559 



lo Sept., 19 io.] Aboriiofi in Cows. 



per cow. When it is remembered that this was obtained in an exceptionally 

 dry .season, and without purcha.se of any foodstuff and was thus practically 

 all profit, it is a striking example of what can be obtained from dairy farm- 

 ing with pure-bred stock. 



ABORTIOX IN COWS. 



At the recent Convention of the Victorian Chamber of Agriculture, held at 

 Ballarat, Professor Gilruth, of the Melbourne University Veterinary School, delivered 

 an address on Abortion in Cows. A report bv our representative is here given. — 



Editor. 



Professor Gilruth introduced the subject by remarking that although all 

 animals might abort from various causes such as injury, excitement, 

 digestive arrangement, diseases of the womb (especially tuberculosis) and 

 fever conditions, yet as far as the cow is concerned, in the great majority 

 of cases, abortion is due to a specific microbe, and is a contagious disease ; 

 that in fact, whenever a cow aborts, no matter how evident the cause may 

 appear to be, it is the safer plan for the farmer to treat the animal as if 

 she were affected with the contagious form. 



So far as the history of the disease is concerned it appears to have 

 been well known as early as the eighteenth century, for we find writers 

 of that date speaking of it as being so contagious, that in certain parts 

 of Europe every precaution was taken to prevent pregnant cows even 

 walking over a place where an abortion had lain or been carried. 



Curiously enough the theory of contagion seemed, during the first three 

 quarters of the nineteenth century, to have been entirely discarded, and the 

 old theories as to causation, such as bad odours and improper feeding, 

 reverted to. In explanation of the evident fact, that where one cow 

 aborted others in the same herd or shed were almost certain to soon follow 

 suit, the theory of a "sympathetic imitation" was propounded. Thes^ 

 theories, however, were seriously upset thirty years ago, when it was 

 demonstrated that the discharges from an affected animal, if introduced 

 into the vagina of a pregnant animal, would produce abortion in her 

 almost without fail. 



Later on a commission of scientific men, who were intrusted with the 

 investigation of the disease in Scotland, at the instance of the Highland 

 and Agricultural Society, repeated these experiments with success, and 

 further proved that the disease could be transmitted by the injection of a 

 small quantity of the discharges from an aborted cow under the skin of a 

 healthy pregnant cow. In 1897, Profes.sor Bang, of Copenhagen, after 

 much experiment, finally succeeded in isolating and cultivating on artificial 

 material, the actual cause — a small bacillus — and reproducing the disease 

 at will by means of artificial cultures. 



Further, during the past three or four years, the Board of Agriculture 

 in Great Britain has been conducting an important series of investigations 

 regarding the disease, and has thrown much light upon the subject. 



Prevalence. 



The disease is very prevalent in all parts of Europe, particularly in 

 those di-stricts where the dairying industry is extensively pursued. Even in 

 Australia and New Zealand it is by no means unknown. In the latter 

 country, the lecturer had observed its spread throughout the length and 

 breadth of the country, and had seen how much harm it could do to the 



