728 
Supplemeni  io  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist.'” 
[Aphil  1,  1897. 
l)erimeiits,  \vliile  U>e  lalter  serves  nt  the  same 
time  for  drawing  the  trucks  and  tlie  trolley,  upon 
which  the  dung  and  the  carcases  of  animals  are 
carried  away.” 
The  report  here  goes  on  to  indicate  the  ]>re- 
cautionary  measures  enforced  to  keep  all  animals 
which  have  recovered  from  rinderpest  quite  ajiart 
from  those  to  be  operated  on  and  those  which 
are  being  experimented  with,  so  as  to  avoid  the 
possibility  of  spontaneous  infection.  The  method 
of  work  in  taking  temperatures  and  other  details 
are  carried  out  in  such  a way  that  “ we  consider 
any  cliance  of  transferring  ihe  j)est  impossible.” 
On  the  22nd  December  Dr.  Koch  visited  Tafel 
Kop  Farm,  in  the  Orange  Free  .State,  where  he  saw 
23  out  of  a herd  of  120  animals  in  various  stages 
of  rinderpest.  From  tl.e  diseased  animals  he 
gathered  mucus  wliich  was  diipping  from  the 
nose  and  mouth,  and  also  some  bile  and  blood 
from  two  which  were  i)reviou.-ly  slaughtered. 
In  addition  to  this,  .‘■pecimens  of  organs  were 
collected  for  microscopical  examination  and 
inoculation  purposes. 
On  the  29th  another  visit  was  paid  to  two 
farms,  at  one  of  which  33  out  of  a herd  of  06  had 
already  succumbed,  and  at  another  where  40  out  of 
a head  of  140  had  been  cirried  of.  At  both  pi  ices 
the  living  cattle  showed  in  various  stages 
of  the  disease.  From  a baa.'^t  which  had  shor.ly 
before  expired,  specimens  of  blood  were  taken  for 
examination.  “ Besides  the  materials  for  scienti- 
fic research,  both  these  visits  afforded  an  interest- 
ing study  of  the  nature,  manner  of  spreading,  and 
course  of  rinderpest.” 
“Our  inoculation  experiments  performed  hither- 
to had  so  far  chiefly  the  object  in  view  to  dis- 
cover an  efficient  method  of  transmitting  the 
scourage  of  healthy  animals,  as  the  modes  for- 
merly in  vogue  cannot  be  considered  satisfactory 
in  this  respect.  They  consisted  in  rubbing  into 
the  nostrils  or  bringing  into  the  snbculis  by  means 
of  setoning  needles  excretions  fr.nn  the  diseased 
• animal’s  body,  such  as  .slime  running  from  the 
nose,  the  watery  discharges  from  the  eyes,  and 
even  evacuations  from  the  intestinal  canal.  In 
doing  so,  the  result  was  either  uncertain  in  its 
consequences  or  the  disease  was  from  the  start 
complicated  with  sepsis  through  being  introduced 
into  the  system  septic  matter.  The  correctness 
of  this  assumption  wm.s  also  currobo  ated  in  my 
own  e.xperiments.  As  mentioned  already  in  my 
previous  report,  we  at  first  put  the  infective 
material  in  the  nose  and  upon  the  mucus  rame- 
brane  of  the  mouth.  The  effect  of  this  was 
that  of  eight  animals  treated  in  this  way  with 
material  from  Taung.s,  only  one,  that  afterwards 
became  the  starting  jioint  for  a whole  series  of 
experiments,  contracted  the  disease.  Of  the  second 
batch  of  animals,  three  in  number,  infected  with 
slime  from  Tafel  Kop,  likewise  only  one  took  the 
pest.  Taking  into  consideration  the  experience 
gathered  in  former  epidemic  outbreaks  ot>inder- 
pest,  it  occurred  tr  me  that  a modm  operandi 
superior  in  every  respect  w'ould  be  to  inject  blood 
liypoderinically.  For  when  blood  is  taken  during 
the  earlier  stages  of  rinderjiest,  it  does  not  con- 
tain any  sceptic  matter,  but  simivly  the  contagion 
of  rinderjiost.  This  sup])o..-ition  has  as  yet  shown 
itself  perfectly  justiliable.  We  have  inoculated 
io  the  dewlap  live  iuiiojuls  with  defibrinuteU 
blood,  and  they  contracted  the  disease  wi;hoiit 
exceplion  after  a period  of  incubation  lasting  from 
three  to  five  days.  Four  of  these  animals  have 
already  succumbed,  showing  at  the  autopsy  all 
appearances  of  rinderpest.  One  of  them  recovered 
after  having  been  very  ill,  and  will  be  utili.sed 
for  immunisation  experiments. 
