384 AGRICULTURAL BACTERIOLOGY. 



the earth and may get into a wound and produce the well- 

 known and commonly fatal disease. 



Abortion. This troublesome disease sometimes appears in 

 a herd and produces great loss, and endless trouble to the 

 dairyman. Cows attacked by the disease do not carry their 

 calves the full time but drop them early and become useless 

 for the time as milch cows. If the animal is once affected she 

 is likely to have the same trouble the next time she is in calf, 

 and perhaps her usefulness is ended. This trouble has for 

 some time been recognized as contagious and has, in recent 

 years, been demonstrated to be produced by a definite species 

 of bacterium. The bacterium may infect cow after cow, and 

 even the bull may distribute it through a herd of cattle. The 

 best remedy has been found to be thorough disinfection. The 

 calf is to be destroyed, the stable disinfected, genital parts 

 of the cow thoroughly washed with disinfecting solutions and 

 the animal kept from the rest of the herd. A thorough dis- 

 infection of this sort will commonly allay the trouble, in time. 



It should be mentioned in conclusion that quite a number 

 of diseases known to veterinarians have been named simply 

 from their location. Inflammatory, suppurative and tumor- 

 forming troubles are liable to occur in various parts of the 

 bodies of animals and, in accordance with their location, they 

 have been given such names as inaminitis, mastitis, garget] hoof- 

 rot, navel-ill, etc. As these various troubles are more fully 

 studied they have been found to be extremely different in their 

 nature. Tumors, for example, may be produced by tuberculosis 

 or by symptomatic anthrax, etc. Hence the popular names of 

 such local diseases have no scientific meaning. As bacteriol- 

 ogists have studied these various forms they have found that, 

 in a number of the inflammatory diseases, the troubles are in- 

 duced by the presence of a certain form of Streptococcus, and 

 in accordance with the part of the body where this Strepto- 

 coccus gains a foothold, we have a disease with varying symp- 



