156 White Scours of Sucklings. 



the disease has been eradicated in many small farms where formerly all calves died. 

 Eaebiger recommends washing with pure water and drying with a clean cloth for 

 cleansing the udder. Guillebeau advises to follow the drying by the application of 

 fat to the udder liy means of a cloth (for the treatment of the umbilicus see also 

 under pyosepticemia.) 



Evers obtained very good results from placing the calves in a transportable 

 box in which they are retained for 4 to 5 days, and meanwhile are fed with milk 

 freshly obtained from their mothers. Inasmuch as the box is thoroughly cleaned and 

 disinfected before its use, infection of the newborn may be prevented, and should, it 

 occur the dissemination of the infection is limited. 



Immunization. Jensen treated a horse partly with dead 

 and partly with living cultures of the colon bacillus and pre- 

 pared a serum which had a decided bactericidal action in experi- 

 ments on guinea pigs. It protected the animals against an 

 otherwise fatal artificial infection, but proved only effective 

 against the particular strain of the colon bacillus with which 

 the horse had been treated, while against other strains it 

 afforded only slight protection or none whatever. As the appli- 

 cation of the monovalent serum proved unsatisfactory in prac- 

 tice he produced a polyvalent serum by using colon strains of 

 different origins with which far better results were obtained. 

 White scours also being caused sometimes by paracolon bacilli 

 it was necessary to produce also a paracolon serum which in 

 suitable cases exerted a protective action. 



In the preparation of poly^•alent colon serums carefully selected strains of the 

 colon bacillus are separately cultivated in bouillon at ST'C, then the cultures are 

 mixed in measured quantities and the mixture is injected intravenously into horses 

 in quantities of 0.25 to 0.50 cc, and after each 12 to 14 days in increased doses up 

 to 10 and 20 cc. If after a certain time the serum of the horse produces precipita- 

 tion in a bouillon culture of a certain colon strain in the dilution of 1 to 500 to 

 2000 it is probable that the ])roteetive serum may be utilized with satisfactory re- 

 sults against infections with that particular strain. 



Bongert and Eaebiger recommend goats and sheep for the serum production. 

 At the present time, however, only large animals are used for the production of 

 serum. 



The preparation of the paracolon serum is more difficult, as the paracolon 

 bacilli possess higher virulence, so that an injection of even 0.1 to 0.25 cc. of a 

 bouillon culture may cause a serious infection. 



As a colon serum is effective only against colon bacillosis (the 

 action is principally bacteriolytic), favorable results can be expected 

 only in those cases in which the disease is caused by colon bacilli. The 

 results obtained in practice are not always uniform in this respect; 

 thus Jensen succeeded in reducing the number of cases and the 

 mortality to 0% in numerous premises where the disease had prevailed 

 in an enzootic and malignant form, causing sometimes a loss of 1007r. 

 These results were obtained without the inauguration of any other 

 protective measures, and all the control animals died. In other 

 premises the mortality was only reduced from 70 to 20%, or the serum 

 treatment had no apparent effect on the disease. 



The results in practice have since revealed the favorable action of the serum 

 treatment (Raebiger, Janstou, Heurgren, Schupp, Piethrisen, etc.). The colon 

 serum is injected subcutaneously into the newborn calves as soon as possible after 

 birth in 20 cc. doses. If the animals do not show an improvement the paracolon 

 serum may then be used. 



Raebiger observed only one death among 62 injected calves; in addition he also 

 reports 278 inoculations in previously infected premises in which none of the new- 

 born calves have become affected since this protective measure has been adopted. 



