ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

MM. Vallee and Carre are at present studying the properties of the virus of horse-an~mia and the therapeutic qualities of serum from animals "saturated" with virulent blood. (Vallee and Carre, Rev. Gen. de MM. Vet., No. 39, August 190 3, p. 105.)

EQUINE FILARIOSIS.

EQUINE filariosis, recently studied by M. Huguier, is caused by the larv~ of the Filaria irritans Rivolta. It is commonly known under the name of granular dermatitis. In Africa, where M. Huguier lived for several years, he saw numerous cases of the disease, and found that it resisted all forms of treatment and was usually grave in character. Contrary to generally received opinion, it is no commoner in the ass than in the horse.

The disease, which is usually regarded as a simple complication of neglected or indolent wounds, the healing of which has been checked by the heat of summer, is, however, due to an entirely different cause, and is exclusively parasitic and contagious in character.

The method by which the parasites enter the animal's body is not yet fully determined. Huguier adopts Professor Laulanie's theory, that, from eggs introduced into the digestive tract, embryos emerge, which find their way into the blood current, pass throughout the body, and are arrested in the neighbourhood of the wound or in certain organs, where they attain the adult state.

If they invade the skin, the adult worms produce the characteristic lesions of granular dermatitis, but they may also affect the eye, lung, or other organ, the young being carried throughout the entire capillary system.

Having satisfied himself on this point, the author proceeded to study the manner in which animals become infected.

He injected a dog with blood containing embryos taken from a horse, but without producing any apparent infection. He discusses, without, however, admitting, the possibility of the parasites being transmitted by diptera, but, like Laulanie and Nocard, rather inclines to the belief that the eggs of the helminth are absorbed with the food. The disease' is not transmissible to man or to the horse by simple contact.

M. Blanchard, who reported on the above observations to the Society of Veterinary Medicine of Paris, does not agree with Huguier's explanation.

He thinks it much more likely that equine filariosis results from the deposition by a dipterous fly of larv~ which attain the adult stage in the skin. The adult worms produce embryos which circulate in the blood, whence they are again taken up by the insect, in whose body they can pass into the larval condition. This cycle of development, which is precisely similar to that undergone by the Filaria Bancrofti in different mosquitoes, is evidently not peculiar to the filaria of man. On the contrary, it represents in genfral the manner in which a large number of filari~ whose embryos are found in the blood, are propagated. Noe has recently proved that the Filaria labiato­papillosa passes through its larval stage in a very common dipterous fly, the Stomoxys calcitrans, and is inoculated into the ox by the bites of that insect. (Rev. de MM. Vet., August 1904, p. 469.)

THE TREATMENT OF GANGRENOUS PNEUMONIA BY INTRATRACHEAL INJECTIONS OF CREOSOTE.

THE above method of treating gangrenous pneumonia does not appear to be commonly practised, though it offers great advantages. The following is a short note of two cases in which excellent results were obtained.

ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

On 4th February 1904 Masson and Vazeux saw case No. I.

All the classical symptoms of advanced gangrenous pneumonia of the right lung were present. The temperature was 40'5° C. The owner staled that the animal, having seemed ill some days before, had been bled and had been given a draught, a portion of which caused it to cough.

The treatment adopted consisted in applying mustard poultices to the chest and administering an electuary containing oil of turpentine, etc. It was suggested to the owner that intratracheal injections should be made. The prognosis was reserved.

On the 5th, 6th, and 7th of February 20 cc. of the following solution was injected :-

Creosote Alcohol Water .

I part 40 parts 40 parts

The injection was made slowly, using a Pravaz syringe and a very fine needle. It produced no attack of coughing, but soon afterwards the discharge became very free.

From the 6th February the discharge lost its offensive odour. On the 7th the general condition had markedly improved.

The temperature was 38'9° c., and the appetite almost normal. Treatment was then suspended, but during the following days the symptoms

hecame aggravated and the general condition was as alarming as at first. The temperature rose to 40° C. The numher of respirations increased,

and the discharge resumed its putrid odour. Three further injections were made on the loth, 11th, and 12th, the

latter of which produced permanent improvement. The animal became convalescent and was returned to regular work, at

which it has continued since the commencement of March without showing any respiratory difficulty.

Since that time the authors have successfully treated a two-year-old horse also suffering from pneumonia.

Injections were given for six successive days. All other treatment was abandoned from the beginning, and the intratracheal injection of creosote alone relied on. It seems reasonable, therefore, to regard this method as worthy of trial. (Jour. de MM. vet. et de Zoot., 31st July 19°4, page 407.)

A CASE OF SUPERFECUNDATION IN A MARE.

CASES of superfecundation in the mare are so rare as to deserve being recorded. This is the only reason advanced by M. Emery to justify his communication, for gestation and delivery were perfectly normal.

The mare was a Barb, more than twenty years old, and previously had always been covered by an ass.

On the 20th May 1904 this mare gave birth to a colt and, a few minutes later, to a mule.

When seen by Emery these two young creatures were about a month old, and appeared in excellent health, although a little thin; a fact, however, in no way astonishing, as the mare was very old and herself badly nourished.

The mare's owner had only taken her to the ass, and had no idea at that time that she had been covered by a horse.

It would be interesting to know if the colt, which was born first, had been last conceived, as should have been the case if the rule of primogeniture accepted in human legal medicine were equally applicable to the mare. Unfortunately the facts necessary for settling this point were unattainable. (Jour. de MM. Vet. et de Zoot., 31st July 1904, page 412.)