t2 QUATERCENTENARY STUDIES IN PATHOLOGY 



clear and limpid, or, at the most, a delicate coagulum separates from it. 

 In no case have I seen peritonitis or pleurisy accompany the disease, 

 and hence the' conclusion seems inevitable that the organism which 

 causes it is not possessed of inflammatory tendencies. 



A few punctiform haemorrhages may be met with along the course of 

 the intestine, but with this exception all the viscera may seem to be 

 quite healthy. Nor have I seen any evidence of meningitis or other 

 disease of the central nervous system. 



The microscopic examination of the natural liquids and of the organs 

 of the body proves equally disappointing. Thus the blood is free from any 

 micro-organism which can be detected microscopically, and when 

 cultivated aerobically or anaerobically remains equally barren. The 

 cerebro-spinal liquid and nerve centres are devoid of any parasite which 

 might be taxed with a causal relationship to the disease, and, for these 

 reasons, the pathology of the disease for long remained to us a problem 

 fraught with obscurity. 



During the first season (1902), in which we conducted our observa- 

 tions at Kielder, in Northumberland, we noticed, however, that two 

 kinds of the case were brought in to us. In the one there was an excess 

 of peritoneal liquid which was also turbid and sometimes slightly stained 

 with blood. In the other the peritoneal liquid was perhaps not in 

 excess, or, if so, it was quite clear and limpid. 



On microscopic examination of the turbid liquid it was found to be 

 teeming with a large coarse-looking rod-organism having a great tendency 

 to spore, while in the case of that which was clear and limpid not a 

 bacillus was to be detected. The rod in question had a close resemblance 

 to that of Blackquarter, and, at first, we supposed that we had to do with 

 two diseases running side by side, namely, Blackquarter and true 

 Louping-ill. 



On incubating the clear peritoneal liquid, however, in sealed tubes, 

 I found invariably that, in the space of twenty-four hours, it became 

 turbid, and when the tubes were opened, a whiff of gas escaped with a 

 small explosion. On examination of the liquid microscopically, it was 

 now found to be swarming with the same large sporing rod present 

 in the liquid which was turbid. 



This threw a new light on the whole pathology of the disease. 

 There were evidently two forms, one in which the peritoneal liquid was 



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