VETERINARY SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. 495 



VETERINARY SCIENCE AND PRACTXE. 



On the nature of Japanese farcy, an enzootic skin disease of 

 the horses and cattle of Japan, H. Tokishtnge (Bui. Col. Agr. 

 Imperial, Vnir.of Japan, 31 (1897), No. 2, pp. 115-190, pis. 3), — Farcy is 

 noted as a very common disease in Japan, where it i.s popularly sup- 

 posed that animals must pass through it some time during their lives 

 and thereafter be immune. Animals that have had the disease are 

 more valuable than those that have not. 



In early times the disease was known only in the northern part of the 

 country and there is reason to suppose it was introduced there prob- 

 ably from China or Korea, as the nature of the disease was wholly 

 unknown until 1888, when several experiments were first conducted. 

 Later the author discovered the pathogenic; germ which he calls 

 Saccharomyces farciminosus whence he concludes that the Japanese 

 disease is mostly a saccharomycotic affection, though true farcy may 

 occur. Some 3') cases examined and experimented with are more or less 

 minutely described. Inoculation with saccharoraycosis gave mostly 

 negative results. 



Summarizing the facts brought to light, the author classifies the skin 

 disease known as farcy as saccharomycotic farcy, genuine farcy, and 

 farcy of mixed infection — which in Japan are relatively important in 

 the order given — pure glanders and farcy being rare. 



Considering the etiology of the disease, the author states that the 

 cause of Saccharomyces farciminosus i> an oval, thick walled, cellular 

 body with a more or less homogenous content and having a diameter 

 varying from 2.4 to 3.6 //. The poles are usually pointed and at one of 

 them 2 or 3 cells may sometimes be found joined together. There is 

 suspended internally usually a coccus-like body which is strongly refract- 

 ive and colorless or faintly yellow and has a rapid molecular movement. 

 Generally it is found near one pole. 



The organisms occur abundantly in the morbid tissues and products, 

 either free or inclosed in pus corpuscles which may contain 10 to 30. 

 Besides these bodies, granules resembling that in the germ have been 

 found either simple or in the form of dipplococci. 



The disease affects some organs more frequently than others, affect 

 ing the nose most frequently (84 per cent). 



Facts from post-mortems and other sources indicate that the morbid 

 appearances began generally in the cutis. Cases were observed in 

 which infection arose through the hair follicles, sebaceous glands, etc., 

 but, it is added, that for proper infection the predisposition of the 

 animal plays an important role, and this seems to depend upou age, sex, 

 color, etc. 



The clinical and anatomical characteristics of the disease closely 

 resemble glanders, but the 2 diseases may be distinguished, clino- 

 anatomically especially, by the occurrence of saccharomyces chiefly in 

 the skiu, by characteristic cutaneous eruptions, by the pus being of a 



