624 



NA TURE 



[October i8, 1906 



collapse. It does not seem to be known in foreign coun- 

 tries, but in the British Isles is met with particularly on 

 the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, in Cumberland 

 and Westmorland, and in small, scattered areas throughout 

 ihe country. Sheep of all ages may be attacked, and the 

 mortality may amount to 20 per cent, or even more. 



Braxy is often a rapidly fatal disease. The animal goes 

 off its feed, is restless, the belly swells, it falls on its 

 side, becomes semi-comatose, and death soon ensues, the 

 carcase having a characteristic odour. The disease prevails 

 in several countries of northern Europe, and in the British 

 Isles on the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, central 

 Wales, Westmorland and Northumberland, Cornwall, Wilts, 

 and Gloucester. Sheep under one year are the chief 

 sufferers. 



.-\ remarkable feature of both these (and certain other) 

 diseases of the sheep is their seasonal prevalence ; thus 

 Inuping-ill and braxy are not met with during July and 

 .August, and the former is most prevalent from April to 

 June, the latter from November to February. 



In the case of louping-ill, for a long time the specific 

 cause remained a mvsterv, 1 .inasf after carcase examined 



ing the animals with cultures during the insusceptible period 

 was adopted, and proved a decided success on the large 

 scale. Thus, with louping-ill, 1340 sheep were treated in 

 this manner, and a single doubtful death from the disease 

 occurred ; with braxy, 1545 sheep were treated, and there 

 were nine possible (three being doubtful) deaths from braxy 

 among them. 



A remarkable discovery was made with regard to the 

 seasonal susceptibility and immunity. It was found that 

 during the period of immunity the blood of the sheep proved 

 highly bactericidal towards the louping-ill and braxy 

 bacilli, while during the susceptible period the bacilli were 

 not only not destroyed by, but grew well in, the sheep's 

 blood. 



As already indicated, the diseases are mostly communi- 

 cated by the fouling of the pastures by the dejecta. It 

 has been held by some that the sheep-tick plays a part in 

 their transmission, but experiments showed that this could 

 only be to a very insignificant extent. 



The report, which is illustrated with a number of figures 

 and maps, is highly suggestive in many directions ; the 

 researches made promise to throw new light on the path- 



peritoneal liquid of sheep, showing the 

 ers with spores in their interior. X 1000 



showing no lesions, and inoculations of the blood, &c., 

 failed to convey the disease from one sheep to another. 

 -At last, examination of the fluid in the peritoneal cavity 

 revealed the presence of a large sporing anaerobic bacillus 

 (Fig. i), which, on inoculation into healthy sheep, con- 

 veyed the disease again and again. It was for a long time 

 an enigma how this bacillus reached the peritoneal cavity, 

 the blood and tissues being free from it. Eventually, how- 

 ever, in a diseased lamb the intestine was found to be 

 swarming with the bacillus, and a long series of experi- 

 ments proved that the organisms or their spores are taken 

 in with the food, and if at the susceptible period of the 

 year induce the disease in a large proportion of cases. The 

 organism, being passed with the dejecta, fouls the pasture, 

 and so the disease is propagated. Precisely the same holds 

 good for braxy, which, however, is caused by an organism 

 different from the louping-ill bacillus, the braxy organism 

 being also an anaerobic sporing bacillus, but being much 

 smaller and more delicate than Ihe louping-ill bacillus 

 (Fig- 2). 



.Attempts to immunise by means of injections of 

 attenuated organisms or by chemical products of the 

 organisms proved not only failures, but dangerous on 

 account of the mortality. Taking into account the fact 

 that the organisms are intestinal, the happy idea of drench- 



NO. 1929, VOL. 74] 



paratively del , _ 



an oval or lanceolate form 



:y, peritoneal liquid of sheep, showing the coi 

 sporing, others not; those sporing ha 



ology of many of the contagious and infectious maladies of 

 man and the lower aniinals, and we congratulate Prof. 

 Hamilton and his collaborators on the valuable work they 

 have done. R- T. Hewlett. 



THE NEW M US PRATT LABORATORY OE 

 PHYSICAL AND ELECTROCHEMLSTRY AT 

 THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL. 

 T^HE laboratory of physical and electrochemistry, which 

 -^ the University of Liverpool owes to the munificent 

 generosity of Mr. E. K. Muspratt, president of the council 

 of the University, was formally opened by Sir William 

 Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., on Saturday, October 13. The 

 distinguished company which assembled in Liverpool for 

 the occasion included,' amongst others, the following well- 

 known men of science from abroad ; — Prof. Ostwald 

 (Leipzig), Prof. R. Abegg (Breslau), Prof. Ernst Cohen 

 (Utrecht), Prof. H. Gold'schmidt (Christiania), Prof. Lash 

 Miller (Toronto), and Prof. Macallum (Toronto). 



On Saturday forenoon the guests inspected the new 

 laboratory privatelv, and were afterwards entertained to 

 lunch by Sir John Brunner, Bart., M.P., at the University 

 Club, many other prominent men of science and letters in 



