378 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 41 



times tlirough four thicknesses of sterile cheesecloth. The suspension was then 

 diluted with physiologic salt solution plus 0.5 per cent formalin to a density- 

 corresponding to a suspension of B. typhosus containing 2,000,000 bacteria per 

 cubic centimeter. 



The suspension thus prepared is said to be perfectly homogeneous and to 

 show no spontaneous agglutination. By means of it antianthrax sera from 13 

 horses have given agglutination titers of from 1 in 6,400 to 1 in 20.000, as against 

 titers of from 1 in 80 to 1 in 200 in normal horses. In the absence of a satis- 

 factory animal-protection test or method of complement fixation, the agglutina- 

 tion test is considered to be practicable as a method for standardizing anti- 

 anthrax serum. 



Vaccination against anthrax in Brazil, A. Moses (Rev. Vet. e Zootech., 9 

 {1919), No. 1, pp. 3-10). — Three vaccines used in Brazil against anthrax are 

 described. 



The first consists of a culture in 2 i>er cent peptone solution of anthrax 

 bacilli attenuated by heating for 12 days at a temperature of 42° C. It is 

 used for bovines in a single dose of 2 cc, corresponding to eight times the 

 dose formerly used according to the classic method of Pasteur in two inocula- 

 tions at 15 days' intervals. The best results for other animals have been 

 obtained by using 1 cc. for horses, donkeys, and hogs, and 0.5 cc. for calves 

 and sheep. The second vaccine is prepared in a similar manner with slight 

 variations, and is used in doses of 2 cc, for adult animals indiscriminately. 

 The third i.* a spore vaccine preparetl by growing on a solid culture medium 

 at 35 to 37° for several days a mixture of different strains of anthrax bacilli 

 of attenuated virulence. An emulsion of this culture rich in spores is prepared 

 in appropriate solution and heated at 60° for several hours. It is used iu 

 doses of from 0.5 to 1 cc, the dose being repeated 10 times. 



The first vaccine, which is in use ofticially by the Brazilian Department of 

 Agriculture, is considered the most satisfactory and is said to have better 

 keeping qualities than the Pasteur vaccine. 



Inoculation as a prophylactic measure against foot-and-mouth disease, 

 D. LuTRARio {Off. Internat. Hyg. Pub. [Paris], Bui. Hens., 11 {1919), No. 3, pp. 

 266-272). — A summary is reported of the results of an extensive investigation 

 conducted during 1914-1917 by a special commission in Italy for the purpose of 

 developing possible means of immunization against foot-and-mouth disease. 



The method of immunization proposed by C. Terni consists of reenforcing 

 and prolonging by successive inoculations of specially prepared foot-and-mouth 

 virus the immunity already acquired by a natural or artificial attack of the 

 disease. Under these conditions the inoculation of virus causes a rise in tem- 

 perature but with no internal manifestations of the disease. In general, after 

 three inoculations an active hyperimmunity against the natural infection is 

 produced which lasts through the entire period of use of the dairy cows. 



For intravenous use the committee recommends a first inoculation of from 

 25 to 50 cc. of hyperimmunized blood of either young or adult animals, fol- 

 lowed 4 or 5 days later by a similar inoculation with the addition of 25 cc. 

 of a 1 per cent solution of filteretl virus, or 50 cc. of blood of a fixed virulence. 

 This is followed in from 8 to 10 days by a similar inoculation. For subcutaneous 

 use the same inoculation is employed, with the exception that the dose of 

 hyperinmiunized blood is doubled. 



Investigations conducted by G. Cosco, with the collaboration of Aguzzi, 

 .showed that both the red corpuscles and the serum of the blood of animals with 

 foot-and-mouth disease are virulent during the period of the fever, and that 

 the red corpuscles after repeated washings with sterile physiologic solution 

 can reproduce the disease in cows when inoculated subcutaneously, even in 



