t I ' 
146 ' EDITORIAL. 
Comptes Rendus, a striking agreement being bbservable be¬ 
tween the views thus propounded, and the statements hnd 
discoveries with which we have become familiar in the re¬ 
sults of experiments and researches on this side of the At¬ 
lantic. 
The great objective point of the investigations of our sci¬ 
entists in the present instance, is of course, the discovery of 
some sure method of prophylaxy against this widespread 
and persistent evil. But all the labors of all the pathologists, 
biologists, and others who have joined in the pursuit of a 
neutralizing or counteracting virus, or what not, have hitherto, 
so far as we know, proved to be abortive. The most assidu¬ 
ous and intelligent laborers in this important field have failed 
to reach a conclusion which may be considered as of positive 
value. In the view of those who are most familiar with this 
peculiar line of work, this has been about the status quo at the 
present time, of this interesting question. 
But Dr. F. S. Billings, late of the University of Nebraska, 
now claims to have made the great discovery of a prophy¬ 
lactic, and if we are to believe the reports and the letters 
which are found in some of the Western papers, such good 
and positive results have been obtained as quite to justifv the 
application of the new inoculation on a large scale. If this is 
confirmed, we most heartily congratulate the Doctor on his 
achievement, but it seems to us that an experiment a la Pouilly- 
le Fort , imposes itself for his reputation as well as for the suc¬ 
cess of his claims. 
But the last word does not seem to be yet spoken in re¬ 
spect to the nature of this disease, its peculiar mode of distri¬ 
bution and the peculiarities of its biological features. Even 
the correctness of its terminology is questioned, and if we 
are to accept the results of the recent experiments made by 
Professor Galtier of Lyons, and to trust to the reports that 
appear in the French veterinary periodicals, the bacillus 
which produces pneumo-enteritis in swine is not specific to 
this animal. Having been appointed to study an outbreak of 
disease amongst sheep in a southern part of France, Professor 
Galtier reported to the Secretary of Agriculture that “ the 
lesions observed were those of pneumo-enteritis ; exudative 
