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Transmission and Inoculability of Spirillum Theileri (Laveran). 
By Dr, A. THETLER. 
(Communicated by Colonel David Bruce, R.A.M.C., F.R.S. Received 
June 28, 1905.) 
In 1903 Laveran* described, under the name of Spirillum Theilert, a micro- 
organism which I had found several timesin sick cattle. In 1904 I described 
six cases.t These cases, however, in my opinion did not represent a pure 
infection of Spirillum, since lesions were present in the red corpuscles, such 
as basophile granulations, indicating a previous infection with Piroplasma 
bigeminum. 
The réle which the Spirillum itself plays as a cause of disease has not as 
yet been ascertained, but the following notes will help to throw some light 
on its pathogenic action. 
In the communication alluded to above, I described experiments on the 
inoculation of defibrinated and non-defibrinated blood containing Spirilla 
from sick into healthy oxen. This experiment failed in eleven animals, 
although the precaution was taken to utilise, for the most part, imported 
stock, and the inoculations were made with quantities ranging from five to 
one hundred cubic centimetres, which were injected subcutaneously, intra- 
venously, and intra-peritoneally. The injection of blood containing Spirilla 
into three sheep, two goats, two horses, six rabbits, one guinea-pig, and one 
rat, also gave negative results. It was then concluded that spirillosis is not 
inoculable, but this has proved to be a mistake, as further experiments have 
shown that the disease can be conveyed from sick to healthy animals by the 
injection of infective blood. 
As it has been proved that the Brazilian fowl Spirillum is transmitted by 
a species of tick, an Argas, and since my Spirillum was also found in the 
blood, the opinion was then expressed, in view of the conclusive evidence of 
past experiments in tropical piroplasmosis, that cattle spirillosis is also, 
probably, transmitted by ticks. 
The Mode of Conveyanee of Spirillosis in Cattle from the Sick to Healthy 
Animals.—Some observations on bulls on which various kinds of ticks had 
fed first suggested that this Spirillum might be transmitted by ticks, and, 
further, that the particular tick in the present case was /hipicephalus 
* *Sur la Spirillose des Bovidés,’ par A. Laveran. 
+ ‘Comptes Rendus des Séances de |’Académie des Sciences,’ vol. 186, p. 939 (Séance du 
20 Avril, 1903). 
