SUPPURATIVE CELLULITIS 29 



satisfactory results In our cases the lung complications did 

 not occur. Our bacteriological examination of a number of 

 young calves that died of this trouble showed that their blood 

 and organs were teeming with a variety of B. coli communis. 

 I have not found Bad. sept, hemorrhagicce (Pasteurella) in 

 any of our cases. This suggests the possibility of serious 

 umbilical infection with members of other groups of bacteria. 

 The important finding of Nocard should stimulate further in- 

 vestigation into this important trouble in this country. As 

 the remedy which he recommends, and which has given good 

 results, is simply one to prevent infection of the ruptured cord, 

 the conclusion of the wound infection origin of this disease is 

 strengthened. 



IV. 



§ 15. Infectious suppurative cellulitis. Cattle and 

 sheep suffer from more or less extensive inflammatory condi- 

 tions of the subcutaneous tissues, especially of the lower 

 extremities. Frequently the morbid process extends beneath 

 the hoof, causing it to slough or to undergo resulting disinte- 

 gration changes. When this condition exists, the affection is 

 usually called "footjfot." If the inflammatory process attacks 

 the skin also, the condition is often designated erysipelas. If 

 it becomes circumscribed, resulting in a local suppuration, an 

 abscess or an ulcer is the result. The investigations which 

 have been made concerning the cause of these lesions point to 

 the conclusion that they result from an infection, probably 

 through some slight abrasion of the skin. Thus far, the 

 results show streptococci* to be the etiological factors in the 

 majority of these cases. It frequently happens that a number 

 of animals subjected to the same conditions are attacked at the 

 same time, giving rise to a condition resembling an epizootic. 



*I,ucet has reported the results of bacteriologic examinations of 

 fifty-t-wo abscesses in cattle. From nine of these steptococci were 

 obtained in pure culture, and in ten cases they were associated with 

 other bacteria.— y4»«a/(?5 del' Institut Pasteur. Vol. VII {18^3), p. 324. 



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