1906.] 



LOUPING-ILL AND BRAXY. 



141 



It is stated in Part II. (page 328) of the report : — The question 

 ^' whether an animal may be immunized to several of these 

 diseases at once is a matter of which we have little experience. 

 The only experiment we made on the subject, and the only evi- 

 dence we possess relative to it, is with regard to louping-ill and 

 braxy. To twenty-five sheep we administered a mixture of a 

 culture of the braxy bacillus and that of louping-ill in the early 

 autumn. The farm on which they were pastured claims a high 

 mortality from both diseases, but, notwithstanding, not a single 

 death occurred among them." 



The passage quoted continues : — " This subject of multiple 

 iuununization through the intestine opens up a field of research 

 fraught with the most profound practical issues, and of which 

 nothing at present is known. Indeed, the whole subject of 

 immunizing through the intestine is one which has bearings of a 

 far-reaching character relative not only to diseases of the lower 

 animals but also to those which are peculiar to man." 



It may be well to state that while the manufacture of the 

 cultures of the louping-ill and braxy bacilli must be left in 

 scientific hands, the cost of preparing and the trouble of using 

 them are but small details compared with the value of the lives 

 which they promise to save. 



Smninary. — Braxy and louping-ill form two of a group of 

 specific bacterial diseases. 



There is some amount of similarity in the symptoms of certain 

 of the diseases of this group. 



This similarity frequently results in errors of identification. 



The primary habitat of the bacteria which are their cause is, 

 in the whole of them, the alimentary canal. 



At certain seasons of the year the blood of the sheep is un- 

 able to resist the invasion of these bacteria, and death ensues. 



At other seasons the blood of the sheep destroys these 

 bacteria, and at such times the animal is proof against them. 



The germs of this group of diseases are picked up by the 

 animal when feeding. 



The fatal effect of these germs in the case of louping-ill and 

 braxy may be prevented by drenching with a culture of the re- 

 spective bacilli during the period of resistance. 



If the drenching be done at a wrong time of year, viz., during 



