———— 
APPLICATIONS OF VETERINARY RESEARCH. 
( dei - snown to have 
bovines causes no agelutination, whilst the serum from a cow kno 
aborted, and to have had the abortion bacillus present in the membranes or 
i aes i i » quantity. 
discharge, produces complete agglutination when added in very minute q 
This test has been very widely 
applied in practice in England, and its Erte 
ness and reliability have been confirmed by numerous workers in other countries, 
notably the United States, Working in the Veterinary School of Melbourne 
University, Seddon* has proved the general applicability of the. ees TE 
local conditions, and has Suggested a standardized method of carrying it out 
which allows of comparison of results in different countries. 
Further he hag shown that the milk of suspected cows can be used instead 
of blood serum, so that by means of a sample of milk sent to the MATAR, 
the owner of a cow can be informed whether that animal is infected with this 
disease. Since milk diluted with water remains hazy, and since this partial 
opacity makes the observation of agglutination difficult, Seddon has advised tat 
use of lactic acid to precipitate the casein and removal of the curd by filtering. 
The clear whey is then used in the test in exactly the same manner as blood 
serum. 
When first the agglutination test was used, doubt was cast upon the results 
obtained because only a few of the animals which gave positive results in the 
test ever aborted. Thus either. the test was unreliable, giving far too many 
positive reactions, or 
the symptom which had heen looked upon as the almost: 
ant of infection 
4 minority of the 
Royer? Agelutination Test in the Diagnosis of Contagious Abortion. Proc. 
Royal Society, Victoria, Vol. XXVIII, (new series), Pt. II. 
invariable concomit » namely, the act of abortion, was, in fact, 
shown by only 
animals infected, 
* 
(Zo be concluded.) 
mn 
URS 
39 
