SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
1037 
• shock from loss of blood than younger animals, and that the 
surgeon should respect every drop of blood when operating on 
such patients, while in younger ones nominal loss of blood is of 
no special significance. Aside from the danger of injuring aged 
patients in securing them, there is evidently no need of under¬ 
taking operations on them reluctantly. 
“ Nocctra's Discovery .—Prof. Nocard, the well-known French 
veterinarian, has recently demonstrated conclusively that white 
scours of calves is the direct result of an infection through the 
umbilicus, contracted either during or immediately after par¬ 
turition. He has proven that young animals, whose umbilicus 
is properly treated at the time of parturition, do not contract 
the disease. This places an entirely new phase on this danger¬ 
ous disease, and immediately places it among the preventable 
diseases. The discovery was made while investigating the out¬ 
break in Ireland, to which country he was called by the British 
Government. 
“ Vaccination for Dog Distemper. —The veterinarian who is 
interested in the treatment of dogs will be delighted to learn 
that animals may be successfully immunized against this dis¬ 
ease, as demonstrated by two French veterinarians, Drs. Phys- 
alix and Iyygnieres. They have succeeded in isolating a bacil¬ 
lus to which they attribute the disease, and from which they 
prepare a vaccine by attenuation. The value of such a discov¬ 
ery can hardly be estimated, especially in the dog hospital, 
where dog distemper is no less than a pest. The difficulty of 
preventing dogs from contracting distemper in canine hospitals 
is well known. If animals brought to hospitals can be vacci¬ 
nated against the disease the veterinarian will have overcome 
an obstacle of no mean dimensions. 
“ Chloretone in Experimental Surgery. —Chloretone is a 
new hypnotic prepared by Parke, Davis & Co. It was introduced 
into the category of medicine several years ago with the inten¬ 
tion of supplanting inhalation anaesthetics. Subsequent ex¬ 
periment, however, has shown that chloretone is a dangerous 
drug, and that animals completely anaesthetized with it do not 
readily revive and in fact few will survive profound anaesthesia 
thus produced. The great value of this drug, however, in ex¬ 
perimental physiology as shown by its frequent use throughout 
the United States, has led to its adoption in the surgical clinics 
at the Chicago Veterinary College. It is found that animals 
anaesthetized with chloretone pass immediately into a profound 
state of anaesthesia and will remain so through hours and hours 
