ANIMAL DISEAbEb. I4r 



milk which are induced by the inflammation. For this purpose 

 brom-cresol-purple has been used by investigators in the United 

 States, and in the National Institute for Research in Dairying 

 at Reading. The method is also being employed at the Royal 

 Veterinary College, but it is not yet possible to say whether in 

 practice it will enable one to dispense with the more laborious 

 method of microscopic and cultural examination of milk from all 

 the healthy cows in dealing with an outbreak. 



The prevention of the spread of infection in cases of udder 

 diseases acquires special importance from the fact that hitherto 

 very little success has been obtained in the way of cure. The 

 prospects of being able to reach and destroy bacteria either by 

 medicines given to the cow by the mouth or by disinfectants 

 introduced into the udder itself are not at all hopeful. Already, 

 however, vaccines for the treatment of udder disease are being 

 manufactured and sold, but, just as in the case of joint-ill in 

 foals, one can find little or no evidence by which the value of these 

 materials can be judged. In the Institute attempts are being made 

 to test the actual value of vaccine in a large number of cases. 



Veterinary Research Laboratory of the Ministry of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries, Weybridge, Surrey. 



Diagnosis of Disease. — The Ministry's Institute is responsible 

 for the diagnosis of all the " scheduled " diseases, and it also 

 concerns itself with the diagnosis of disease in general. It thus 

 handles a large amount of disease tissue and organs. In connec- 

 tion with this work it has developed, and is developing and ex- 

 lending, those methods applicable to the diagnosis of diseases 

 which can only be properly carried out in a laboratory. The 

 results are particularly apparent in connection with the 

 diagnosis of swine fever, which is often complicated by the simul- 

 taneous existence of other diseases with somewhat similar lesions. 

 The most important development, however, has been in connection 

 with rabies, to deal with which a considerable organisation was 

 set up when the disease was found to have re-invaded Great 

 Britain after an absence of i6 years. A new and reliable method 

 ■of diagnosing this disease has been developed at the Institute, 

 and by the use of this method the time necessary to obtain a 

 definite diagnosis has been reduced from an average of three 

 weeks to about ten hours or less. The advantage of this is obvious, 

 as it enables the authorities to take full action almost imme- 

 diately the disease is suspected. 



