Puerperal Diseases of the Uterus 557 



The disease is usually solitary. There is perhaps one case 

 during two or three years in a herd of fifty or more cows. I 

 have observed such solitary cases following twin pregnancy, 

 apparently due to increased strain caused by twins upon the 

 infected uterus. Now and then the disease breaks in a herd 

 as a virulent storm and its ravages are as disastrous as an 

 outbreak of one of the most dreaded specific diseases. In 

 one herd of about sixty breeding females, this virulent form 

 of infection suddenly appeared and raged throughout the 

 calving period of about ninety days. In that time it had 

 killed 20 per cent, of the herd and had ruined another 20 per 

 cent., so they had to be destroyed as worthless or consigned 

 to the butcher. No evidence could be traced of recent trans- 

 fer of the infection from one animal to another. The herd 

 was in two groups — adult cows, and heifers in first preg- 

 nancy. They were one mile apart and separately attended. 

 They suffered alike. The heifer group had been separate 

 from the adults all their lives. The only common point of 

 contact was that of coitus with the herd bulls. Some of the 

 cows had retained fetal membranes ; some had not. I was 

 able to give them close personal attention but was powerless 

 to ameliorate or modify favorably the course of the disease. 

 It was as relentless and overpowering as anthrax. I have 

 known similar but less extensive outbreaks in other herds. 

 In one herd of famous purebreds, five or six of the most valu- 

 able animals succumbed in rapid succession without a proper 

 diagnosis having been made by the attending veterinarian. 

 A second veterinarian of high repute was called, who also 

 failed to make a correct clinical diagnosis, and realized his 

 error only when the death of the patient gave opportunity 

 for an autopsy. The outbreak then subsided as suddenly as 

 it had come. 



The biology of this type of infection has not been exten- 

 sively studied. A colleague working briefly in the severe 

 outbreak under my charge reported chiefly a micrococcus 

 and a streptococcus. The herds in which I have seen or 

 known of the severe outbreaks have suffered liberally from 

 sterility and abortion, but not more than other herds of 



