GRANULAR VENEREAL DISEASE AND ABORTION IN CATTLE. 55 



all cows should be regarded as suspicious and all newborn calves 

 treated as being in danger of exposure to the infection of any or all 

 of these dairy plagues. 



While the prospect for preventing abortion (and sterility) appears 

 quite feasible, in the present state of our knowledge we can lay down 

 no reliable means for wholly avoiding the infection of the granular 

 venereal disease. If we accept the hypothesis of any recorded investi- 

 gator or group of investigators, we have as yet no more promising 

 method of getting a herd free from abortion than by taking the new- 

 born calf and guarding it perpetually. The plan can at most be criti- 

 cized only as beginning too early, because the fight against abortion 

 might be delayed for economic reasons until the animal has reached the 

 age of 6 to 12 months, when, according to Bang, McFadyean and 

 Stockman, and others, they may take the bacilli in their food, and the 

 infection lie in wait until pregnancy affords fuel for a conflagration. 

 In the meantime the isolation is needed because of scours and pneu- 

 monia and tuberculosis, and while these two are being evaded the 

 third may be simultaneously parried. The growing of sound calves 

 in relation to the three scourges named appeals to us as the most 

 interesting and urgent problem before the cattle breeder. In order 

 to accomplish results radical changes in the handling of newborn 

 calves must be established. Maternity and calf buildings must 

 meet fully all demands for light, air, and temperature, and to these 

 must be added practicability of thorough cleansing. 



A PLAN FOR BREEDING SOUND ANIMALS. 



We would outline the following plan for the breeders of pedigreed 

 and valuable dairy cattle with a view to the production of cleaner 

 and more efficient herds. 



1. The construction or arrangement of independent maternity and 

 calf nursery stables embodying all modern requirements for ventila- 

 tion, light, heat, convenience for disinfection, and ample facilities 

 for the exclusion of flies. The stables should provide sufficient 

 individual stalls for all calving cows and individual stalls for calves 

 until at least three months old. 



2. A cow which is about to calve should be well cleaned and her 

 posterior parts disinfected, after which she should be placed in a clean 

 stall some days prior to expected parturition. Pending parturition 

 the stall should be kept scrupulously clean and well disinfected. The 

 tail, vulva, buttocks, and udder should be disinfected twice daily. 

 In order to avoid the danger of infection to the calf while passing 

 through the vagina of the cow during birth either by the infection of 

 white scours, the granular venereal disease, or other malady, the 

 vagina should be irrigated daily with a mild disinfectant such as 0.5 

 per cent Lugol's solution. Such attention to the vagina also tends 



