the uterus, with a funnel in its outer elevated end. About 1 gallon or more of a one-half to one-quarter per cent. solution of liquor cresolis compositus, lysol, or trikresol, 1 per cent. solution of creolin or carbolic acid, or 1 to 1,000 potasium permanganate solution, should be introduced into the womb, and this treatment should be repeated every day so long as any discharge is observed from the cow. Afterward it should be used once weekly until it is time to breed the animal. In addition this cow, as well as every cow in the stable, should be sponged every morning around the vulva, anus, perineum, and root of the tail with a disinfectant solution twice as strong as that used for irrigating the genitals. Furthermore, every cow in an infected herd should have the genital tract irrigated as above, even after an apparently normal parturition. W. L. Williams reports very good results from using one-fourth to one-half per cent. Lugol's solution for irrigating the vagina during one estrual interval—that is, a period of 21 days before breeding. The use of this solution is said not to prevent conception even if used one hour before service.

It is not advisable to breed a cow for at least two months after she has aborted, and not even then if the discharge has not ceased. If these precautions are neglected and the bull is allowed to serve the cow as soon as she comes in heat after aborting, the uterus will not be normal, and the animal will not conceive or the fetus will be expelled when quite small, while in a short time the cow comes in heat again. These very early abortions are as a rule not noticed, but as the system of the cow adapts itself to the infection, either through tolerance, immunity, or a loss of virulence of the bacilli, the period of retention becomes longer and longer, until finally the cow is immune and carries the fetus the full term of gestation. It generally requires from two to three years for the cow to become immune and even then there is a possibility of the cow acting as a carrier of the virus, and the bull which during that time serves this cow may transmit the infection to all other cows that he may cover if precautions are not taken to prevent it. For this reason it is not advisable to sell or otherwise dispose of the animals that abort and replace them with new cows, as such new animals are very likely to become infected. Only those which after treatment prove to be permanently sterile should be prepared for the butcher.

In order to prevent a bull from carrying the infection from a diseased to a healthy cow, it is necessary to irrigate and disinfect the sheath and penis before and after each service.

'When a stable has become infected, it should be carefully and thoroughly disinfected. The cattle should be removed and the stable kept empty for two or more days. The walls, floors, and gutters should be scrubbed and the ceiling brushed clean of dust and cobwebs, and then a 3 per cent. solution of liquor cresolis compositus, lysol, carbolic acid, etc., should be applied with a force or spray pump so as to force the disinfectant into the cracks and crevices. This disinfection should be repeated after each abortion. In addition to the above measures it is necessary to clean out the barnyard, removing the manure and contaminated litter to some field not accessible to cattle, where it is plowed under. The surface of the yard should be sprinkled with a solution of copper sulphate, five ounces to a gallon of water. Milking stools and other implements should also be thoroughly disinfected."

A very recent publication of the Vermont Experiment Station, from the pen of Dr. F. A. Rich, contains some very promising results for methylene blue in the treatment of contagious abortion. He states, in part:

"That the only remedies thus far proposed which have been brought to the writer's attention (other than patent medicines of doubtful efficacy) are: "(a) Carbolic acid; internally.

"(b) Carbolic acid and other antiseptics for vaginal douche.

"(c) Cultures of bacillus abortus (living or dead).

"In the writer's search for a satisfactory remedy several chemicals possessing germicidal powers were used with varying success on the laboratory cultures of the organism, including carbolic acid, salicylic acid, boric acid, methylene blue, mercuric chlorid, thymol, lysol, iodine, iron sulphate, argyrol, ichthyol, formaldehyde, not to speak of many other similar materials. Many showed marked lethal powers; several promised success. One of these, methylene blue, stood out prominently and constantly proved more effective than its fellows (excepting mercuric chlorid which is necessarily out of the question with living animals), especially in the crucial points of rapidity and completeness of destruction of the organism under laboratory conditions. Compared with carbolic acid as a destroyer of the bacillus abortus the writer found methylene blue to be from 20 to 50 times more effective. It was then tried under stable conditions with very satisfactory results, using several cows which reacted to the agglutination test which indicated that they were harboring the abortion organism.

Its penetrability and activity have long been recognized in bacteriological laboratories. Its use as an internal antiseptic in human medicine is thoroughly established. The highest purity medicinal grade is best adapted to internal use, since it is guaranteed to be free from zinc and arsenic; and only this medicinal grade should be used. Do not confound with methyl blue which is an utterly different thing.

“After determining the specific bactericidal effect of methylene blue upon the abortion organism in the laboratory, the writer tried divers experiments with the chemical upon different cows in the Experiment farm herd, in order to ascertain the effect upon the animals and their products, and to determine the proper dose of the medicine and the best way to administer it.

