MALIGNANT CATARRH. 467 



excellent location for the causative factor of the disease. There is 

 another possibility, however, which bears on the third line of prophy- 

 laxis. The so-called diphtheritic inflammations of the vagina and 

 uterus in cows are caused by the same organism that induces necrotic 

 stomatitis. A European writer has recently pointed out the almost 

 constant relation of such attacks to previous occurrences of foul foot 

 or foot rot in the same or other cattle on the place. 



In all likelihood, in such cases, the stalls and sheds are the harbor- 

 ers of this germ. It is possible that many of these outbreaks have 

 some relation to preceding cases of the above-mentioned diseases and 

 the greater use in winter of the stalls and sheds, thus harboring the 

 Bacillus necrophonis. 



Treatment. — The treatment consists almost solely in careful and 

 extensive cleansing and disinfection of the mouth and other affected 

 surfaces. The mucous membrane of the mouth should be copiously 

 irrigated with a 4 per cent solution of boracic acid in warm water at 

 least twice daily. As exposure to oxygen kills the bacilli, one need 

 have no fear about disturbing or tearing off the caseous patches or 

 necrotic tissue during irrigation. The irrigation of the sores should 

 then be followed by the application with a brush or rag on a stick 

 of a paste made with 1 part of salicylic acid and 10 parts of water, 

 or the affected areas may be painted with Lugol's solution of iodin 

 (iodin, 1; potassium iodid, 5; water, 200). Frequent injections of 

 1 per cent carbolic-acid solution into the mouth make an excellent 

 treatment. The internal administration of 2 grams of salicylic acid 

 and 3 grams of chlorate of potassium three times a dav has also 

 proved to be very beneficial when accompanied with local antiseptic 

 treatment. 



MALIGNANT CATARRH. 



Malignant catarrh, or infectious catarrhal fever, is an acute infec- 

 tious disease of cattle preeminently involving the respiratory and 

 digestive tracts, although the sinuses of the head, the eyes, and the 

 urinary and sexual organs are very frequently affected. It is rela- 

 tively rare in this country, being more common on the continent of 

 Europe. Outbreaks have occurred, however, in Minnesota, New 

 York, and Xew Jersey. So far the causal agent of the disease has 

 never been isolated, and inoculation experiments with the view of 

 artificially reproducing the disease have proved negative in every 

 case. In spite of the foregoing statements the consensus of opinion 

 of eminent investigators points to malignant catarrh as being of 

 specific origin; that is, due to some form of microorganism the con- 

 tagious character of which is poorly developed. This accounts for 

 the slow transmissibility of the disease from one animal to another. 

 In fact, malignant catarrh is a type of that class of affections scien- 



