260 An'UKdl Jr'cport for 1914 oj' Bof/al \"eferinar'/ College. 



therefore of the utmost importance to have the disease dealt with 

 promptly. A point closely connected with this is the necessity 

 for regarding every case of abortion in a herd as of the con- 

 tagious kind until the contrary has been proved by the 

 agglutination test, unless there is clear evidence of some other 

 sufficient cause, such as gross injury of the cow. It is even 

 doubtful whether this last exception should be allowed, for in 

 more than one instance the test has proved the infection of an 

 animal which had aborted after alleged injury. 



In a number of cases the testing of newly-purchased cows 

 has revealed the fact that they had been infected in the 

 possession of their previous owner. No one who owns a 

 valuable herd that is free from abortion should admit into 

 it an animal, whether bull, cow, or heifer, without having its 

 blood tested, unless he has personal knowledge that the herd 

 from which the new animal comes has been without any case 

 of abortion for some yeai's. 



Members of the Society are still invited to apply to the 

 College for advice and assistance in dealing with the disease, 

 and especially those in whose herds it has only recently made 

 its appearance. 



Johnb's Disease. 

 Treatment. 



During the latter half of 1912 a number of animals suffering 

 from Johne's disease w^ere experimentally treated with different 

 drugs, but without any obvious improvement, except in the 

 following case : — 



Case /.—This was a Devon cow, five or six years old, 

 which, at the time when treatment was begun, on August 12, 

 was in an extremely emaciated condition (see Fig, 1) and 

 suffering from profuse diarrhoea. That the case was actually 

 one of Johne's disease was proved by the detection of the 

 bacilli of that disease in a particle of the mucous membrane 

 removed from the posterior part of the large bowel. 



The treatment consisted in the daily administration of one 

 ounce of a mixture having the following composition :— 

 Ferrous sulphate "> oz. 

 Dilute sul)ihuric acid o oz. 

 Water to 1 pint. 



On August 15 the animal's condition seemed rather worse : 

 it was very weak, the appetite was checked, and the extremities 

 were cold. The administration of the medicine was therefore 

 suspended. 



On August 21 there was a little improvement, and the 

 medicine was resumed and continued until September 30. 



Up to the end of August there was no marked improvement 

 in the general condition and the diarrhcEa continued, but after 



