fPROc. Roy. Sol-. Victoria, 27 (N.S.j, Part II., l'J]4]. 



Akt. XXVI I. — Some Ohservatiovf* on the Metltods of Using the 

 Agglutination Test in the Diagnosis of Disease in 

 Bovines caused by the Bacillus of Contagious Abortion. 



By H. R. SEDDON, B.V.Sc. 



(Veterinary Research Institute, University of Melbourne). 



[Read lOth December, 1914]. 



1. Materials required on whicli to found a Diagnosis 

 of Contagious Abortion. 



The materials which may be examined are : — 



(1) Vaginal or Uterine Exudate after Parturition. 



(2) Foetus or Foetal membranes. 



(3) Blood serum. 



(4) Milk. 



In animals which have recently aborted (1) and (2) are applic- 

 able, but in animals from which these were not secured, or in 

 others in which it is desirable to diagnose infection in the absence 

 of abortion, or at a time remote from the act of abortion, the most 

 •commonly used material is (3) Serum. This is of especial value 

 because of its being easily obtained from cows at all stages of the 

 disease from shortly after infectidn onwards; also from male 

 animals, proving that they are susceptible to infection, and from 

 laboratory animals, such as guinea-pigs. The drawback is the 

 difficulty of obtaining the serum from a whole herd in the country 

 where dairymen would have to collect the samples. 



It was because of this difficulty that investigations have been 

 made as to the possible use of (4) Milk. As far as I have been 

 able to ascertain, this material, on account of its physical proper- 

 ties, has not been used to any extent for the agglutina- 

 tion test. In some respectts milk itself is an unsatis- 

 factory material, and for that reason Avhey, prepared by 

 the artificial clotting of milk, has been used. Although 

 these investigations ai-e incomplete, they furnish evidence 

 strongly suggesting that it will be found satisfactory for 

 diagnosis. Should this be so, milk, from its ease of collection, 

 would be the ideal material for examination in the case of lactating 

 animals. 



