ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

which in a few days acquire the characteristic reddish-brown colour; and inoculations into the peritoneum of guinea-pigs, which are followed within forty-eight hours by inflammation of the tunica vaginal is, with characteristic caseous suppuration. The ulcers of glanders have the following characteristics: the edges are irregular, sinuous at certain points, jagged at others. They are everywhere remarkably clean cut, and undermined by ulcerous excavations. At some points the borders, thus become freed from the subjacent tissues, are retracted and rolled over, as is sometimes found in epithelioma, but they retain their mobility, and do not have the characteristic wooden induration of cancer. From the bottom of the ulcer, winding, vegetating, ulcerating tracts proceed in various directions, particularly under the edges of the ulcer. The surface of the ulceration is continually moistened by a shining discharge, from which there project hemispherical yellowish papules, which might be taken at first sight for pustules.

M. BESNIER (ibid.) describes another case of chronic glanders, the patient having died four or five years after having contracted the malady. The first symptom in this case was a chronic pulmonary affection, of which the symptoms were incessant cough, night sweats, abundant expectoration, loss of appetite, emaciation and debility. It was only after eighteen months or two years that the ordinary symptoms of glanders appeared by the develop­ment of the disease in the left fore-arm and in the nose.-Britislt Med. Journal.

TUBERCULOSIS OF FOWLS.

THE nature of tuberculosis in fowls appeared to be definitely settled when Koch discovered in the lesions bacilli analogous to those found in human tuberculosis. The view that the diseases were identical was confirmed by Ribbert, Babes, Cornil, and Megnin, and Nocard, Lemalleree and others have published ohservations tending to prove that fowls may be infected with tuberculosis by swallowing the expectorate of phthisical human beings. This opinion was soon contradicted by Straus and Wurtz, who fed 7 fowls on tuberculous sputum for from 6 to 12 months, and found when the fowls were killed that they were free from tuberculosis. Later researches by Rivolta and Maffucci brought to light some distinct differences between mammalian and avian tuberculosis, and the contention of these authors that the two diseases are distinct was accepted by Koch himself at the International Congress held in Berlin last year.

MM. Cadiot, Gilbert, and Roger have recently published an account of some experiments on this matter, and the results of their observations are summed up as follows: 1

There occurs in fowls an affection comparable to human tuberculosis, and produced by bacilli which in their behaviour towards staining reactions comport themselves like the organisms found in the human disease. There are, however, certain differences between the two diseases; the bacilli of avian tuberculosis are longer, thicker, and more granular, they develop differently on culture media, they are more resistant to high temperatures, and their power of growth is greater. Finally, their pathogenic action is far from being identical with that of the bacilli found in the human disease. While human tuberculosis frequently determines a generalised tuberculosis in the rabbit, and almost constantly in the guinea-pig, that is not the case with tuberculosis of the fowl. Contrary to what is the case with the human affection, avian tuberculosis is more infectious for the rabbit than the guinea­pig; in the latter animal the inoculation often has a negative result, or at

1 Recneil de JlIed. Vet., Jan. lS91.

ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

most gives rise to discrete granulations, localised to particular organs, and tending to a retrogressive fibroid transformation.

According to the importance to be attached to these differential characters one: may regard the human and avian bacilli as two distinct species or as two varieties of the same species, and to decide which of these views is the correct one is at the present time a matter of difficulty. The study of other microbes has shown that their form, their development in the various media of culture, their resistance, and their virulence are not at all fixed, and may be modified in many circumstances.

Meanwhile the following conclusions are warranted: Tuberculosis of fowls is transmissible to fowls; inoculation into the veins or into the peritoneum is followed by the development of a generalised and rapidly fatal tuberculosis.

The rabbit readily contracts avian tuberculosis; death follows in two or three months by generalisation of the infection.

The guinea-pig is more sensitive than the rabbit to human tuberculosis, but more resistant than the latter to tuberculosis of fowls; and after inoculation it is only exceptionally that a general infection is determined. In almost every instance the inoculated animals present no lesion at all, or only a local and curable one at the point of inoculation; or if there is produced a visceral tuberculosis, it is partial and discrete and tends to recovery.

EXPERIMENTS WITH TUBERCULIN ON CATTLE.

SINCE the publication of the last issue of this J oumal the following additional experiments with Koch's fluid have been reported.

I. At the Toulouse Veterinary College MM. Labat and Conte 1 have tried the effect of the lymph on one tuberculous cow. The animal was thirteen years old, and presented all the symptoms of tuberculosis, but tubercle bacilli could not be discovered in the nasal discharge, which was insignificant in amount. The quantity of tuberculin used for the first injection was 2

decigrammes, diluted with a gramme of a 5% (!) solution of carbolic acid. The mean temperature before the injection (taken twelve times) was 38'4° C. After the injection it immediately began to rise, and at the ninth hour it had reached 39'8°. From this point it gradually fell, and fourteen hours later it had again sunk to 38'4°. After thirty-six hours the cow received a second injection, this time of 4 dec.igrammes diluted as before. The temperature at the moment of injection was 38'4°, and it soon began to rise, reaching 40° after twelve hours; after other twelve hours it had fallen to 38'5°. The points of inoculation were painful, and presented a hot tumefaction as large as a pigeon's egg. During the fever the cow was dull and refused food. The autopsy revealed extensive tuberculous lesions in the thorax and abdomen, and the cOl\clusion drawn was, that Koch's lymph had provoked an important febrile reaction.

2. Von Bockum-Dolffs, 2 Director of the Slaughter-house in Schmalkalden, reports an experiment on one cow. The cow was nine years old, and the symptoms and· physical signs pointed to tuberculosis, principally of the abdominal organs. The dose of tuberculin used for the first injection was • 2 ccm. diluted with a I ° 1o solution of carbolic acid. The temperature at the time of injection was 38'8° C., and thereafter it was taken every two hours. It began to rise eight hours after the injection, and after twelve hours it had reached 39'8°. After other nine and-a-half hours it had fallen to 38'9°. Conclusion: "The occurrence of the fever was beyond any doubt ascribable to the tuberculin." On the following day the cow received a second

1 Revue V eMrinaire, April 18~1. 2 Thiermed. Rundschau, Apnl 1891.