246  Annual  Report  for  1904  of  Roijal  Veterinarij  College. 
into  this  country  by  army  horses  which  were  returned  from 
South  Africa  after  the  late  war,  as  it  is  well  known  to  have 
been  in  existence  thez-e  for  a good  many  years. 
As  previously  stated,  the  symptoms  of  epizootic  lymphan- 
gitis closely  resemble  those  of  farcy,  and  in  both  diseases  they 
take  the  form  of  sores,  which  burst  through  the  skin  and  dis- 
charge matter.  In  either  disease  these  sores  may  form  on  any 
part  of  the  body  ; but  a favourite  seat  is  on  the  legs,  particu- 
larly the  hind  ones.  In  both  diseases  the  leg  on  which  the 
sores  develop  is  much  swollen,  and  when  the  disease  attacks 
the  skin  of  the  body,  neck,  or  head,  the  adjacent  sores  are 
often  connected  by  subcutaneous  cord-like  thickenings,  Avhich 
correspond  with  inflamed  lymphatic  vessels. 
As  both  diseases  are  now  scheduled  under  the  Diseases  of 
Animals  Act,  and  fall  to  be  notified  to  the  police,  their  liability 
to  be  confounded  with  one  another  by  the  layman  is  not  a 
matter  of  much  consequence.  What  is  important  is  that  their 
common  symptons  should  become  as  widely  known  as  possible, 
in  order  that  cases  of  either  disease  may  be  promptly  suspected 
and  reported. 
Canine  Distemper. 
During  the  past  year  some  experiments  intended  to  test 
the  efficacy  of  a particular  form  of  vaccination  against  dis- 
temper were  concluded  at  the  Royal  Veterinary  College.  The 
experiments  formed  part  of  a series  which  were  designed  by  a 
Committee  of  Veterinary  Surgeons,  and  begizn  in  the  summer 
of  1903.  The  first  of  the  series  were  carried  out  in  premises 
which  were  specially  selected  with  the  object  of  guarding 
against  the  accidental  infection  of  the  experimental  puppies 
before  the  vaccination  had  had  time  to  take  effect.  Un- 
fortunately, what  had  been  feared  actually  happened,  with  the 
consequence  that  these  earlier  experiments  yielded  inconclusive 
results.  On  the  other  hand,  the  experiments  at  the  Royal 
Veterinary  College  were  carried  out  without  any  accident,  and 
the  results  which  thej^  yielded  wei’e  quite  unambiguous. 
The  method  of  vaccination  or  protective  inoculation  which 
the  experiments  were  intended  to  test  is  one  associated  with 
the  name  of  a French  doctor,  M.  Phisalix,  who  claimed  that  he 
had  discovered  the  germ  of  distemper,  and  by  cultivating  it 
artificially  had  been  able  to  prepare  a vaccin,  which,  when 
injected  into  young  dogs,  protected  them  against  the  disease. 
M.  Phisalix’s  statements  with  regard  to  the  latter  point  were 
supported  by  a certain  amount  of  what  may  be  called  clinical 
evidence  ; and  his  vaccin  has,  within  the  last  few  years,  been 
used  by  a considerable  number  of  veterinary  surgeons  in  London 
and  elsewhere  in  this  counti-y.  However,  from  the  experience 
gained  in  this  way  no  certain  conclusion  could  he  drawn,  and 
