CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICAT^ID ANIMALS. 87 



on the surface and on sections the tissue appeared dense, fibrous, and 

 pale. The ileo-ctecal valve was completely covered with such an ulcer, 

 and the mucous membrane of the stomach was much congested. 



Thoroughly sterilized vacuum tubes were filled from the jugular vein, 

 *rom the right ventricle, and with the i)ericardial and peritoneal effu- 

 sion, each of which were abundant. At the time of the autopsy small 

 quantities of each of these effusions and of the blood were dried on 

 cover-glasses for examination in the laboratory. 



The tubes of peritoneal fluid when opened emitted a very disagree- 

 able odor of putrefaction. Stained cover-glass preparations showed that 

 it contained both micrococci and rods. Cultures of the same contained 

 micrococci, a bacillus with pointed ends, i)robably the Bacillus butyricus, 

 and a few rods of bacterium termo. From this result it becomes an in- 

 teresting question to learn if these various organisms really' existed in 

 the peritoneal liquid at the time of the animal's slaughter, or if they 

 were introduced from the atmosphere during the necessary manipula- 

 tions for filling and sealing the vacuum tubes. In other words, is it 

 possible for septic bacteria, in diseases which produce lesions of the in- 

 testines, to penetrate the walls of these organs and multiply in the peri- 

 toneal effusion before the death of the animal? In a former report 

 (Annual Report Department of Agriculture, 1880, p. 432), I have col- 

 lected a number of observations which seem to answer this question in 

 the affirmative- Fortunately in the case under consideration examina- 

 tions were made which furnish satisfactory evidence that there were 

 various forms of bacterial organism in the fluid of the peritoneal cavity 

 before the death of the animal. Preparations were made by thoroughly 

 drying this fluid on cover glasses as soon as the abdominal cavity was 

 opened, and in these, of course, there could be no change before exami- 

 nation. Such preparations stained and mounted demonstrate conclu- 

 sively that while the micrococci predominated, there were also present 

 a considerable number of bacilli. These observations, which were made 

 with the greatest precautions to avoid errors, go far to reconcile the 

 discrepancies which have appeared to exist in the results of the various 

 investigations of this disease. 



Cover-glass preparations of blood from the Jugular presented no defi- 

 nite bacterial forms even after staining. Cultures of this blood re- 

 mained perfectly sterile. 



The pericardial effusion contained large numbers of micrococci, easily 

 seen both in unstained and stained i)reparations. Cultivations gave 

 pure growths of micrococci. 



The blood from right ventricle showed aggregations of micrococci, 

 and cultures of this blood produced a pure growth of the same organ- 

 ism. 



Sections of the ca'cal ulcer contained enormous aggregations of mi- 

 crococci in the depths of the cavity ; the necrotic i)ortion appeared to 

 consist almost entirely of these bodies. In some sections small colonies 



