THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 97 



Contagious Abortion. If considerable number of cows in 

 a herd have aborted within a certain season or if the same cows 

 have aborted in two or more successive seasons, if this disease 

 has the tendency to spread to the other cows and especially if 

 there is a history that the neighboring herds are affected with 

 contagious abortion, then there is little doubt but what one is 

 dealing with contagious abortion. It is important to know if any 

 new stock has been added to the herd, for in a large percent the 

 herds have been affected through this channel. Proof was not 

 always conclusive that the cow that aborted came from an af- 

 fected herd, but it is true that cows brought into a herd very 

 often abort, even when there has not been a case of abortion in 

 the herd from which it came. This is not a case of contagious 

 abortion but it can so affect a herd if drastic measures are not 

 pursued. This is one of the points that should be carefully 

 guarded against. 



Symptoms . The symptoms of this disease are not plainly 

 visible in the early stages, but when one examines a number of 

 cows in a herd where abortion exists and the vagina is carefully 

 studied you will find that the mucous membrane is somewhat 

 reddened and that it has a very slight elevation on which there is 

 a peculiar eruption. This eruption may escape the eye that is not 

 thoroughly trained, as it is not very prominent. From aborting 

 cows there is usually a slimy, flocky discharge. The cow may be 

 restless for three or four hours before the expulsion of the 

 young. In some instances the cow shows symptoms for a day 

 or two by the udder filling up and the lips of the vulva and vagina 

 thickening, showing the signs of natural gestation. This is ac- 

 companied by nervous excitement. Where cows carry their 

 foetus for five to seven months the usual symptoms are the swol- 

 len condition of the vulva and later on entire laxation. In addi- 

 tion to these symptoms there may be a free flowing of exudate as 

 the symptoms increase this becomes more copious and may be 

 streaked with blood. When these symptoms appear the expul- 

 sion of the young is near at hand. 