I purpo.'C  in  making  such  successive  injections 
of  blood  from  one  animal  to  another  to  get  a 
series  of  infections,  wdiich  will  always  supply  me 
with  fresh  materials  for  examination.  We  think 
it  best  to  have  two  such  series,  viz.,  one  with 
material  from  Taungs,  and  another  one  w’ith  such 
brought  from  Tafel  Kop.  To  make  these  experi- 
ments not  too  exiiensive  we  shall  in  each  series 
only  infect  one  animal  at  a time. 
Experiments  were  also  made  with  bile,  xvhich 
wa.s  taken  from  auimals  that  had  succumbed  to 
rinderiiest,  and  which  we  injected  in  the  sub- 
cutaneous tissue.  The  motive  for  sj  doing  wms 
because  a mixture  of  bile  with  blood  or  other 
liquids  was  said  to  be  sometimes  used  by  Free 
State  farmers,  and  also  the  circumstance  that  in 
the  bile  of  most  of  the  cases  examined  1 have 
found  in  pure  cultivation  a bacterium,  which 
according  to  the  description  ])ublished  iscomforma- 
ble  with  Ihe  microbe  tliscovered  by  Dr.  Simpson  in 
Calcutta,  and  declared  tobethecau.se  of  rinder- 
pest. All  these  expieriments  with  bile,  however 
had  negative  results.  ’ 
We  are  cmseqiie.itly  jus  ilied  iu  siy  iig  th.it 
bile  does  not  contain  I ho  contagion  of  iiiuferpesv 
and  that  Simpson’s  bacteria  cannot  be  consider- 
ed to  be  the  microbe  of  rinderpest.  All  efforts 
to  find  by  means  of  the  microscope,  as  well  as 
through  cultivation,  a specific  micro-organi- m in 
the  blood,  have  as  yet  proved  friiitle.-s.  1 also 
did  not  .succeeil  in  findii.g  any  .specific  micro- 
organism amongst  the  microbes  which  the  mucus 
from  the  nose,  the  secretions  from  other  mucus 
membranes,  and  the  emtents  of  the  intestines 
naturally  contain  in  large  numbers.  My  e.xami- 
nations  having  the  discovery  of  the  origin  of 
rinderpest  in  view,  will  naturally  be  continued 
but  the  gre  test  .stress  must  be  put  upon  finding 
a process  by  which  we  are  able  so  to  attenuate 
the  virus  of  rinderpest  that  we  may  use  it  as  a 
preventive.  With  this  object  in  view',  we  have 
inoculated  other  animals  le.ss  susceptible  to 
riiiderjiest,  first  of  all  sheep  and  goats.  This 
was  done  on  the  1 1th  December  when  one  Cape 
sheep,  one  iMorino  shee].,  one  Angora,  and  one 
Cape  goat  were  inoculated  with  rinderpest  blood. 
These  animals  did  not  show  any  marked  symp- 
toms afterwards,  but  they  all' suffered  after  a 
jieriod  of  incubation  e.xtending  two  or  three  days 
from  a lisc  of  temperature  iilentical  with  that 
of  rinderpest.  A second  inoculation  made  on 
the  7th  December  with  one  goat,  one  Angora,  one 
Merino,  and  one  Cape  sheep,  had  the  same  effect 
Having  thus  proved  that  by  injecting  rinderiiest 
blood  a sort  of  mitigated  rinderpest  can  be  pro- 
duced in  the  animals  mentioned,  we  infected  in 
second  generation  on  the  21th  of  December  two 
more  goats.  Angoras,  Merino.s,  and  Cape  sheep. 
The  rise  of  temperature  .seen  also  in  these  nnimnls 
demonstrates  th.at  it  is  po.ssible  to  proiiagate  this 
attenuated  rinderpest  within  the  system  of  sheep 
and  goals.  Altei  one  or  two  lurther  generations 
1 shall  try  to  le-transler  this  attenuated  riudef* 
