ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

coagulated on heating, and it showed a large number of micrococci, especially streptococci, which could not be di3tinguished from the streptococcus pyogenes longus. This discovery suggested that the milk had become contaminated with pus from a cow as a result of an attack of mastitis. The examination made by a veterinary surgeon confirmed this opinion, for among the cows of the dairy in question he found one suffering from diarrhcea and parenchy­matous inflammation of the udder. The cow had been affected for a fortnight previously, but during that time its milk had not been mixed with that of the other cows; on the morning in question it had been so mixed owing to a mi~take on the part of a new attendant.

In the second series of cases five persons were attacked with acute gastro­intestinal catarrh two hours after they had consumed raw milk from the same source. Subsequently it was ascertained that a number of other persons had been similarly attacked. In this case also a veterinary examination of the cows showed that one of them was affected with parenchymatous inflammation of the udder. The milk of this cow was quite normal in appearance, but it contained numerous pus cells in which streptococci were included.

In the third series of cases a mother and her child were attacked after drinking raw milk, which, as a subsequent examination showed, contained numerous diplococci and streptococci; the milk was flocculent, thin, and contained pus-like particles. In the dairy from which the milk had been obtained it was found that two cows were affected with parenchymatous inflammation of the udder.

In the fourth series of cases four children in Olle family were seized after drinking fre~h milk, which to the naked eye appeared quite normal. Subsequent enquiry brought to light the fact that on this same morning a cow suffering from inflammation of the udder had been sold out of the dairy from which the milk had been obtained.-Zeitschriff fiir Fleiscll und Milch Hj-gielle.

THE MAXIMUM MUSCULAR EFFORT OF THE HORSE.

THE subject of horse traction has given rise to many experiments, principally to determine the most favouraLie load to be drawn under various conditions of road and pace. Such experiments were of the greatest interest and value, especially in the days of mail coaches, when it became an important matter to determine the heaviest weight a horse could draw at a given pace Without shortening its useful life.

The observations which Veterinary-Captain Smith has undertaken are some­what different; no attempt has been made to ascertain the most generally useful force a horse should exercise in draught, but the enquiry has been directed towards ascertaining the maximum amount of force a horse is capable of exerting at a given moment-in other words, to determine the limit of his power.

A horse attached to a dynamometer throws himself into the collar, and bounds forwards when he finds he is unable to mo\·e ; Captain Smith did away with this difficulty by not securing the dynamometer to a post or tree, but attaching to it a long rope on which were placed a certain number of men. These men were trained to move forward with the horse in the first instance, and then gradually to put their united weight into the rope, and so resist the animal's progress in a perfectly even manner.

As the horse experienced the resistance he exerted more strength, and either pulled the whole of the men along readily (in which case more were placed on the rope), or was only just able to move the resistance. This latter was taken as the limit of his power, and the steady pull registered at this moment by the dynamometer was recorded.

ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

All the experiments were conducted on a level surface covered by a thick layer of tan; this afforded a good foothold to the horse and prevented any accident in case he fell.

The muscular force a horse can exert in draught is governed by the weight of its body; other things being equal, a heavy horse will pull more than a light one. In these experiments an attempt was made to determine the proportion which the body weight bears to the limit of power, and for this purpose all the horses were weighed.

The total number of observations made was eighty-three, and the number of horses employed was eighty. The observations may be grouped under four heads, the grouping being determined by the spIrit in which the horse did its work. For example, a horse is classified" excellent" which met the gradu­ally increasing resistance by a gradual increase in force, e\ entually strainmg his utmost, sometimes lowering the body until the knees almost touched the ground in order that more weight might be placed in the collar, whilst one which met the resistance by relaxing instead of increasing its efforts, and was only made to pull by dint of stimulation, is clas5ified as "bad"; between these extremes come "good" and" fair"

In the group" excellent' there are thirty-seven obsenations; the average weight of the horses was 1526 Ibs., and the average weight pulled was 9861b5. One may therefore 5,11' that a horse exerting itself to the greatest P0551hle extent cannot exercise a dead pull of more that 78'5 per cent. of its body weight.

In the group "good" there are fifteen observations; the average weight of the horses was I 2 I 3 Ibs., and the average weight pulled was 942 Ibs, or 77'6 per cent. of the body weight.

A group of" fair" pullers, ten in number, gave an average body weight of I 20I Ibs., and an average pull of 848 lbs., or 70'6 per cent. of the body weight.

In the group" bad ,. some horses are included which were classified as "in­different"; the total number forming the group is nineteen, with an average weight of I 225 Ibs., and an average pull of 804 Ibs., or 65'6 per cent. of their body weight.

This enquiry only tells us the greatest effort a horse may exert at a given moment; it does not deal with his useful effective force in draught. This latter is liable to considerable variation, the state of the road and nature of the vehicle being the most important factors.

As a means of comparison with the above results Captain Smith quotes BruneI, who considered a force of traction of 100 Ibs. to IS0 Ibs. to be the most suitable for slow work of eight hours per diem; one may take the average of this at 8 per cent. of the body weight. During fast draught work the effort is considerably reduced; 40 Ibs. per horse was the force of traction employed in the fast mail coaches of years ago, or four per cent. of the body weight, taking the latter at 1000 Ibs. Under these conditions a day's work was performed in about fifty minutes, the stage being eight miles.-Jolfnzal of PII)'SIOlogy, NO.3, 1896.

EPIDEMICS OF TRICHINOSIS.

IN Kelbra-Altendorf, in July I895, about 240 persons were attacked with trichinosis. The symptoms exhibited by the patients differed to some extent from those commonly observed; in most cases the patient experienced nausea, but yet did not vomit; fever of considerable height soon set in, and to this there were addecl dull headache and dragging pains in the leg£, as we]] as in the neck, forehead, and orbital regions. These symptoms were speedily followed

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