36 ABORTIOX. 



may cause the act cif aliurtion, l)ut, unless the cow is predisposed to the act of 

 abortion by tlie presence of the germs in the system, the violence must be very 

 severe to cause the expulsion of the foetus. 



It is. of course, natural for a cow to carry the calf full time, and nature persists 

 in her course against ordinary interference. So when a cow aborts, it is indisputable 

 evidence that she has suffered great violence from disease, or accident, or both. 



The purely accidental acts of abortion coming under my care and investigation 

 have been few, and I have used them to establish beyond doubt the contagions or 

 infectious nature of the disease of abortion. 



A TEST. 



One of my experiments was .selecting a herd of twenty-one cows, seven of which 

 had aborted between the fourth and seventh month of pregnancy. Wads of cotton 

 were soaked in the fluid accompanying the expelled foetus of one, and placed in the 

 vagina of three healthy pregnant cows in another herd at a distance, the cotton being 

 allowed to remain an hour. One of the cows aborted in twenty-three days, the other 

 in twenty-eight days — the first being in the fourth and the second in the fifth month 

 of pregnancy; and the third cow, being in the seventh month of pregnancy, aborted 

 on the fortieth day following the experiment, the calf dying three days later of 

 scours. This last case was a "living abortion," the scours being the result of the 

 germs of abortion in the calf. 



To confirm the positive evidence of this experiment, a negative experiment was 

 later carried out. A perfectly healthy cow aborted from an injury caused by falling 

 into an old well. Wads of cotton were soaked in the fluid of this cow and placed in 

 the vagina of healthy pregnant cows, as in the former experiment, and no injurious 

 effects resulted. The cows all carried calves full time, and no germs of abortion were 

 found in the genital organs or afterbirth. 



EFFECTS OF ABORTION ON PROFITS. 



Before taking up the relation of contagious abortion to other diseases of cattle, I 

 want to present the practical side of the subject. The interest of dairymen and 

 breeders of cattle in any disease is purely a financial one. If we were not seeking 

 for profits in the business, there would be no cattle industry — no cattle. If we were 

 not battling to maintain or increase profits, we should devote little time or effort to 

 eradicating disease. 



But since our profits depend absolutely on the healthy condition of the herds — 

 their freedom from disease — the battle against disease is waged continuously. It is a 

 life and death struggle between the herds and disease, with the chances in favor of 

 the latter, but for the intelligent aid of the breeder. 



In this fight against disease, it is but logical to assume that the cattle raiser 

 should give most attention to the malady that is most destructive of his profits, 

 vhen he is assured what that disease is. 



My experience and investigation impel me to declare specifically that Contagious 

 Abortion is the most destructive of all cattle diseases of the profits of the cattle 

 raiser and dairyman of the United States, not even excepting the dreaded and 

 dreadful tuberculosis. 



FOUR POINTS OF LOSS. 

 1. The Calf. 



Abortion prevents the natural increase in the herd by loss of calves. Even 

 ■when calves from an infected cow are dropped alive, they are weak and diseased, 



