Pattiirition Fever, etc. 305 



managemetit escape ; and with the observations of Russell and 

 Wortley Axe, that the malady will sometimes be suddenly pre- 

 vented in a herd, by the simple expedient of having the cows 

 moved to a new and previously unoccupied stable, for calving 

 and the first nine days thereafter. 



In support of the doctrine of a microbian origin is recalled 

 the fact that the disease almost invariably follows parturition, 

 which opened the way for the introduction of bacteria by the 

 genital passages. This is somewhat invalidated by the fact that 

 it follows the easy parturition, in which there was no chance for 

 the introduction of germs on hands or instruments, and does not 

 follow dystokia in which, without question, germs have been 

 planted abundantly in the interior of the womb. Undue weight 

 should not be given to this objection, as the essential accessory 

 conditions of plethora, etc. , are usualh' largel}' modified in cases 

 of dy.stokia. 



The microbiology of the affection leaves much to be desired. 

 Coureur and Pottiez and later Van de Velde found a .streptococcus 

 in the blood. Trinchera, Nocard, and Cozette found the com- 

 mon pus cocci (staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, citreus and albus) 

 a streptococcus and a colon bacillus in the liquid squeezed from 

 the cotyledons, and in the liquid debris on the uterine muco.sa. 

 The.se microbes were not found in other organs. They grew 

 readily in artificial cultures, but we lack the final proof of a 

 successful inoculation on a susceptible parturient subject. The 

 whole subject is therefore still a plau.sible theory. 



We are not however limited to the womb as the only possible 

 field of a pathogenic microbian growth. The frequent presence 

 of microbes in the sphincter of the teat, in the galactophorous 

 sinus, and in the milk ducts inside the mammae is absolutely 

 proved. Guillebeau found on the mucosa in cases of mammitis 

 three forms of bacillus, to which he attributed the disease. In 

 the New York State Veterinary College we have found mammitis 

 usually associated with a .streptococcus in the milk. In one cow 

 in the University herd which gave abundance of good milk, and 

 rarely showed any sign of congestion, .streptococcus was con- 

 stantly present. In cows producing "gassy" curd, V. A. Moore 

 and A. R. Ward found in the milk a bacillus which morpho- 

 logically and in cultures resembled the colon bacillus (evidently 

 20 



