170 REVIEW.

refractile moving particles in the incubated capsules were the actual germs of the disease. The authors are unable to give any information regarding the form of the germs, as even the highest powers of the microscope scarcely do more than make them visible. It is interest­ing, however, to know that, besides cultivating the germ in the manner already described, they also succeeded in growing it outside the body in test-tubes, the artificial medium employed being a solution of peptone to which a small proportion of serum of the blood of a cow or a rabbit had been added.

A great interest attaches to these researches because of the hope which they hold out, that the application of similar methods will make us acquainted with the hitherto unknown germs of other equally important diseases, and in this connection it may be noted as a singular fact that the germs of all the most intensely infectious diseases of man and animals, such as smaIl-pox, measles, cattle-plague, and foot-and-mouth disease, are still unknown.

Annual Reports of Proceedings under the Diseases of Animals' Acts, the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Acts, etc., for the Year 1897.

IN addition to the usual statistical tables, maps, etc., relating to the in­cidence of the scheduled contagious diseases of the domesticated animals during the year 1897, this annual publication includes reports by the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Assistant Secretary in the Animals' Division of the Board of Agriculture. The bulk of the Report by the Chief Veterinary Officer is devoted to an account of the history and morbid anatomy of pleuro-pneumonia. This is illustrated by a series of coloured plates, which very faithfully reproduce the naked-eye appearance of the lesions commonly met with in a pleuro-pneumonia lung, and add greatly to the interest and value of the Report. The account of the pathology and morbid anatomy of the disease is based mainly on the paper contributed to the Journal of the Royal Agriculture Society a number of years ago by Dr Yeo, who attempted to refer some of the most characteristic features of the lesion tv a mechanical stagnation of lymph in the lymphatic vessels of the lung, following upon a chronic ulcerative bronchitis. We think that this is an entirely erroneous account of the pathology of pleuro-pneumonia.

We observe in the section devoted to the etiology of pleuro-pneumonia a statement that has often been made before, but which is nevertheless open to very serious question. It is that "it appears to be very prohable that the only means by which pleuro-pneumonia is transmitted is the inhalation by the healthy of the breath of a living diseased animal." Now, it is true that co­habitation of diseased and healthy animals in the same premises appears to be the only way III which the disease is naturally spread, but what is the justification for the statement that inhalation of the breath of a diseased animal is necessary for infection? Experience certainly does not show that among a lot of stalled animals the disease always first attacks those on either

CLINICAL ARTICLES.

side of the diseased one, and when a diseased animal is stalled in the midst of healthy ones it is quite impossIble to predict which of these will be first attacked. It is almost certain that it is not the breath per se, but solid or liquid particles expelled from the air passages, that contain the germs of the disease, and probably the method of infection is just the same as in some other diseases, viz., by the inhalation of such germ-containing particles sus­pended in the air.

In the Chief Veterinary Officer's observations on glanders we find a para­graph to the effect that horse-owners can hardly be expected to consent to the slaughter of animals that have reacted to mallein but present no external evidence of disease, unless they receive their full value. This is equivalent to an expression of opinion on the part of the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Board that the condemnation of apparently healthy horses, on the sole ground that they have reacted to mallein, requires the consent of the owner. This is im portant, for in London some over-zealous veterinary inspectors to the Local Authority a short time ago displayed an inclination to treat every horse that had reacted to mallein precisely as they would one clinically glandered, and some horse-owners have since then hesitated to use mallein. The paragraph referred to will probably reassure them on the point.

Many other interesting points relating to the contagious diseases are dis­cussed in the reports of the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Assistant­Secretary, but want of space forbids our referring to them here.

eLI N I CAL ART I C L E S. --0--

PSOROSPERMOSIS OF THE INTESTINES IN CATTLE.

By GEORGE GAIR, M.R.C.V.S., Conon Bridge, N.B.

THE following facts relating to an obscure disease which came under my notice some time ago may be of interest to the profession. I do not remember of its being recorded in our journals, or treated in our text-books.

The outbreak of this disease occurred on a farm composed of a sandy loam, situated on the seaboard, sloping south-east, and hitherto con­sidered perfectly healthy for stock. The present tenant came into possession early in summer, and all went well with his herd till the beginning of July following, when he observed one of his cows un­well.

This cow, a fine five-year-old polled Angus, was bred by the owner, and in excellent condition, and at this date had been just one month on the farm. The symptoms which most attracted the attention of the owner were, back highly arched, hair standing, great stiffness in walking, feet slightly swollen from knee downwards, and from hock downwards in hind feet, the swelling terminating very abruptly imme­diately above knee and hock, and the animal appearing greatly pained when made to walk. One of the most prominent symptoms was the daily passage of blood-stained f;eces, although the blood was not present in large quantities. Suppuration of the udder took place