A STUDY OF THE ACTION OF EIGHT STRAINS OF 



BACT. ABORTIVO-EQUINUS ON CERTAIN OF 



THE CARBOHYDRATES 1 



C. P. FITCH and W. A. BILLINGS 



University Farm, St. Paul, Minnesota 



Received for publication April 10, 1920 



Abortion in mares is a disease quite widely distributed in the 

 United States. It does not, however, cause as extensive losses, 

 comparatively, as does abortion disease among the bovine species. 

 It has been shown that Bad. abortivo-equinus is the causative or- 

 ganism of abortion in mares in the United States and the biology 

 and pathogenesis of the germ have been carefully studied, among 

 others, by Good and Corbett, Meyer and Boerner in this coun- 

 try, and Van Heelsbergen and De Jong, and Dassonville and Re- 

 viere in Europe. Abortions by the mares at the Experiment 

 Station at University Farm, Minnesota, have been somewhat 

 frequent. As a preliminary to a detailed study of this infec- 

 tion several strains of Bad. abortivo-equinus were obtained and 

 a careful study of the cultural and pathogenic properties of the 

 organisms was undertaken. It was noted that the actions of 

 the different strains varied on the same carbohydrate, notably in 

 the case of lactose. That is, some strains fermented this sugar 

 with the production of gas while others failed to do so. It was 

 thought advisable to make a somewhat detailed study of the 

 action of this germ on the carbohydrates to learn if the fermen- 

 tive action was constant in the different strains and to deter- 

 mine the cause of possible variations. 



Good and Corbett came to the following conclusions as a re- 

 sult of their study of gas production by different strains of Bad. 

 abortivo-equinus . 



1 Published with the approval of the Director as Paper No. 188, of the Journal 

 Series of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. 



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