77 
which was bred only to the animals which had infectious 
abortion. The lists indicated that the bull “Odin” had cov- 
ered 72 cows, 25 of which became pregnant; in the case of 
the bull “Bjarke” it was 37 out of 76, and in “Loke” 11 of 
24. An examination of the genital organs offered the neces- 
sary explanations of these poor results. Odin had a hard 
tumor of an apparently tuberculous nature in the upper part 
of his right testicle; the other three were affected with an in- 
flammation of the preputium, which did not prevent the mat- 
ing act but caused its being insufficiently executed. One 
of the bulls infected the cows, but only in a hardly noticeable 
degree, and was later cured; the affection of the other bulls 
resisted treatment. 
The preputial catarrh is per se of no influence in regard 
to the fecundation, if only the act is perfected with the neces- 
sary energy. In July 1906 all the bulls of the estate Falken- 
steen became suddenly very slow in covering the cows, but 
nevertheless did it satisfactorily. In November of the same 
year I began the examination and treatment of the cows 
there and found quite a number of fresh metritis cases. 
During the fall and the winter the bulls became still more 
slow and in February they refused entirely to cover the 
cows; on all of them a preputial catarrh was found. The 
animals were treated and the mating was discontinued for 
one month. After the lapse of this time the bulls were 
cured and the slowness in the mating act had disappeared; 
there is, therefore, no doubt that the preputial catarrh was 
the real cause of the trouble. The percentage of pregnancy 
was, in spite of the conditions of the bulls, a quite favorable 
one, namely 87%. Another example of the importance 
which is to be attached to the condition of the bull, I found ina 
herd of 12 cows, three of which had aborted. The affection 
of all the cows was ofa slight nature and all showed symptoms 
of heat 14 days after parturition. The three cows which had 
aborted were covered by a strong and healthy bull, while the 
others were bred to an overworked animal of a breeding 
