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ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE. 
4. Pyaemia in Rabbits. — A rabbit was injected with fluid 
obtained by macerating mouse-skin in water. A purulent 
infiltration of the subcutaneous tissue resulted, accompanied 
by swelling of the spleen, morbid changes in lungs and liver, 
and peritonitis. Micrococci abounded in the affected places, 
occurring in the blood-vessels surrounding the corpuscles, 
and forming accumulations whieh sometimes quite ob¬ 
structed the lumen. These micrococci are distinguished 
from those of gangrene and abscesses by not forming chains 
or zoogloea, and by their size (0 25 f). For inoculation 
yL- of a drop was sufficient, but not tVoo-* 
5. Septicaemia in Rabbits. —The animals were injected with 
a putrid infusion of meat. A purulent accumulation (jau- 
chige Yereiterung) took place, and the subcutaneous tissue 
in the neighbourhood became filled with a watery fluid, con¬ 
taining large oval micrococci (diameter G’8 to 1 f), which 
also occurred in the kidney and spleen. Injection of 5 to 10 
drops of the oedema fluid communicated the fatal symptoms. 
6. Erysipelatous Process in Rabbits. —The ear was injected 
with mouse's dung, softened in distilled water. The organ 
became red, swollen, and flabby, and was found to contain 
large numbers of bacilli 3 /i in length and 0 3 /u in diameter. 
The author failed to communicate the disease to other 
animals. 
After the description of these experiments Koch devotes 
a few pages to splenic fever, and then sums up his results, 
and discusses their importance. For the first five cases 
there is complete, for the sixth partial evidence of parasitic 
nature. Infection is produced by so small a quantity of 
fluid that toxic effects are quite excluded. For each disease 
the bacterium form is distinct and unchangeable; this is the 
most important result of all. The living body is the best 
possible pure-culture apparatus. 
Some former writers have stated that the virulence of the 
poison in these diseases increases constantly in successive 
generations; Koch considers that it increases up to the 
second, or latest the third generation, and then remains 
constant .—Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society . 
ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE. 
The usual Quarterly meeting of the General Purposes Committee 
was held in the board room of the College on Tuesday, January 13th. 
Present: Sir Paul Hunter, Part., Chairman, Gen. Sir F. Fitzvvygram, 
