202 INFECTIOUS ABORTION IN CATTLE 
“In the dense heaps the bacteria mostly had the appearance of 
cocci, but some of the free-lying individuals were of a longer shape, 
and these were at first regarded as short oval structures; closer 
examination, however, under very high magnification showed that 
we had in fact to deal with a small bacillus whose body contained one, 
two, or more rarely three, roundish or elongated granules. These 
granules most readily took up the stain. The length of the bacillus is 
very variable; the longest examples are about as long as tubercle 
bacilli, . . . . Thegranules may occur a little distance from the 
extremities but frequently they are at the end of the bacillus. They 
stain with the ordinary aniline dyes, but not by the method of Gram 
The bacilli are non-motile. In the subchorial cedema I found no 
bacteria. In the heart blood of the foetus there were a few, and in the 
intestinal contents there were many staining granules; hut it was not 
possible to say with certainty whether these were bacteria or not.” 
Bang states that the discovery of this particular organism indicates 
that epizootic abortion ought to be regarded as a specific uterine 
catarrh, determined by a definite species of bacteria. While the 
uterine mucous membrane was not strikingly altered he affirms that 
chronic catarrh is not necessarily associated with striking anatomical 
alterations. He states further, “In my opinion the very abundant 
exudate which contained a quantity of shed epithelial cells, pus cells 
and detritus must necessarily have been furnished by the uterine 
mucous membrane and not by the thin chorion, and consequently the 
disease must be regarded as a uterine catarrh.”’ 
Williams recognizes as a part of the morbid anatomy of infectious 
abortion retained afterbirth which he considers to be uniformly 
metritis or “placentitis” or “cotyledonitis.”’ That is, retained after- 
birth is due primarily to the presence of an infection within the uterine 
cavity which causes an inflammation, especially of the placente, 
cotyledons or “buttons,”’ inducing swelling of these tissues and causing 
the tufts of the afterbirth, which extend deeply into the cotyledons, 
to become caught and the afterbirth retained. This infectious 
inflammation must exist in the uterus prior to abortion, premature 
birth, or birth at full term, or retained afterbirth cannot and does not 
occur. If the uterus is normal at time of birth, the afterbirth is 
expelled so quickly (one to two hours) that no cause of retention can 
arise during or after the birth act. The cause is of earlier date and 
exists in the uterine cavity weeks, perhaps months, before the expul- 
sion of the fetus. 
