The Nodular Venereal Disease 295 



broad ligament between the thumb and fingers. The re- 

 sult was that in 50 to 60 per cent, of the animals some 

 ovarian tissues were left, which developed ovisacs and 

 cysts. The heifers came in estrum or were nymphomaniac 

 and copulated freely with range bulls. In such imperfectly 

 spayed animals the lesions, which were always seen, showed 

 considerable intensity. In the perfectly spayed heifers 

 the vulvar mucosa was generally normal, smooth, and pale 

 rose-red, with but few if any visible nodules. 



Another striking illustration of the influence of coitus 

 upon the intensity of the disease was observed in a lot of 

 270 two-year-old range Hereford heifers which had evi- 

 dently been kept away from the bull, except in the case of 

 one individual which had copulated and become pregnant. 

 In the 269 non-pregnant animals, the disease was quite uni- 

 formly present, but only a few nodules were seen in each 

 individual. Careful inspection was required lest they be 

 passed over. The vulvar mucosa of the one pregnant heifer, 

 however, bore more of the nodules than the other 269 to- 

 gether. In this one heifer the entire mucosa was swollen 

 and red, and dense masses of nodules crowded thickly upon 

 each other. 



Throughout its long course, the intensity of the infection 

 rises and falls, sometimes in obedience to known causes, as 

 copulation, sometimes for reasons not yet understood. Dur- 

 ing the period at which the disease is at its zenith, few ani- 

 mals fail to show the clinical evidences of its presence, as 

 shown by Table I, according to which the evidences of the 

 disease were apparent in 95 per cent. This is no higher 

 than regularly observed in dairy herds. 



The Nodular Venereal Disease in Bulls. Balanitis. 

 Balano-Posthitis 



The nodular venereal disease is the basic cause of balani- 

 tis, balano-posthitis, or akrobustitis, in the bull. There can be 

 no distinction of value between infections of the sheath, the 

 prepuce, and the mucosa of the glans. The continuity and 

 contiguity of the three areas render inevitable the extension 



