140 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
3. The premature births occurred at from 145 days to 
262 days from time of conception, and the average of the 
twenty-four cases was 211 days. 
4. The bull was not the sole means of spreading the dis- 
ease in this instance. The twenty-four conceptions that ter- 
minated in premature births were the result of the matings of 
15 different sires, eight of which were owned by parties re- 
mote from the effected herd. 
5. Treatment. Disinfectants were used in the barn and 
the stable was white washed. At irregular intervals from 
one to two ounces of crude carbolic acid was fed to cows 
five or more months in calf. The aborting animals were 
isolated when possible, the foetal membranes thoroughly re- 
moved by the hand, and antiseptic douches used until dis- 
charge from vulva ceased. At frequent intervals each animal 
in the herd was sprayed with a disinfecting fluid about the 
vulva, root of tail and hind parts generally. The bulls were 
disinfected by injecting an antiseptic solution into the sheath 
before service. 
6. Milk and fat yield during aborting period. It is fre- 
quently stated that an aborting cow is usually of little use 
in the dairy, and therefore it is best to fatten her and apply 
treatment to those that remain. In the table below the milk 
and fat yields of ten cows following a normal calving are 
compared with the milk and fat yields during the period of 
abortion. These cows, following a normal calving, averaged 
5,892 pounds of milk and 282.8 pounds of fat in one year. 
During the next 2.1 years, or from one normal calving to the 
next normal calving which included the aborting period, these — 
‘cows averaged 5,196 pounds of milk and 268.4 pounds of fat 
per year. The milk was 696 pounds or 12% less per year dur- 
ing the aborting, period. These ten cows aborted seven 
months (average 211 days) after conception. The satisfac- 
‘tory yields are attributed in part to the complete removal of 
the after birth and the thorough disinfection of the animals 
‘after abortion. ° 
