14^ Louping-ill and Braxy. [JUne, 



proves the importance of the discovery. Great danger may be 

 incurred by preventive treatment at the wrong time of year, as 

 the animal being then in a susceptible condition, the disease 

 may be communicated and death ensue. 



The drench which proved so effective was prepared by incu^ 

 bating the specific bacteria on glucose-beef-tea, a small quantity 

 of which mixed with water was administered to each sheep 

 by the mouth, a second dose being given a week to a fortnight 

 later. 



The drenching experiments were confined to braxy and 

 louping-ill, but there is no reason to anticipate that successful 

 results will not be obtained by a similar method of treating the 

 other diseases of the same group. 



The results of the experiments were as follows : — 



Date. 



Number of 

 Sheep Treated. 



Deaths. 



Deaths from 

 other Diseases. 



77'eaiineJit for Louping-ill. 



June, 1903 



March, 1904 

 December, 1904) 

 January, 1905 / 



10 

 175 

 1,340 



FroJ7i 

 Loupiiig-ill . 

 None 



I 



(doubtful) 



None 

 26 



Treatment for Braxy, 

 Autumn, 1903 ... 

 Autumn, 1904 ... 



34 

 1,545 



From Braxy. 

 None 

 9 



(3 doubtful) 



3 



144 



Some of these braxy experiments were carried out too late 

 in the autumn, viz., in September, October, and November. It 

 is, therefore, doubly surprising that the mortality from this 

 disease was reduced to such a low figure. When it is con- 

 sidered that the sheep treated in both sets of experiments were 

 on land notoriously foul, where in many cases a death-rate of 

 20 per cent, would be thought low under normal conditions, and 

 that in some instances sheep weie deliberately moved from 

 " clean " to " foul " land to increase the severity of the test, the 

 results both from louping-ill and braxy are satisfactory beyond 

 anything that could have been reasonably expected. There 

 seems, in fact, to be no reason why absolute immunity may not 

 be secured against both diseases, provided proper precautions 

 are taken. So far as has yet been ascertained, sheep so drenched 

 are rendered permanently immune. 



