The General Infections of the Genital Organs of Cattle 357 



available evidence, capable of attaining such intensity as to 

 interfere seriously with the reproductive functions. They 

 may reside indefinitely in the genital tract without causing 

 disaster but ready at any time, taking advantage of an in- 

 jury to, or loss of vigor in, the area occupied, to cause seri- 

 ous harm. Their method of injury, however, is less definite 

 in character for each recognizable organism than the patho- 

 logic processes described in the preceding sections. The 

 vesicular venereal disease stands out definitely, by its symp- 

 toms and clinical history of transmission, as a specific con- 

 tagion. The nodular venereal disease offers a distinct and 

 characteristic lesion, although its cause it not definitely de- 

 termined and its importance is largely a matter of opinion. 

 Actinomycosis and tuberculosis are fully recognized as spe- 

 cific diseases causing genital injuries identical with well 

 recognized lesions in other organs, each of which is due to 

 a recognized species of organism. 



In the following section there will be discussed, as general 

 infections, an extensive group of lesions due to, or believed 

 to be due to, infection which far surpasses, in its peril to 

 the reproductive organs, the four preceding diseases. Each 

 may severally or jointly produce a variety of lesions, but no 

 one lesion can with confidence be attributed clinically to any 

 one organism. Several or many different bacteria or other 

 organisms may cause ovaritis, salpingitis, metritis, or cervi- 

 citis, and these lesions may prevent, interrupt, or imperil 

 reproduction. Moreover, it is difficult or impossible to dif- 

 ferentiate clinically between them. If salpingitis is present 

 and diagnosable, it may be due to a streptococcus, a bacillus, 

 or a micrococcus, or to a combination of the three, but the 

 exact status can be determined only by a bacterial study of 

 the diseased tube after its removal from the abdominal cav- 

 ity. They will be discussed, therefore, as a group having a 

 common tendency to cause an extensive list of pathologic 

 changes with serious injury to the reproductive functions. 

 The lesions produced by the infection — not the identity of 

 the infecting agent — will constitute the basis for classifica- 

 tion. , 



