478 



Report on Epizootic Abortion. 



[SEPT., 



It is evident, therefore, that farmers should exercise con- 

 siderable caution in purchasing sulphate of copper. 



The President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 

 appointed a Committee in April, 1905, to inquire, by means 

 of experimental investigation and other- 

 Report of wise, into the pathology and etiology 

 Committee on of Epizootic Abortion, and to consider 

 Epizootic Abortion. whether any, and if so, what, preven- 

 tive and remedial measures might with 

 advantage be adopted with respect to that disease. 



The Committee was composed of the following gentle- 

 men :— Sir Edward Strachey, Bart., M.P. ; the Very Rev. Dr. 

 John Gillespie; Professor (now Sir) John McFadyean, 

 M.R.C.V.S., M.B., B.Sc, Principal of the Royal Veterinary 

 College; Mr. William Hunting, F.R.C.V.S.; Dr. George 

 H. Falkiner Nuttall, F.R.S.; and Mr. Stewart Stockman, 

 M.R.C.V.S., Chief Veterinary Officer of the Board of Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries. Professor John McFadyean acted as 

 Chairman, and Mr. James Ralph Jackson, M.R.C.V.S., of 

 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, as Secretary to the 

 Committee. 



The Committee have now submitted a Report [Cd. 4742, 

 price 3d.] embodying the principal results of their investiga- 

 tions concerning epizootic abortion as it occurs among bovine 

 animals, together with an Appendix, which gives a 

 detailed account of the experiments and observations on 

 which the Report is based. 



Microbe of Cattle Abortion. — The Report describes in 

 detail the microbe of cattle abortion, which after considerable 

 investigation was found to be identical with the bacillus 

 isolated by Dr. Bang in Denmark, in 1897, and the Com- 

 mittee consider that there is no reason to doubt that the 

 Danish and English diseases are one and the same. 



Virulent Material. — The microbe is chiefly found in the 

 contents of the infected uterus, that is to say, the exudate, the 

 foetal membranes, and the foetus. As long as the affected 

 uterus remains closed these materials are inoperative so far 

 as other animals are concerned, but once they have been 

 expelled they become dangerous. The discharge which 

 comes from the genital organs for a varying period after the 



