818 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Rabies, or hydrophobia, W. Robertson {Agr. Jour. Cape Good Hope, 21 {1902), 

 No. 4, pp. 307-314)- — Rabies is said to have appeared first in Soutli Africa at Port 

 Elizabeth, where it was quickly exterminated. The country has recently become 

 reinfected, however, on account of the large number of dogs which are kept by natives 

 to the north of the English provinces. Notes are given on the cause, symptoms, and 

 treatment of this disease. 



Rabies, S. B. Woollatt {Agr. Jour, and Mia. Bee. [Natal], 5 {1902), No. 15, pp. 

 461-466). — On account of the recent appearance of rabies in Rhodesia the author pre- 

 sents brief notes on the symptoms, period of incubation, and post-mortem appear- 

 ances of the disease, together with an account (if a method of protective inoculation 

 against it. 



Roup, F. C. Harrison ( Ontario Agr. Col. and Expt. Farm Bnl. 125, pp. 16, figs. 10) . — 

 A general account is presented uf the economic importance, symptoms, course, and 

 treatment of this disease. A number of experiments and observations were made by 

 the author, during which it was shown that roup could be communicated from dis- 

 eased to healthy fowls by association in the same pen, or as the result of rubbing 

 pathological membranes from diseased birds upon the mucous membranes of healthy 

 birds. In the study of the bacteriology of roup it was found exceedingly difficult to 

 isolate any organism which would produce the symptoms of roup when inoculated 

 in healthy fowls. After fruitless experiments extending over a period of 4 years an 

 organism was isolated which causes roup. The author has named this organism 

 Bacillus cacosmus. The bacillus in question is frequently associated with other organ- 

 isms in the form of a mixed infection. The author does not think it possible, there- 

 fore, to devise a practical treatment by serum. Notes are given on a number of 

 curative methods which have been tried, including the use of boracic acid, corrosive 

 sublimate, permanganate of potash, etc. 



Fowl typhoid, C. Curtice {Bliode Island Sta. Bui. 87, pp. 10). — An outljreak sup- 

 posed to be fowl cholera was reported in a number of flocks of poultry in the fall of 

 1901. In one case an outbreak occurred among 2,000 chickens and resulted in the 

 death of 25 per cent. A bacteriological investigation of material obtained from these 

 cases was made by Dr. Theobald Smith, and the present bulletin is partly based upon 

 his notes. The spleen of fowls affected with the disease was somewhat enlarged, and 

 the specific organism was found in the spleen, associated also with Bacillus coli com- 

 munis. The organism of the disease is a short, oval, nonmotile rod, which gives no 

 indol reaction. Experiments with animals showed that raljl)its and chickens were 

 susceptible to the disease, but that guinea pigs were apparently refractory. The dis- 

 ease was successfully transmitted to hens by feeding pure cultures, and also by feed- 

 ing the viscera of diseased hens. The organism is said to differ decidedly from that 

 of fowl cholera. Chickens affected with the disease usually die within 2 weeks after 

 the attack. A diagnosis is difticult or impossible without a bacteriological study. No 

 medical treatment is effective. Sanitary measures are recommended, including isola- 

 tion of diseased fowls and the use of disinfectants. It is recommended that a plan 

 of rotation of crops be adopted and that the chicken houses be moved from place to 

 place in accordance with this plan. 



Vaccination against pasteurelloses, J. and ~Sl. Lic;nieres {Compt. Rend. Acad. 

 Sci. Paris, 134 {1902), No. 20, pp. 1169, 1170). — An extensive series of experiments 

 was made in immunizing horses to typhoid fever and pneumonia, fowls and rabbits 

 to fowl cholera, dogs to distemper, and cattle and sheep to hemorrhagic septicemia. 

 About 70,000 sheep were vaccinated against the last-named disease. In attenuating 

 the organism the author made use of cultures which had been maintained on artifi- 

 cial media for about 500 generations. The first vaccine was obtained from cultures 

 subjected to a temperature of from 42 to 4.3° C. for 5 hours, while the second vaccine 

 came from cultures subjected to the same temperature for 2 hours. It was found that 

 \ cc. is sufficient to vaccinate dogs, while h cc. was required for calves and pigs, and 

 I cc. for cattle and horses. Vaccinated animals resisted infection from inoculation 

 which was fatal to the control animals. 



