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PHYSIOLOGICAL PATHOLOGY 
PHYSIOLOGICAL PATHOLOGY. 
ON THE CONTAGION OF OVINE VARIOLA. 
By M. Peijch. 
1.— Virulency of the milk of varioloid ewes. —Among the 
questions relating to the contagion of this disease, that of the 
virulency of milk has never been fully elucidated. It is known 
only that lambs suckled by ewes affected with variola at times 
take the disease; but, in this case, the effect of the milk in com¬ 
plication with that of the cohabitation is involved, and conse¬ 
quently, to determine whether any separate action has taken 
place in the milk, it is necessary to know if it has possessed any 
virulent properties. In investigating the subject with this view, 
the following experiments were made:—The milk obtained from 
an ewe inoculated fourteen days previous with varicola, and 
which had, as yet, no eruption on the udder, was injected under 
the skin of three ewes, and the inoculation was followed by an 
eruption of variola, a large pustule appearing at the point of in¬ 
sertion. But two other ewes, treated in the same manner, re¬ 
mained healthy, and yet were refractory to infection, as was 
proved by direct inoculation with the pure virus. 
These experiments show, 1st, that in variola the milk is viru¬ 
lent, and, 2d, that the effects of the virulency are manifested 
only by the inoculation of a large quantity of the material in¬ 
jected, and that [the intensity of the effect is in proportion to 
the quantity of virus inoculated. 
2d.— Animal Species Susceptible to Variola. —According to 
Zundel, it is transmissible to goats, to cattle and to rabbits, though 
most veteiinary writers consider it specially characteristic of the 
ovine family. Gatier, while of the same opinion, thinks that in 
some cases it may, “ though with difficulty, be transmitted to 
goats, and perhaps to bovines, or even to rabbits and fowls.” 
In elucidating this question, the author inoculated a goat, four 
heifers and sixteen rabbits with fresh and very strong virus. 
The inoculations were made both under the skin and under the 
epidermis, but none of the animals, except the goat, experienced 
any effect from the inoculation. Some small furunculous pim- 
