498 Veterinary Obstetrics 



testines and carried to the uterus involves the persistence of the 

 bacilli in the presence of the digestive fluids and the possibility of 

 their appearance in the feces. 



While it seems quite possible that the infection may be intro- 

 duced in this way, we question very much if it constitutes an im- 

 portant source of danger. If the food were infected it would be 

 virtually impossible to be sure that the infection might not reach 

 the vagina and uterus, even though it did not do so through the 

 alimentary canal. 



The problem of the transmission of infectious abortion, either 

 equine or bovine, by the introduction of bacteria into the blood 

 or subcutaneous tissues, or by penetrating the mucous membrane 

 of the digestive tract after having been swallowed, is a very 

 interesting one requiring elucidation. Can bacteria, large 

 enough to be recognized and clearly identified, without causing 

 symptoms of maternal disease, pass through the maternal pla- 

 centa, without inducing visible injury to the uterus, and cause 

 a fatal disease of the fetus in the uterus ? The evidence on this 

 point needs be very much more exact before accepting an aflfirma- 

 tive conclusion. 



Bang claims that the abortion bacillus is purely pathogenic and 

 does not lead a saprophytic existence. He kept the baccilli alive, 

 but dormant, for 7 months in test tubes at a low temperature. 

 In one case he found the abortion bacilli in an exudate surround- 

 ing a mummified fetus, which had been dead apparently for nine 

 months. According to his view, apparently, the bacilli may live 

 for an almost indefinite period within the uterus of the cow and 

 be capable at a future time of starting anew the malady. 



As stated on page 476, the bacteriolgic researches of Bang are 

 in apparent conflict with those of Ostertag. While B. succeeded 

 in causing abortion in various species of animals with the abortion 

 bacillus of the cow, O. utterly failed to transmit, to the cow or 

 other animals, the infectious abortion of the mare by the exudate 

 or afterbirth from aborted animals or through his abortion coccus. 



Braiier (Deutsche Zeitschrift fiir Tiermedicin, Vol. XIV, p. 

 95) recognized a micrococcus as the cause of infectious abortion 

 in cows and experimentally induced the disease with the micro- 

 organism. Franck also recognized a micrococcus as the cause 

 of the malady. Nocard recognized both micrococci and bacilli 

 in the uterine discharges and fetal fluids. 



