638 
HOWARD B. FELTON. 
grown upon bouillon and upon gelatin at 37° C. It is anal¬ 
ogous to the streptococcus pyogenes albus, but it decomposes 
sugar and peptonized albumen. 
Since 1893 Galli Valerio, from the pathological institute of 
the Veterinary School of Milan, has made a bacteriological 
study of this disease and claims to be the first to have discovered 
a bacillus in the lungs and central nervous system, inoculations 
of the cultures from which have produced all the symptoms of 
distemper. He deduces the following conclusions; 1. In dis¬ 
temper there is found in the lungs and the central nervous sys¬ 
tem a bacillus whose dimensions vary from 1.25 to 2.5 m. in 
length and 31 m. in diameter. 2. This microbe gives charac¬ 
teristic cultures in gelatin at 18 to 20 0 C. 3. The inoculation 
of these cultures into the veins, under the skin and into the 
lungs of aged dogs does not reproduce the symptoms of distem¬ 
per. 4. The inoculation of a culture obtained from the brain 
under the skin of a dog five to six months old has reproduced 
the disease with its characteristic pulmonary and cerebro-spinal 
symptoms. It would seem from a review of all these experi¬ 
ments that more than one organism is concerned in the produc¬ 
tion of this disease, with all its train of complex symptoms. 
Distemper usually appears at an early period in the dog’s life ; 
in most cases at the time of dentition. It may appear, however, 
at any age, the extreme limit which we have observed being 
twelve years. The younger the dog the more fatal the disease 
is supposed to be, but an exception must be made in the case of 
extremely young dogs, as we have observed in the case of suck¬ 
ling puppies that have contracted the disease from the mother, 
that they almost invariably have it in a mild form and free 
from complications. The contagion is extremely volatile and 
may be communicated by direct contact of the animals with 
each other, by fromities, by an attendant, or by the air. Sem- 
mer relates a remarkable case where the disease was conveyed 
to two puppies from the carcass of an animal which had been 
left in the cold for fourteen days prior to an examination. The 
period of incubation is from three to five days, shorter in sum- 
