GRANULAR VENEREAL DISEASE AND ABORTION IN CATTLE. 41 
The definite clinical diagnosis - of impending abortion is essen- 
tially impossible until the condition has so far advanced that the 
preliminary acts of abortion, as dilation of the cervical canal, pro- 
trusion of fetal membranes, etc., have become established. The deter- 
mination of the fact that abortion has occurred must be based upon 
the recognition of the expelled fetus or afterbirth as belonging to 
the animal, or, if it is known that she has been pregnant, it must be 
established by rectal or other examination that pregnancy has 
terminated. 
The differential diagnosis between accidental and contagious 
abortion is largely impracticable in the living animal. It has been 
proposed to differentiate them in a variety of ways; for example, to 
separate the two classes of abortion by recognizing the presence of 
the Bacillus abortus in the placenta or uterine exudate of the one 
group while it is absent in the other. While some have laid claim to 
the possession of such skill, the accuracy of the conclusion that 
merely negative findings indicate the absence of contagious abortion 
does not seem wholly warranted. 
McFadyean and Stockman, Sven Wall, Holth, and others claim 
much for the diagnosis of the disease by means of the complement- 
fixation and agglutination tests. Thus far, however, it has only 
been shown according to data submitted that certain animals which 
had recently aborted reacted. They have not shown that all reacting 
animals are bearers of the infection of abortion, nor that all bearers 
of the infection react. The character of the conclusion from the 
data assembled is well expressed by Wall: "A reaction indicates 
that the animal is or has been infected with contagious abortion." 
Animals which had aborted quite commonly reacted more than two 
years after abortion. Apparently an impending abortion may not 
ordinarily be foretold by these tests. 
The post-mortem diagnosis of contagious abortion appears to be 
more certain and the phenomena fairly well established, especially 
in relation to the presence of the abortion exudate. This exudate, 
in the present state of our knowledge, is characteristic and con- 
clusive. However, post-mortem examinations upon cows which 
have recently aborted have been all too few in number, but the 
phenomena presented are very uniform. We have had opportunity 
of making post-mortem examinations upon seven recently aborted 
cows and heifers, with the following results, which were in each case 
essentially identical: 
Case 1. — A 2-year-old Hereford heifer shipped from Garden City, Kans., on May 17 
to Kansas City and unloaded the following morning. It was found that during the 
night of May 19 she gave birth to a small, weak, live calf, at apparently about the 
seventh month. She was slaughtered about 11 a. m. The heifer was in good general 
condition and apparently healthy. 
