478 MICROBIOLOGY 



if this shows a value of 1 to 1,000 or over, the animal should 

 be considered as glandered. However, such cases are extremely 

 rare. 



The diagnosis of infectious abortion. The method of 

 complement fixation for detecting infection with Bad. abor- 

 tionis was first used by M'Fadyean 6 and more recently Sven 

 Wall 7 has reported it to be very trustworthy. He used it in 

 conjunction with the agglutination test. In this laboratory 

 we are testing out the complement fixation method for diag- 

 nosis or picking out cattle infected with this organism in the 

 control of infectious abortion. M'Fadyean and Stockman 8 

 have recently used the agglutination test in the diagnosis of 

 bovine contagious abortion. In conclusion they state that the 

 test has now passed beyond the probationary stage and de- 

 serves to be adopted as the method of diagnosis. They state 

 that the discovery of such a reliable method of diagnosis re- 

 moves what was hitherto the greatest obstacle in successfully 

 combating the disease. 



6 M'Fadyean. loc. cit. 



7 Sven Wall. Zeit. f. Infektionsk. u. Hygiene der Haustiere, 

 Bd. X (1911). 



8 M'Fadyean and Stockman. Jour. Comp. Path, and Therap., 

 Vol. XXV (1912) p. 22. 



