PREVENTIVE MEDICINE 279 



dressing of the umbilical cord. The above measures are intended 

 to minimise the chances of infection occurring through the 

 umbilicus, this being the view held by some observers regarding 

 the nature of the disease. In any case they can hardly be considered 

 superfluous even when one holds the view that infection is chiefly 

 spread by infected calves after birth. Great attention should be 

 paid to the feeding of calves during the first week or so after birth ; 

 they should, if possible, get the colostral milk. Attendants should 

 see that their hands and feeding vessels are kept scrupulously clean. 

 Dry sanitary quarters with an abundance of light and fresh air 

 :uv desirable factors in the prevention of this disease. Should a 

 case of white scour occur, rigid isolation and measures for prevent- 

 ing spread through the medium of infected excretions must be 

 enforced. 



Very efficient antisera against the disease have been produced 

 by Jensen by injecting horses intravenously at intervals of 10 to 12 

 days with increasing doses of cultures of several different strains 

 of colon and paracolon bacilli. The serum, which is thus poly- 

 valent, is injected subcutaneously in calves in doses of 20 cc. The 

 serum is so efficient according to Jensen that it is hardly necessary 

 even to pay much attention to hygienic precautions and on many 

 farms the serum is said to have reduced fatalities to zero even when 

 the previous mortality was 100 per cent. It is also said to have 

 some curative action, but not constant. 



INFLUENZA. 



Influenza (horse distemper, pink eye, typhoid fever, epi- 

 zootic gastro-enteritis) is an acute infectious disease solely affecting 

 equine animals. The human disease of the same name is in general 

 believed to be different. The symptoms shown by different animals 

 in an outbreak are often diverse, and in consequence many observers 

 have contended that the disease is not a morbid entity but that in 

 reality several diseases are included under the term influenza. It 

 is generally, however, characterised by fever accompanied by catar- 

 rhal symptoms, depression, and marked muscular weakness. It 

 is not rarely followed by serious sequelae, e.g., pneumonia. 



The actual cause of the disease is at present still uncertain. 

 Several different species of organisms have been considered by 

 observers to bear an etiological relationship to influenza. Accord- 

 ing to Lignieres* the primary cause is an organism of the 

 pastetirella group which, however, as a rule merely serves to pave 



* Lignieres, Journ. Comp. Path., 1889 (Trans.), Vol II. 



