586 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES WITH CHICKEN-CHOLERA MICROBES^ 



December 12th, 1 p.m — Of the culture obtained (showing now a slightly- 

 acid reaction), a very vigorous full-grown doe received i^subcutaneously) 

 1 ccm. ; a rabbit not quite full-grown, J ccm. 



Results : 



Both rabbits were alive for a considerable time. 



They both died in succession, the following month (January, 1889), 



but not from " chicken-cholera," or anything similar. 



(5) September 14th, 11.30 a.m. 



A half -grown rabbit was inoculated with a portion of the contents of the 

 intestines of a young chick sent to me the previous day (dead) from 

 Burwood, near Sydney. (The mortality amongst chickens there had 

 been very great that year, according|to information.) The rabbit died 

 between 11 a.m. and 12.30 p.m., September 15th^ but on examination 

 it was found that the cause of death could not have been an infec- 

 tion by chicken-cholera microbes, t Another half -grown rabbit was 

 inoculated, at the above date, with heart-blood from the same chick ; 

 it also died about a day afterwards, the result of the autopsy likewise 

 excluding "chicken-cholera.")* 



* In connection with the above subject it may not be uninteresting to mention that up 

 to the present, chicken-cholera, so devastating- and dreaded a dii-ease in other countries, has 

 not been proved to exist in Australasia. I mean, of course, the typical disease with its 

 well-characterised microbes, and not other disorders met with in poultry, where, misled by 

 certain suspicious sj'mptoms, one may think of the true cholera (poultrj'-typhoid). The 

 Rabbit Commission received specimens of dead fowls or blood from such, mostly from New 

 South Wales, twice from Victoria, and once from New Zealand, in all nine cases. They 

 were examined by me ; inoculations were made into fowls (six times), mice (once), rabbits 

 (once), besides mostly examining microscopicallj^ the blood, or obtaining in nutrient 

 gelatine colonies of the bacteria present in the suspicious specimens. However, the results 

 showed that bacteria of chicken-cholera w-ere not there. It is to be regretted that at the 

 time of these examinations, rabbits which are susceptible to attenuated " chicken-cholera " 

 (according to Gamale'ia^, were not at my disposal, except in one case [(5) above]. Fur- 

 ther researches in this direction may ultimately lead to positive results. 



