988 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



aD(i watering animals and draining tlie farm is necessary in its further pre- 

 vention. One attacli does not protect the animal against subsequent attacks. 



In treating animals for cerebro-spinal meningitis the patients should first 

 be removed to dry, well-ventilated buildings and a complete change should be 

 made in the ration. In some cases it may be necessary to buy forage and 

 grain from a distant locality in order to avoid infection. Isolation and quar- 

 antine should be observed as strictly as in the case of other infectious dis- 

 eases. In many cases the paralysis of the throat is so pronounced that the 

 animal is unable to swallow, in which case eserin may be injected hypoder- 

 mically. Where paralysis does not occur purgatives may be administered 

 combined with belladonna, and if necessary ammonia may be applied to the 

 nostrils to stimulate the animal sufficiently to admit of the administration of 

 the purgative. 



Osteoporosis or bighead of the horse, J. R. Mohler ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. 

 Atiiin. Iitdiis. Rpt. I'JUG, pp. 173-179, pis. 2; Civ. 121, pp. 8, figs. 5).— Osteoporosis 

 must be considered as distinct from osteomalacia for the reason that it does not 

 yield to the same treatment and sometimes occurs on limestone soils. The 

 cause of the disease is still unknown, although many suggestions have been 

 made concerning it. It has many of the characteristics of an infectious disease 

 and appears to be due to a nitrifying organism which prevents assimilation of 

 mineral salts. 



The early symptoms are sometimes overlooked. Affected horses and mules 

 may show hock lameness or symptoms of rheumatism. Usually the first symp- 

 tom is loss of vitality and irregular appetite followed by shifting lameness. 

 Later the bones of the head including the jaw and nose begin to swell. The 

 chief lesions are in the bone and show conclusively that the nutrition of the 

 bone is disturbed. The marrow and cancellated tissue of the long bones may 

 contain blood and soft gelatinous material or fibrin. 



Prognosis is uncertain but somewhat favorable if an entire change of feed, 

 water, and location is made. It is recommended that lime and phosphorus be 

 administered in an assimilable form and that the rations should contain beans, 

 cowpeas, oats, cotton-seed meal, or other materials rich in mineral salts. 



White diarrhea of chicks, with notes on coccidiosis in birds, G. B. Morse 

 (V. 8. Dcpt. Agr., Bur. Aiiirii. Indus. Circ. 128, pp. 7). — The general prevalence 

 of white diarrhea among chicks led to an investigation resulting in the discovery 

 that large numbers of Coccidium tcncUum are always found upon the intestinal 

 walls of affected chicks, particularly in the ceca. The disease may be described 

 as an inflammation of the ceca caused by C. tenellum. It most frequently affects 

 chicks between 2 and 5 weeks of age. Symptoms are dullness, accompanied by 

 white fecal discharge in which circular or oval cysts, the permanent cysts of 

 C. ieneUum, may be detected under a microscope. The organism in question is 

 frequently found in the intestines of chicks of all ages. 



The treatment of the disease is almost useless, but some benefits may be 

 derived from purgatives such as castor oil or calomel and the administration of 

 sulphate of iron in drinking water at the rate of 5 to 10 grains per gallon. This 

 form of coccidiosis may best be controlled by prevention, including antiseptic 

 care of eggs, incubators, and all objects with which the eggs and chicks may 

 come in contact. 



Intestinal coccidiosis also occurs in adult chickens, and C. tenellum has been 

 found in all cases of limber neck, leg weakness, and going light. Similarly, 

 with so-called leg weakness and weak germs of ducks, the same organism was 

 found. 



In studying cases of so-called blackhead in turkeys, C. teneUum was coa- 

 stantly found in the diseased ceca, and must be considered as an important, if 



