K. F. MEYER 627 



lobes of both lungs with a definite pleural exudate are regularly observed. The pericardium 

 is often involved, but the spleen is rarely enlarged. Webster' divides the pneumonic processes 

 into: (i) an acute, diffuse form with subpleural and perivascular deposition of the exudate; 

 (2) lobar; (3) pleuro- and (4) abscessive form, and concludes that the usual portal of entry 

 of the organism into the lung is by way of the bloodstream. A different view is held by 

 Tanaka.^' Based on a comparative study of the morbid lesions produced by Bad. lepisepticum 

 and by Bact. bronchiscpticum, he found that suppurative inflammation, bronchopneumonia, 

 purulent pleurisy, and marked lymphangitis are most prominent in the former, while hemor- 

 rhage and edema are most marked in the latter. Although he presents neither histopatho- 

 logical nor experimental evidence, he ventures the conclusion that in pneumonia Bact. 

 lepisepticum may invade the lungs either through the lymphatics or through the respiratory 

 passages. The pathogenesis of the subcutaneous abscesses has not as yet been investigated. 



Snuffles in rabbits is a preventable disease not by means of vaccines, serum 

 (Raebiger),^ or local treatment (Tanaka),^ but by selecting a resistant breed of 

 rabbits, by enhancing their resistance by a careful supervision of the environmental 

 factors, and by systematic elimination of carriers and clinical cases. Under the usual 

 laboratory conditions, which frequently require the purchases of rabbits from un- 

 known sources, the following practice is effective and in the end economical. Isolate 

 the incoming rabbits in a room, and preferably in separate cages. Examine the nasal 

 passages for Bact. lepisepticum. On the third day place one drop of i per cent silver 

 nitrate in each nostril; culture the nasal passages again on the sixth day. Eliminate 

 the carriers and clinical cases. Observe the entire group for fifteen days and then 

 finally segregate in a carrier and in a clean group, which are kept in separate rooms; 

 simple precautions are taken to minimize the transmission of organisms from one 

 room to another. An effort should be made to reduce the carriers in the available 

 rabbit stock by using them in sacrifice experiments. For physiological studies such 

 animals are, however, unsuitable (W. C. Alvarez, unpublished observations). 



Sporadic and occasionally benign epidemic infections due to the B. pseudotubercu- 

 losis (rodentium) have been reported (Messerschmidt and Keller,^ Romisch''). Con- 

 tact transmissions are either infrequent or the various strains are strictly host 

 specific. The writer placed several young rabbits in a cage with guinea pigs which had 

 been infected with a rat strain of the pseudotuberculosis organism. Although the 

 guinea pigs succumbed in the course of two weeks the rabbits remained well and re- 

 vealed no lesions at autopsy. A detailed description of two interesting variants of the 

 bacillus appeared in the paper by Romisch. 



Isolated instances of spontaneous tuberculosis in rabbits have been reported by 

 Strauss,^ Guerin,^ Coulaud,** and Perla," while an epizootic of spontaneous tuberculosis 

 of the bovine type on a rabbit farm was studied by Rothe." 



'Webster, L. T.: /. E.xper. Med., 43, 555. 1926. 



^ Tanaka, A.: loc. cit. ^ Raebiger, M.: loc. cit. i Tanaka, A.: op. cit., 39, 337. 1926. 



5 Messerschmidt, T., and Keller: Ztschr.f. Hyg. u. Injektionskrankh., 'j'j, 289. 1914. 

 ^Romisch: loc. cit. 



'Strauss, I.: La Tiiberculose et son hacille, p. 372. Paris, 1895. 

 ^ Guerin, G.: Hyg. de la vian. el tail, 2, 7. Evreux. 1908. 

 'Coulaud, E.: Ann. deVInst. Pasteur, 38, 581. 1924. 

 '"Perla, D.: loc. cit. " Rothe, E.: Veroffentl. R. Koch Siift. Bekaempf. Tubcrk., i, i. 1913. 