"The powder was fed in the grain, and upon the silage, and saline solutions thereof were injected under the skin, into the gravid uterus and into the jugular vein. It has been fed in small doses and in mammoth doses, fed occasionally, intermittently, constantly, fed to cows that reacted to the special test and to those which did not, fed to young and to old, to sick and to well, to cows of all breeds and of no breed, to calves, bulls, steers, to human beings. No ill effects whatever have followed the use even of several times the necessary amount continued beyond the necessary length of time. Indeed, methylene blue was fed to 4 healthy cows in exorbitant amounts and for 16 consecutive days. They liked it, they increased in weight, their appetites were, if anything, sharpened, and their milk yields were entirely normal. No stress is laid on these occurrences, no claim is made that this

material is a wonder-working feed or tonic. Reference is made to them simply to emphasize the harmlessness of the remedy. When thus fed in extraordinary amounts, several times what we believe is needed to accomplish the desired end, in a few cases the milk has been slightly tinged. This color does not appear in the butter nor is the taste of the milk altered. No harm can come from the use of such milk, since methylene blue is freely given by medical practitioners as an antiseptic of the human urinary tract. Furthermore, there is no need of giving a dosage sufficient to be manifested in the milk."

It would be well for all who are interested in this question to secure a copy of this bulletin, as it is quite probable that subse quent findings will be published from time to time on the efficacy of methylene blue. Evidence of wide systemic distribution and internal antiseptic properties is set forth in the bulletin by Dr. Rich. Still it is the writer's opinion that our lack of sufficient evidence of its merit, coupled with the fact that according to our present knowledge the Bang bacillus is located in the walls of the uterus and that the blood stream is not a natural habitat for this organism any more than it is for certain other diseases such as tuberculosis; also the fact that there seems to be considerable diversity of opinion among authorities as to whether or not it is possible for any medicinal agent given by the mouth to act as a germicide in the intestinal tract or upon any mucous membrane, or that any such drugs can make the blood more germicidal than it is normally, would not warrant the abandonment of such methods as have proved fairly satisfactory and reliable in the control of the scourge, even if the older methods are more labori

ous.

The writer has had occasion to give advice where contagious. abortion has appeared in several large herds with no uncertain violence. In such cases for several years past it has been our custom to follow out practically the methods here quoted as recommended by the Department of Agriculture in their recent bulletin; and the immediate abatement in all herds and the positive cessation of abortion in others, where in some cases several animals had aborted weekly up to the beginning of the treatment, leaves no question in the writer's mind as to the merit of this method of control. We, however, prefer carbolic acid for both douching and washing the animals. It can be used with safety for douching, beginning with a one-half of one per cent. solution

(one ounce to about six quarts of water). The douche should always be a little warmer than the body temperature, as it cools while passing through the funnel and tube, or hose and pump, whichever is used. It will cause little or no straining, and after a few days can be doubled in strength, and as the parts acquire tolerance it can be used still stronger. Even in a two or a two and onc-half per cent. solution we have rarely experienced any burning of the mucous membranes, and very little uneasiness or straining, as compared with other coal tar products. Liquid Creosolis Compositus is gaining favor with some for this work owing to its high germicidal properties it can be used in a very weak solution. (2 per cent.). Further experience may prove that this or some other germicide is preferable to carbolic acid but that question is still an open one at this time, in the writer's opinion. There is no question but that the careful disinfection of the external genitals, and parts which may be reached by the tail, is nearly as important as the douching. The light sponging of the entire cow, stanchion, etc., adds but very little labor and is of much advantage. The washing of the hinder parts automatically takes care of the disinfecting of the stable and drop. Occasionally, burning of the bedding and disinfecting of the mangers (say, once a week) should also be carried out. For this work, again we prefer carbolic acid in a three per cent. solution, owing both to its efficiency and its lack of objection in fine dairies where there is danger of the odor produced by disinfectants affecting the milk.

If methylene blue will control abortion as well as this form of treatment, its simplicity of application over this method would by far offset the additional expense; but the writer would suggest that where valuable animals are concerned, and there is a desire to determine the virtue of methylene blue, with our present limited knowledge of its efficiency, it would perhaps be better to put half of the herd under each form of treatment, so that definite conclusions might be drawn from a number of animals treated by the different methods under similar environment.

References: Williams, Veterinary Obstetrics, Mohler Circular 216 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Rich, Bulletin No. 174 Vermont Exp. Station.

Anthrax is one of the oldest diseases known to medical science. It is exceedingly dangerous and fatal to animals and to Though confined to areas of small extent in America, its ravages have from time to time made frightful devastation in the old countries. In the United States it has been found in about one-half of the states. New York State has suffered several outbreaks in the past few years.

In order to successfully combat this disease we must discuss briefly its specific cause, namely the bacteria anthracis, and the ways by which this germ is spread from one animal to another. This micro-organism, which is the cause, and which exists in the blood and tissue of every animal affected with anthrax, is so small that it would take from 1,000 to 2,000 of the germs placed end to end to make the distance of a linear inch. It differs from the germs of many infectious diseases in that it is extremely hardy and resistant to the ordinary disinfectants. If these germs can be confined within the carcass of the victim they soon perish, but if exposed to the air, they form what is known as spores, and these spores are very hard to kill. It is claimed that thirty minutes in boiling water will not always destroy them, and if disinfectants are used they must be very strong. The spores may live for several years in a pasture.

Nearly all animals are susceptible to anthrax. Young animals contract the disease more readily than older ones. Cattle and sheep seldom escape if they have been exposed to sick animals or allowed to run in pastures where dead animals have been improperly buried. Horses and mules contract the disease less readily, and swine and dogs rarely, unless they have been allowed to eat portions of the dead carcass or the discharges from the same.