EEVIEW — TEOPICAL MEDICINE, ETC. 221 



follows, an inoculation of 10 c.c. virulent blood, and a further inoculation of another Veterinary 

 10 c.c. is given. The advantage of this method is that the mortality is less and more Diseases- 

 reactions are obtained than by any other. continued 



It is necessary to standardise the serum, and that amount should be given which will 

 allow a febrile reaction to take place, but after the administration of which the animal 

 shows no other symptoms of the disease. 



In addition to the simultaneous method and its modification, Danysz and Bordet used 

 defibrinated virulent blood, but the disadvantage of this is that the material must be fresh 

 and free from other pathological micro-organisms. 



Littlewood,' from his observations in Egypt, says it is possible that serum when injected 

 into imported animals does not afford the same protection against rinderpest as it does in 

 native herds, especially if these animals have been exposed to adverse conditions. 



Woolley believes that by a judicious use of serum, and simultaneous methods, epidemics 



may be controlled, and the cattle in a district immunised. In the absence of serum, 

 glycerinated bile or defebrinated immune blood may be used. All infected animals should 

 receive intravenous injection of serum, but in order that it may have every chance of success 

 it must be applied before the third day of the disease. Not less than 100 c.c. should be 

 injected, and it is possible that several injections may be necessary. In India the serum 

 method alone is almost exclusively used. It was found that in using the simultaneous 

 method the small hill breeds of cattle in India require 15 to 18 times the quantity of 

 anti-rinderpest serum given to the ordinary breeds of plains cattle. Half-bred hill and 

 plains hybrids require to be treated with amounts varying from 15 to 18 times 

 the quantity required for plains cattle, and Lingard pointed out that a grave responsibility 

 was incurred in protecting cattle of different breeds without some knowledge of their 

 respective susceptibility. This factor, amongst others, prevented the more extensive adoption 

 of the simultaneous method in India, and the large number of inoculations are now performed 

 in actual outbreaks with serum alone, while, to ensure success. Walker- suggested a ready 

 method of estimating the proper dose of serum in the field. The serum made at the 

 Imperial Bacteriological Laljoratory is tested on hill cattle, and it is prescribed at so much 

 for hill cattle up to 600 lbs. in weight and i^th of the dose for plains cattle up to 

 600 lbs. in weight. Walker's method briefly consists of estimating the mortality per 

 cent, before inoculation. If the mortality before inoculation is less than fifty per cent, the 

 standard dose for plains animals is to be given. If the mortality is more than fifty per 

 cent, and less than 75 per cent., double the dose for plains animals is to be given. If the 

 mortality is over 75 per cent, and under 85 per cent, five times the dose is required. If 

 the mortality exceeds 85 per cent, the full dose for hill animals, i.e. eighteen times that for 

 plains animals is to be given. Although a somewhat rough method of estimating the 

 dose required, it has been practised with success in the Punjab. All contact animals in an 

 outbreak are inoculated with a sufficiently large dose of the serum to protect them from an 

 attack of the disease, healthy and infected animals are mixed together, and disinfection 

 of the stables and steadings is carried out. In the Sudan the serum method alone is now 

 employed and with great success. 



Horse Sickness. This disease has caused a considerable mortality amongst horses 

 and mules in South Africa. 



It is an inoculable disease of horses and mules, but is not contagious. In the 

 Transvaal it is a disease of yearly incidence, occurring for the most part after the 

 beginning of the rainy season in summer, especially in low-lying stretches of country 

 formed by the bush veldt. There appears to be a certain connection between the relative 

 altitude of a locality and horse-sickness, for in the highest parts the disease is least known. 

 It disappears quite suddenly at the beginning of the cold season. 



The micro-organism of horse-sickness has not yet been discovered, and the method of 

 transmission of the virus has yet to be elucidated. 



The opinion that the dew is concerned with the production of the disease is not held 

 by Theiler,^ who is inclined to lay some stress on the part played by blood-sucking 



' Littlewood (1905). Journal of Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics, p. 312, Vol. XVIII. 



' Walker (February, 1908), "A Practical Method of determining the dose of Serum required to 

 protect Contact Animals in outbreaks of Rinderpest." Journal of Tropical I'eterinarij Science. 



' Theiler, A. (May, 1903), "Some Diseases of the Horse in South Africa." Bulletin 2. 



