238 



AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



application of various tests, I camo to the conclueicu that they were mucus cells iu 

 couibiuation with normal mucus. 

 A few fungi snores were frequently sceu during my investigation, combined with 

 Yifr, 42 mucus cells and normal mucus ; but as its 



"' gelatinouscharacter prevented minute ob- 



servations, I decided to submit portions 

 of the mucus of each horse to the action 

 of caustic-potash for several hours, at a 

 temperature of about 100° Fahrenheit. 

 By this process all the animal matter 

 (normal mucus and mucus cells) was dis- 

 solved. I next added aqua ammonia to 

 the solution to render the mass more liq- 

 uid, and placed it aside to settle. In the 

 course of twenty -four hours a sediment ap- 

 peared at the bottom of each test-tube. 

 The alkalies were removed in some cases 

 by washing, and in others I secured the 

 sediment by evaporation. Portions of the 

 sediment of the mucus of the five horses 

 were submitted to various powers of the 

 microscope, but that of about 600 diame- 

 ters gave, generally, the most satisfactory 

 results. Fig. 41 represents the character 

 of the fungi and mucus cells. 



Some pollen cells were also ob-served. 

 Each portiou of mucus sediment prepared as described, aud no larger than the head of 

 the smallest pin, contained twenty to fifty spores of fungi. 



My attention was next directed to the detection of the floating germs, if any, in the 

 stable atmosphere of the horses affected. For this purpose I devised the following 

 plan : I first prepared a very limpid varnish, by dissolving one ounce of copal var- 

 nish iu two pints of benzine, a part of which I poured over a sheet of glass 15 by 15 

 inches, the superfluous portion being instantly drained oif. The varnish dries quickly, 

 yet retains a sufficient degree of adhesiveness to retain dust of any kind which may 

 fall on it. A plate of glass thus prepared was secured over the head of one of the sick 

 horses in the Department stable, where three other horses were confined, all of which- 

 were affected with influenza. The glass was placed horizontally, with varnish side up, 

 and about 9 feet from the floor. After the lapse of twenty-four hours it was removed, 

 cut into slides 3 by 1 inch, and examined with gum and glycerine solution. In each 

 case the objects prepared for observation were covered with the usual form of micro- 

 pijr. 43, scopic discs. The objects brought into 



view in this way, under the microscope, 

 proved to be very similar, generally, to 

 those found in the mucus, only much more 

 numerous. 



Fig. 42 represents the forms of the spores 

 found in the stable atmosphere. 



A second plate of glass 15 by 15 inches, 

 varnished as described, was placed in the 

 center of one of the large grass-plats of 

 the Department grounds and allowed to 

 remain in the open atmosphere twenty- 

 four hours. The plate was then cut into 

 slips 1 by 3 inches and examined by the 

 microscope; but I failed to discover a 

 single fungi spore, or a vegetable germ of 

 any kind. I think it probable that nearly 

 all the fungi spores found in the mucus 

 aud stable atmosphere had their origin iu 

 the food provided for the horses. The 

 torula cells may have had another source. 

 Fig. 43 represents the class of forms iu 

 the atmosphere of the lawn. 

 I diluted a portion of diseased mucus with water in the proportion of about two 

 parts water to one of mucus, and set it aside for eight days. On the ninth and subse- 

 quent days it gave the infusorial forms and fungi cells. (See Fig. 44.) 



THOMAS TAYLOR, Microsco^ist. 



