On Bed-water or Texas Fever. 



Ill 



sufficiently nutritious food also results in poor returns of lambs. 

 Among Suffolk and Shropshire ewes, which are highly fed as a rule, a 

 high percentage of barrenness occurs in cases where they are exces- 

 sively highly fed ; on the other hand, among Dorset Horn, Lincoln, 

 and Kent ewes, which are certainly not too highly fed as a rule at tup- 

 ping time, the highest percentage of barrenness occurs among the 

 poorest kept flocks. 



Jhe most frequent percentage of barrenness experienced in 327 

 flocks is 1 to 2 per cent., but, as Table III shows, the returns are 

 much more irregular than was the case for abortion, and there is a 

 much larger proportion of flocks in the "10 per cent, and over " 

 column. The slightly excessive proportion of flocks in the 5 per cent, 

 column suggests generalised results rather than accurate returns, but 

 the number of flock-masters who are responsible for this is obviously 

 very small. 



In conclusion : — 



1. AVhereas the -total loss from abortion and barrenness is fairly con- 

 stant for most pure breeds of sheep, the SufFolks and Hampshires are 

 markedly free from, and the Lincolns markedly liable to, heavy loss 

 from these causes. 



2. Although the loss from the above causes does exert an influence 

 on the returns of fertility of the various breeds, it does not account for 

 the wide variation which exists in this respect. 



3. The ewes of certain pure breeds are conspicuously more fertile 

 than the average cross-bred ewe ; and 



4. The fertility of certain pure breeds is sufficiently marked to con- 

 stitute a racial characteristic. 



" Some further Remarks on Red-water or Texas Fever." By 

 Alexander Edington, M.B., F.R.S.E., Director of the Bacterio- 

 logical Institute, Cape Colony. Communicated by Dr. D. 

 Gill, C.B., F.R.S. Received March 13 —Read April 20, 1899. 



Since my communication* to the Royal Society of London, by 

 Professor Thomas R. Frazer, I have been able to obtain valuable addi- 



* The conclusions arrived at in that communication (received June 6, 1898) 

 were as follows : — 



1. The blood of animals, themselves healthy, from a red-water area is dangerous 

 if inoculated into an animal which suffers coincidentally from another disease. 



2. That the blood of animals suffering from mild or modified red- water may be 

 safely used to inoculate a healthy animal subcutaneously, but is dangerous when 

 injected into a vein. 



3. That the subcutaneous inoculation of mild or modified red-water blood 

 conveys a mild form of the disease, and since the blood of such an animal is viru- 



VOL. LXV. I 



