100 ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

Laboratory, it was suspected that the fowls were being poisoned, but micro­scopic examination of the blood, which is a routine llractice in such cases, left no room for doubt that the cause of death was fowl cholera. In each case the blood was found to be swarming with minute organisms having the size and shape of the bacteria of that disease, and artificial media inoculated with a trace of blood yielded cultures with the characters that belong to the germ of fowl cholera. Furthermore, experiments showed that these artificial cultures were capable of killing fowls within forty-eight hours after inoculation, the blood of such fowls swarming with the bacteria, just as in natural cases of the disease.

The discovery by M. Pasteur, to which allusion has been made above, was that artificial cultures of the fowl cholera bacterium may be successfully employed to vaccinate fowls against the natural disease. Inoculation with cultures that have only been grown for a few days has just the same effect as inoculation with a drop of blood from a bird dead of fowl cholera-that is to say, it sets up a fatal attack of the disease. On the other hand, if the in­cubation of the artificial culture is continued, with free exposure to the air, the bacteria gradually lose their virulence, and become "attenuated," and such attenuated cultures may be employed to confer on fowls a valuable degree of immunity against the disease. Although the feasibility of this method is well established, it has never been put into practice on a large scale. In the first place, the expense of the vaccin and of the opetation is a barrier to the method in dealing with animals of such small value as fowls; and in the second place, before the disease has been correctly diagnosed it has often made such headway that the majority of the fowls on the premises are either dead or infected.

Although the origin of the first case of fowl cholera cannot always be deter­mined, there are outbreaks in which the mischief can be clearly traced to some newly purchased fowl, which suggests that, just as in the case of the larger animals of the farm, it is well to place newly bought poultry under quarantine for a few days.

The chief symptoms of fowl cholera are great dulness, loss of appetite, separation from the rest of the poultry, livid discoloration of the comb, droop· ing of the wings, ruffling of the feathers, and diarrhcea. When such symptoms are exhibited by a number of fowls, or when a number of fowls die suddenly, even if these symptoms have not been noticed, it is well to suspect fowl cholera. As soon as the disease has been diagnosed, every ailing fowl ought to be destroyed, and the survivors ought, if possible, to be removed to fresh premises while the old ones are thoroughly cleansed and disinfected. If the weather permits, the best plan is to keep the fowls in the open, and to feed them on a fresh plot of ground every day. In short, the measures to be taken are those that are dictated by a knowledge of the fact that the disease is spread by food or water soiled with the excrement of the affected birds.

BRITISH CONGRESS ON TUBERCULOSIS.

This Congress will be held in London, from Monday, 22nd July, to Friday, 26th July.

Every British Colony and Dependency is invited to participate by sending delegates; while the governments of countries in Europe, Asia, and America are invited to send representative men of science, and others, who will be the distinguished guests of the Congress.

The object of the Congress is to exchange the information and experience gained throughout the world as to methods available for stamping out the

ABSTRACTS AND REPORT3. lor

disease. Papers will be read, and clinical and pathological demonstrations will be given; while the museum, which is to be a special feature of the Congress, will contain pathological and bacteriological collections, charts, models, and other exhibits.

Authorities in this and other countries will be invited to supply documents bearing upon the historical, geographical, and statistical aspects of the su bject; while as a result of the papers and discussions, practical resolutions will be formulated which will serve to indicate the public and private measures best adapted for the suppression of tuberculosis.

The work will be divided into four sections as follows: Sectioll I.-State and Municipal. Sectioll ZI.-Medical, including Climatology and Sanatoria. SectlOll ZZI.-Pathological, including Bacteriology. Section Zv.-Veterinary (Tuberculosis in Animals). The officers of the last of these sections are: President.-Sir George Brown,

C.B., Bryn Hyfryd, Harrow. Secretaries.-Prof, Hobday, F.R.C.V.S., 27 Lower Phillimore Place, Kensington, W.; Prof. Bradley, M.R.C.V.S., Royal (Dick's) Veterinary College, Edinburgh; Prof. H. Woodruff, M.R.C.V.S., Royal Veterinary College, Camden Town, N. W.

The Congress will consist of Honorary Members, Delegates, and Members. Honorary Members will be persons nominated by any foreign Government or University, or by the Executive Committee, and shall not pay any subscription whatsoever. Delegated and Ordinary Members will be other persons, British, Colonial, or Foreign, who may wish to attend, including representatives from Governments or institutions within the British Empire. Delegated and Ordinary Members will receive their cards on forwarding the sum of £1 to the Secretary-General of the Congress, 20 Hanover Square, W. The holder of a ticket of membership is entitled to admission to. all the meetings of the Congress, and to receive the" Transactions" and other publications. Tickets to social gatherings and excursions will be allotted in order of application, or by ballot if necessary.

As the expenses of the Congress will be very considerable, Donations to the Reception Fund are earnestly invited. Donations of more than one guinea will be considered as including Member's subscription, and will entitle the donor to all privileges of Membership. Donations from Corporate Bodies may include the subscriptions of representatives.

PRINTBD B\' W. AND A. K. JOHNf:iTON 1 LIMITED, EDINBURGH AND LONDON.