Annual  Report  for  1909  of  Royal  Veterinary  College.  337 
that  the  disease  is  one  which  human  beings  can  contract  if 
matter  from  a sore  on  a sheep  is  brought  into  contact  with  a 
wound  or  abrasion  of  the  skin. 
Sterility  in  Cows. 
Sterility  in  the  bovine,  as  in  other  species,  has  a multitude 
of  causes,  and  the  defects  and  diseases  which  prevent  concep- 
tion may  affect  either  sex.  It  is  not  proposed  to  discuss  here 
all  the  possible  causes  of  unfruitfulness  in  cows,  but  merely 
to  call  attention  to  what  appears  to  be  the  most  frequent  cause 
of  multiple  cases  of  sterility,  meaning  thereby  the  failure 
of  a large  proportion  of  cows  in  the  same  herd  to  breed  in  the 
same  season  in  spite  of  service  or  opportunity  for  service  by 
a sound  bull.  The  intention,  therefore,  is  to  exclude  from 
consideration  not  only  the  occasional  cases  of  temporary 
sterility  which  occur  from  time  to  time  in  almost  every 
large  herd,  but  also  all  those  cases,  whether  few  or  numerous, 
in  which  conception  occurs  but  is  followed  by  abortion. 
During  recent  years  in  many  parts  of  Switzerland,  and 
also  in  Germany,  sterility  among  cows  has  become  a positive 
plague,  and  in  both  these  countries  this  has  been  laid  to  the 
charge  of  a disease  which  appears  to  have  first  attracted 
attention  about  twenty  years  ago.  During  the  last  ten  years  it 
has  become  alarmingly  frequent  over  large  tracts  of  country, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  1903  about  90  per  cent,  of 
the  30,000  cows  belonging  to  the  members  of  one  Cattle 
Society  in  East  Prussia  were  affected  with  it.  In  the  previous 
year  an  inquiry  which  was  instituted  in  Switzerland,  and 
which  extended  to  344  herds,  showed  that  60  per  cent,  of  the 
cows  had  contracted  the  disease. 
The  disease  in  question  is  now  generally  known  as 
“ infectious  granular  vaginitis.”  It  is  primarily  an  acute 
inflammation  of  the  genital  passages  (vulva  and  vagina)  of  the 
cow,  and  the  almost  exclusive  method  of  infection  is  service 
by  a diseased  or  contaminated  bull.  After  such  a service 
symptoms  of  the  disease  are  detectable  (when  looked  for)  in 
from  one  to  three  days.  These  symptoms  take  the  form  of 
slight  swelling  of  the  entrance  to  the  genital  passages,  and 
congestion  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  vagina  and  vulva, 
accompanied  by  the  formation  of  a muco-purulent  discharge. 
After  a few  days  this  discharge  is  usually  Sufficient  to  cause 
marked  soiling  of  the  under  surface  of  the  tail.  Very  soon 
after  the  onset  of  these  first  symptoms  the  mucous  membrane 
of  the  vulva  and  vagina  assumes  a granular  appearance,  which 
is  attributable  to  the  swelling  of  the  minute  lymphoid  glands 
normally  present  in  the  depth  of  the  membrane.  At  first 
these  granules  have  a reddish  congested  appearance  and  a 
VOL,  70,  Z 
