380 AGRICULTURAL BACTERIOLOGY. 



these two diseases is either the same or closely allied. In 

 more recent years still, it has been found that the same, or 

 nearly the same organism, has a much wider distribution and 

 may be found in many animals. It occurs, for instance, in the 

 hog, producing a widely distributed disease known as the 

 swine plague. It occurs among cattle, not very frequently it 

 is true, but common enough to be recognized as the cause of 

 a disease usually known as Rinderseuche. It also occurs in 

 the deer when it causes a disease, Wildseuche. In all of these 

 cases the organisms which have been found to be the cause of 

 the disease are so closely alike that they are quite generally 

 regarded as identical. 



The bacterium referred to is an extremely short rod and has 

 sometimes been called Micrococcus, although now usually 

 given the name of a Bacillus. It produces in animals a 

 type of disease quite similar to the forms of blood poison- 

 ing which have been, in medical practice, called septicemia, 

 and hence the specific name given to it. It is an extremely 

 fatal disease for some animals, fowls and rabbits succumbing 

 to the action of this microorganism with extreme rapidity and 

 almost absolute certainty. Among the larger animals its 

 course is not necessarily so fatal, but in all of those referred to 

 above, the disease is a serious one and commonly results 

 fatally. When attacking the hog it produces swine plague, 

 this being the type of the disease most commonly found among 

 domestic animals, and the one which will be usually most 

 interesting to the agriculturist. 



The extreme susceptibility of the rabbit to this particular 

 bacterium has led Pasteur to suggest it as a means of ridding 

 Australia of the rabbit pest, which has in years past become 

 such a serious menace to the agriculturist. The bacillus, 

 being apparently harmless to man, might be, as Pasteur sug- 

 gested, inoculated into a few rabbits. If such rabbits were 

 allowed to run wild they would spread the infection rapidly 



