VETERINARY SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. 299 



aci-onlinir to the method by which it was extracted. AVith guaiac and peroxid of 

 hydrogen the extracts yielded a bhie coloration. Analyses made by the author 

 indicated the presence of a number of enzyms in green sorghum, among which men- 

 tion is made of diastase, glucase, catalase, and oxydase. The enzj'ms thus far found 

 do not appear to be the source of the poisonous product and the study is to be pur- 

 sued further. 



A poisonous plant — the common horsetail (Equisetum arvense), F. A. Rich 

 and L. R. Joxes ( Vermont Sta. Bui. 95, pp. 1S.3-19£, Jig^. 2). — The poisoning of horses 

 from eating common horsetail has been observed for several years in Vermont. 

 Within the past five years 41 cases have been treated. The authors made a special 

 investigation of the matter and conducted feeding experiments for the jjurpose of 

 determining more accurateh' the symptoms and effective methods of treatment. A 

 description of the plant is given. While the plant seems qui^e fre(]uently to affect 

 horses, no cases of poisoning from it are known in cattle; in fact, there appears to he 

 evidence that dairy cows may eat it without harm. Two feeding experiments were 

 carried oiit, involving 5 horses. The horses were old and not as susceptible as young 

 horses to the poison contained in the plant. The symptoms appear gradually. At 

 first, there is emaciation to be observed; in from 2 to 5 weeks the horse begins to lose 

 control of its muscles and staggers, or ma}' fall. Animals may eat after they have 

 fallen and are unable to rise. The temperature is subnormal during the first stages 

 of the disease, and the mucous membi-anes of the mouth, nose, and eyes become pale. 

 Horses fed grain resist the action of the i^oison much longer than those which do not 

 receive grain. No evidence was obtained that the green plant ever caused poisoning — 

 apparently the plant causes trouble only when present in hay. The treatment rec- 

 ommended by the authors consists in the administration of Barbados aloes and 

 ginger, followed In- raw linseed oil and nux vomica, in the grain feed 3 times a day. 



Experiments -with malarial catarrhal fever of sheep, Spreull {Agr. Jour. 

 Cape Good Hope, 20 {1902), Nos. 8, pjp. 469-477; 9, pp. 5.50-5.^^) .—Malarial catarrhal 

 fever is a noncontagious but readily inoculable disease of sheep. The period of incu- 

 bation is about 3 days and the beginning of the disease is marked by a condition of 

 high fever. A blood parasite which affects the red blood corpuscles has been observed 

 in cases of this disease. The mucous membrane of the mouth and lips turns blue and 

 numerous sores appear in the mouth and on the tongue. The pure-bred Merino 

 appears to be most susceptil)le, especially when young. The author undertook an 

 extensive series of experiments in inoculation with the serum, bile, and pulp of the 

 spleen of diseased animals. It was found that partial immunity might thus be pro- 

 duced and that it might l>e fortified by subsequent injections of virulent blood, 

 beginning with small doses. Experiments with rabbits indicated that the symptoms 

 of the disease might be produced in these animals by inoculation with virulent blood. 

 Mild forms of the disease were also produced in goats, but they are apparently more 

 resistant than sheep. In the inoculation experiments only 4 out of 80 sheep died of 

 the disease. Similar experinients were made in the field with very good success. 



Reindeer plag-ue and the pathogenic bacillus of this disease, A. M. Bergman 

 [Ztschr. Thiermed., 5 {1901), Xos. 4, pp- 241-283; 5-6, pp. 326-337, ph. 3, figs. 8).— In 

 the years 1896 and 1897 a serious outbreak of this disease occurred in Lapland. The 

 outbreak was investigated l)y Prof. Lundgren and the i^athological material ol)tained 

 from this investigation was submitted to the author for further study. A detailed 

 <lescription is given of the pathogenic organism and notes presented on its growth 

 and Vjehavior on a large variety of nutrient media. The clinical sj^mptoms and patho- 

 logical anatomy of the disease are described. Reindeer plague resembles to some 

 extent blackleg, malignant oedema, and braxy. The author gives the special char- 

 acteristics of the reindeer plague by which it may be distinguished from the diseases 

 which it resembles. An extended series of inoculation experiments were made on 

 other animals, and the results of these experiments are discussed in considerable 



