VETERINAKY MEDICINE. 85 



Certain diets, notably dextrose, oatmeal, liver, and kidney, greatly increase thie 

 resistance of mice to acetonitrile ; their effect is similar in this respect to the 

 administration of thyroid. The effect of an oatmeal diet in increasing the re- 

 sistance of certain animals to acetonitrile is probably due in part to a specific 

 effect of the diet upon the thyroid gland ; this is an illustration of how an in- 

 ternal secretion may be modified in a definite manner by diet. Diet has, in 

 certain cases, a marked effect upon the reaction of animals to iodin compounds ; 

 this effect is probably exerted largely through the thyroid. The condition of 

 the latter is more important than the chemical form in which the iodin is ad- 

 ministered. Certain diets (notably eggs, milk, cheese, and various fats) greatly 

 lower the resistance of certain animals to acetonitrile; their effect is the oppo- 

 site of that of thyroid. 



"Several glands (notably prostate, ovaries, and testes) have an effect upon 

 the resistance of animals to poisons similar to but much less marked than that 

 of thyroid. Other glands (thymus, parathyroid, suprarenals) have either no 

 effect or an effect opposite to that of thyroid. The resistance of animals to 

 propionitrile is markedly influenced by diet. Diet causes distinct but not very 

 marked differences in the resistance to morphin. Season has an important 

 effect upon the resistance of animals to certain poisons; in some cases these 

 effects seem to depend upon seasonable variations in the activity of the thyroid. 



" The experiments show that foods such as enter largely into the daily diet 

 of man have most pronounced effects upon the resistance of animals to several 

 poisons; they produce changes in metabolism which are not readily detectable 

 by methods ordinarily used in metabolism studies. The ease and rapidity with 

 which certain changes in function are caused by diet are in striking contrast 

 with the essentially negative results obtained by the chemical analyses of ani- 

 mals fed upon different diets." 



Chronic infectious intestinal catarrh of bovines, Miessnee and Trapp 

 (Berlin. Tierarztl. Wch7ischr., 26 (1910), No. 30, pp. 593-595) .—Enteritis chron- 

 ica infectiosa bovis, which is enzootic in certain barns where the infection is 

 transmitted by means of the feces of diseased animals and is probably intro- 

 duced by new animals being brought in the herd, attacks cows from 3 to 6 

 years old. Calves or young animals seldom take the disease. 



The pathological anatomy shows a more or less definite thickening and ruga- 

 tion of the mucous membrane of almost the entire intestinal tract, with the ex- 

 ception of the rectum and the duodenum. The lymph nodes are as a rule en- 

 larged and moist. Histologically, the mucosa and submucosa are found infil- 

 trated with epithelial giant and round cells. Caseation is never present. The 

 initial symptoms consist of a diminution in the milk secretion, diarrhea, thirst, 

 and emaciation despite the fact that good amounts of food are eaten. 



The disease is caused by an acid-fast bacillus, which could not be cultivated 

 artificially. It differs from tuberculosis and is a disease sui generis. The 

 animals do not react toward bovine tuberculin but do toward avian tuberculin. 

 The treatment thus far has been unsuccessful. 



Contagious pleuro-pneumonia in cattle, A. R. Waed (Philippine Affr. Rev. 

 [English Ed.], 3 (1910), No. 9, ftp. 507-5-ZO).— Contagious pleuro-pneumonia ap- 

 peared on July 14 among range cattle received in Manila from Wyndham, West 

 Australia. 



"Within the city of Manila, 7 corrals were infected by Australian cattle. 

 These were placed under quarantine. . . . One shipment of 398 head showed 9 

 per cent infected, another of 262 head showed 6 per cent infected. Some of 

 these cattle showed evidence that they had been infected with pleuro-pneumonia 

 for at least a year. Two • Indo-Chinese animals exposed to infection from 

 Australian cattle showed unmistakable evidence of the disease." 



