742 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



first and second inoculations. After the second 'inoculation 59 

 animals died (O'l per cent). During the year following the inocu- 

 lations 1,082 inoculated pigs died of Rothlauf. Before the inocu- 

 lations the annual loss in the same localities is said to have been 

 from ten to thirty per cent. 



In a communication (1894) to the Central Society of Veteri- 

 nary Medicine (of France), Arloing claims that he has demon- 

 strated the setiological relation of a bacillus first described by 

 him in 1889 (Pneumobacillus liquefaciens bovis) to the infec- 

 tious disease of cattle known as pleuro-pneumonia. The demon- 

 stration was not complete until recently, because of failure to 

 reproduce the disease by inoculation with a pure culture of the 

 bacillus. 



Although this demonstration is of such recent date, protective 

 inoculations against this disease have long been successfully 

 practiced. For this purpose serum obtained from the lungs of an 

 animal recently dead has been employed, this having been proved 

 by experiment to be infectious material, although the exact nature 

 of the infectious agent present in it was not determined. 



In the Bulletin of the Central Society of Veterinary Medicine 

 of May 24, 1894, M. Robcis reports the results of inoculations made 

 with cultures of Arloing's Pneumobacillus liquefaciens bovis, and 

 with injections of pulmonary serum. His statistics with refer- 

 ence to the last-mentioned " legal " inoculations he has obtained 

 from official documents relating to the Department of the Seine. 



The total number of infected localities in this department dur- 

 ing the years 1885 to 1891 was 1,253 ; total number of contami- 

 nated animals, 18,356 ; total number inoculated, 18,359 ; total num- 

 ber of deaths prior to inoculation, 1,753 ; total number of deaths 

 after inoculation, 2,741 ; total number of deaths due to the inocu- 

 lation, 94 ; total percentage of mortality, 22'8 per cent. After dis- 

 cussing these and other statistics Robcis arrives at the conclusion 

 that Arloing's method of preventive inoculations with cultures of 

 the Pneumobacillus liquefaciens bovis gives better results than 

 the legal method with serum from an infected animal, the total 

 loss among animals exposed to contagion not being over twelve 

 to fourteen per cent. 



In the infectious disease of cattle known under the names of 

 "blackleg," "quarter evil," or symptomatic anthrax, protective 

 inoculations have also been practiced with success. The disease 

 prevails during the summer months in various parts of Europe, 

 and to some extent in the United States. It is characterized by 

 the appearance of irregular, emphysematous swellings of the sub- 

 cutaneous tissues and muscles, especially over the quarters. The 

 muscles in the affected areas have a^ dark color and contain a 

 bloody serum in which the bacillus is found to which the disease 



