Infectious Paraplegia of Solipeds in Europe. 539 



Zschokke, in 1889, found in the kidneys, lungs, liver and spleen 

 of both horses and cattle, the victims of a progressive infectious 

 paralysis, a bacterium coli commune [.5^ long by 0.7/u. broad, 

 which stained in methylin blue and grew in agar and gelatine, 

 and when inoculated under the skin of a goat provoked paralysis. 

 It had no effect on a pig. In keeping with this, Thomassen, in 

 1893, alleged that the bacillus coli communis in certain condi- 

 tions, when colonized in the solid organs, produced a toxin 

 which caused paresis and paraplegia. Blin and Lambert, in 1896, 

 found in the urine, in pure cultures, a short ovoid microbe, 

 motile, non-liquefying and bleached by Gram's solution. It grew 

 on gelose and peptonized gelatine as a creamy surface layer 

 which did not extend into the medium, and assumed a brownish 

 color as it became older. On potato it formed a superficial bright 

 yellow film. In bouillon the surface film which formed gradu- 

 ally precipitated to the bottom of the vessel. 



This microorganism was not found in the blood, liver, muscles 

 nor spinal cord. 



Inoculation into the pleural cavity of the horse induced pleuro- 

 pneumonia. 



The contagion appears to be transmitted through the urine and 

 morbid discharges of the urino-genital canal, falling on the litter 

 and floor and thus contaminating the tail, and indirectly the gene- 

 rative organs. The brushes, combs and rubbers used on one 

 horse after another are similarly incriminated. The mares, hav- 

 ing a wider exposure to infection, appear to suffer most. Comeny 

 saw eighty sick mares to twenty-eight horses, and the mortality 

 was thirty-four mares to three horses. The smallness and length 

 of the male urethra and its frequent flushing throughout its whole 

 length with urine seems to give a greater measure of immunity to 

 the horse. 



In the Blin and Lambert cases the indications pointed to a local 

 infection and to the presence in the spinal cord of the toxins 

 alone. It may be assumed that in such cases there was a purely 

 local infection. In the Zschokke cases on the other hand, with 

 microbian infection of internal parenchymatous organs the pre- 

 sumption is that the paralysis was due to a totally different infec- 

 tion, as appears to be further indicated by the morphology of 

 the microbe. They may have been, however, but the advanced 

 and generalized stages of a primary local infection. 



