768 SYNOPSIS OF CONTINENTAL VETERINARY JOURNALS. 
should no longer be placed among virulent diseases, but 
among parasitic disorders.” 
Dr. Willems’ paper then deals with the questions of the 
contagious nature and non-spontaneity of pleuro-pneumonia, 
showing that these views have gained ground only since he 
began to work up the subject, but with some opposition at 
first, and have now been admitted by all those who have 
seriously worked at this subject. With regard to its con¬ 
tagiousness, we note the following among the list of sup¬ 
porters : “ Simonds, Gatngee, Bruce, Cox de Dublin, 
Flemming, &c., the Veterinary School at Lyons, and those 
of Germany and the Netherlands, also all official commissions, 
Belgian, French, German, Italian, of the Netherlands, &c.” 
With regard to spontaneity he continues : <f My personal 
experience after (an attentive) series of observations, lasting 
through many years, on the progress of pleuro-pneumonia, 
convinces me that the affection is purely contagious, trans¬ 
missible from a sick to a healthy animal by inoculation and 
by infection ; artificially by fixed virus; naturally by vola¬ 
tile virus. It never arises spontaneously. In the town of 
Hasselt I have never proved and never heard of a case 
arising spontaneously, and the disease having once gained 
entry into a stable can only be extirpated with difficulty. In 
spite of the use of the most powerful disinfectants, the con¬ 
tagion persists, attaching itself to the soil, straw, walls, 
&c., and long after the stable has been emptied and white¬ 
washed, even after many years, the miasma, which has been 
preserved in a dry state, again becomes active on the intro¬ 
duction of fresh cattle, under the influence of warm and 
humid air, detaches itself and falls down on them and 
infects them.” He then tells us that “ in stables contami¬ 
nated with the disease in question, air condensed in a 
vessel containing cold w r ater and collected in a special re¬ 
ceptacle, showed that it contained the special corpuscles 
which we meet with in the lungs of affected animals. A 
glass plate covered with glycerine suspended during many 
hours in a stable containing diseased beasts, when examined 
under the microscope, also showed the presence of the 
special corpuscles.” 1 have just said that the beasts 
carried to the camp of Beverloo are destined as food for the 
soldiers ; unfortunately, government goes on the principle 
of paying as little as possible for meat. This pleuro-pneu- 
monic flesh is, indeed, neither succulent nor agreeable to 
eat, but, nevertheless, I can affirm that it is not prejudicial 
to the public health. For pleuro-pneumonia cannot be 
transmitted to man ; there is, therefore, no danger in consum- 
