96 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



mysterious omen would cause the animals to abort. The next 

 was that abortion was caused through bad feed, especially moldy 

 grain. Investigation has shown that this is only possible in rare 

 instances. It was not until 1885 when Nocard, who had then 

 undertaken the investigation of the disease, clearly pointed to 

 the contagiousness of this affection. He was the first to study 

 carefully the exudate from affected animals to discover, if pos- 

 sible, the true and exciting cause. From that time we attributed 

 the cause of this disease to the discharge of aborting cows, this 

 discharge being carried on the straw and litter to the other ani- 

 mals, which to a certain extent is true. 



It was in 1897 that Bang verified the idea that this disease 

 is contagious and demonstrated how this baccilli could be culti- 

 vated on artificial media and described this organism in detail. 

 It was also through Bang's investigations that the real cause of 

 this disease was discovered and that a large portion of this was 

 due to the male. Heretofore the experiments had been exclusive- 

 ly made on the female by using strong disinfectants both inter- 

 nally and externally, thereby hoping to eradicate the disease, but 

 it was found that by the most painstaking acceptic methods abor- 

 tion could not be prevented. Prof. Bang called attention to the 

 male and now by a combination of disinfecting the male and the 

 female, good results are obtained. 



Accidental Abortion . In dealing with abortion it should be 

 first ascertained if it is of a noncontagious character. This abor- 

 tion may be due to a number of different causes; through fright, 

 spoilt food, violent purgation, injuries, through bad treatment 

 by an illtempered attendant, slipping on the ice, etc. One may 

 enumerate a number of things that may cause this trouble but 

 suffice it to say that when one cow aborts the owner should be 

 very careful to look into the details and to ascertain whether it 

 occurred through an accident or whether it is contagious abor- 

 tion. It is far better to be cautious and advise the owner to use 

 the necessary precautions which are prescribed under contagious 

 abortion. It is better to start the treatment early than too late. 

 It has been the writer's experience that it is best to take this pre- 

 caution. 



