 

 found possible to immunize both guinea pigs and rats against league bj^ means 

 of inoculations of cultures of B. pseudotuherculosis rodentium, and this 

 imiuuiiity lasted in many cases at least (> mouths." 



A micro-organism which apparently has a specific relationship to Rocky 

 Mountain spotted fever, H. T. Ricketts {Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 52 {1909), 

 No. 5, pp. 379, 380). — It is stated that a repetition of experiments with ticks 

 resulted in the transmission of spotted fever to susceptible guinea pigs by 50 

 per cent of the seed ticks from infected females. 



An examination of eggs of a female from INIontana, that had jirodxiced fatal 

 infection in two guinea pigs, showed the presence of an organism that api^eared 

 typically as a bipolar staining bacillus of minute size, approximating that of 

 the influenza bacillus. These organisms were present in varying numbers in 

 different eggs, but as a rule they were surprisingly numerous, and in some 

 instances thousands were to be found in a single egg. Eggs from three 

 females of a different species of Dermacentor that had been collected in Idaho 

 and fed on an infected guinea pig also showed the presence of the same forms. 

 The salivary glands, alimentary sac, and ovaries of infected females were 

 literally swarming wath exactly similar organisms. They appeared to be 

 absent, however, from the viscera of the uninfected tick, both male and female. 

 Similar forms have been found in the blood and serum of infected guinea pigs. 



The organism has not as yet been cultivated. 



African tick fever — a personal experience, A. C. H, Gray {Jour. Roy. Army 

 Med. Corps, 11 {1908), No. 1, pp. ^9-55, charts 3). — An attack of tick fever 

 experienced by the author is here reported. The disease is supposed to have 

 been contracted through the bite of a single Ornithudoros moul)ata. Tick fever 



