263 



Inoculation for Pleuro-Pneumoma in Cattle, 



Under the heading of ' Faits contestes,' p. 174 et seq., the 

 Commissioners, quoting- the minutes of the proceedings at 

 Hasselt, saj, " On the 2nd of December MM. J. Nolens and 

 T. Vaes proceed to open a beast, aged five years, belonging to 

 M. Will ems. The chest contains an abundant sero-sanguineous 

 effusion in which float albuminous flakes ; the left lung, adhering 

 to the costal pleura, is hepatized at its anterior portion." 

 MM. Nolens and Vaes add, "The particulars that we have 

 gathered from MM. JVillems, father and son, are that this beast 

 ivas inoculated during Sej)temher last by 07ie of the two English 

 veterinary surgeoJis * who came to examine their cattle, and who 

 wished to see the application of the process ; that it was inocu- 

 lated with virus taken from the tail of another inoculated beast ; 

 and lastly, that the operation had no results. A portion of the 

 lung, and the end of the tail, upon which tivo large cicatrices may 

 be perceived, are contained in the jar No. 19.'' 



" On the IGth December MM. Vaes and Maris, delegates for 

 that purpose, went to the knacker's yard in order to make an 

 autopsy of another beast belonging to M. Willems. The 

 animal, which was inoculated on September 1st, bears the mark 

 of a successfid operation. It presented the first symptoms of 

 exudative Pleuro- pneumonia on December 4th. 



" On the 11th M. Vaes was requested by the proprietor to treat 

 it. The treatment was continued till the 15th, when it was 

 decided that the animal, being unfit for consumption, should be 

 killed and buried. The chest contained a large quantity of 

 fluid, the right lung was adhering to the costal and diaphrag- 

 matic pleura, was entirely hepatized and of enormous size. A 

 part of the lung and the end of the tail are preserved under the 

 cover No. 25. 



" We read in the minutes of the proceedings," add the Com- 

 missioners, " that M. Willems declaimed to the veterinary surgeon, 

 M. Vaes, that this beast was successfully operated on by the same 

 English veterinary professor loho inocidated the one which was 

 killed in consequence of Pleuro-pneumonia on December 2nd, and 

 with virus taken from the tail of another beast." 



" Dr. Willems explains how it was that these animals were not 

 protected. ' Two beasts,' says he, ' inoculated as an experiment, 

 with pus (not lymph |) taken from an incision made in the tail of 



* It is necessary to explain that J was accompanied in my visit to Belgium by 

 my friend and colleague Professor Morton, who was desirous of going to the 

 Continent for his summer's vacation. He never on any occasion interfered with 

 my investigation, it being a thing entirely foreign to his avocations as a chemist 

 and his taste as a man of science. 



t It may be necessary to explain that the term li/mph is used by the medical 

 profession to express the specific contents of a vesicle, such as that pi'oduced in 

 vaccination. It is held by many to be synonymous with virus, and is employed 

 in that sense in this place by Dr. Willems, who, however, speaks almost invariably 

 of the " special virus " of Pleuro-pneumonia. 



