Rinderpest

RINDERPEST. Fortunately this terrible scourge of cattle beyond the Atlantic has never been introduced into America. Probably it is only a question of time, until our country will be desolated with this scourge of horned cattle, for if the equally dreaded, and as contagious Pleuro-Pneumonia could be twice introduced, why not this. For this reason we give an abstract of the report to the United States government in 1879, of this disease as it is known in Europe, introducing the subject with something of its history. The rinderpest (cattle plague, pestis bovilla) appears to have been carried from central Asia to Europe as early as the fourth century, but the first exact descrip tion of this disease dates from the year 1711, two years after au extensive epizootic outbreak of the same in most European countries. It is estimated that in the course of the eighteenth century, notless than two hundred million head of cattle were carried off by the cattle plague. In the beginning of the present century, Prussia, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony, and France, were visited by the plague, which was observed to have followed the movements of armies during the wars of the first Napoleon. In 1828, 1829, and 1830, during the Russo-Turkish and the Russo-Polish wars, the rinderpest was carried from Russia into Poland, Prussia, and Austria. In 1865 the plague appeared in Holland, and was carried thence to England. In both coun tries the disease carried off one hundred thousand head bf battle in the course of a few months. In 1667, ?Germany was again visited by the plague, which, however, was prevented by timely measures from' spreading beyond the eastern provinces Of Prussia. In 1870, soon after the outbreak of the Franco-German war, the rinderpest appeared in Germany in con sequence of importations of cattle from Russia, and spread, over Germany and France, following -the movements of the armies. In the beginning -of the year 1877, the disease was again carried :into Germany by Russian cattle, and made rapid ,progress, because the imported animals, appar -entlylealthy, but already infected, were allowed Ito reach the markets of Breslau, Berlin, and Hamburg, from which cities the infection was gradually communicated to other places. In Dresden the disease spread at once through the whole market. Towards the end of August, 1871, the rinderpest was reported by our con sular officers as extinguished in the German Empire; but the danger of its reappearance in consequence of possible movements of cattle from the steppes of southern Russia to the borders of Germany, though much lessened by the stringent sanitary regulations adopted by the Russian Government, is not regarded as entirely obviated. Fleming, in his work on Veterinary Sanitary Science, says that, in recent years, several of the most competent veteri narians have endeavored to ascertain the, home of the cattle plague, but without much success. Unterberger throws much doubt upon Russia and its steppes being the source of the malady, and he asserts that it is a purely contagious disease in Russia-in-Europe, and also, perhaps, iuthe whole Russian Empire. It has been seen in southern Russia, the ,Asiatic. Steppes, in different parts' of India; in Mongolia, China (south and west), Cochin China, Burmah, Hin dostan, Persia, Thibet, and Ceylon. It is as yet unknown in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. So far as Europe is concerned the geographical limits of the disease may be given as follows: Beyond the Russian frontiers, and even in every part of that empire, the steppes excepted, the cattle plague is evidently a purely contagious malady. It is never devel oped pnmarily in Europe, either in indigenous cattle or in those originally from the steppes, and it has not yet been positively demonstrated that it may be primarily developed in the Russian Steppes; the most recent observations even tend to prove that in the European portions of these regions the affection is only present through the transmission of a contagium. Consequently, the plague is a nialady which is perhaps pri marily developed in the 'Russo-Asiatic Steppes— perhaps elsewherebut is neVer seen in Europe except by the importation of ite-contagious prin ciple. Nothing, certain or definite as to the causes which develop the cattle plague are known. In Western Ehrope it relies solely for its introduction and diffusion to the presence of a contagitini, carried either by animals sufferin-g with the disease, thcise which have been in con tact with them, or media of different kinds which are contaminated with the virus. Once • introduced, it- spreads from its point of intro duction as from a center; each newly-infetted animal becordes a focus whence the disease may radiate in every direction, and it usually attacks those animals which are nearest the foci. It spreads with more or less rapidity as the animals or vehicles charged with the contagium are moved about; even the air may, within a cer ' tain distance, be credited as an active agent in the diffusion of the deadly malady. The nature of the contagious matter (contagium), has also so far baffled all, the efforts of investigators. Neither microscopic examinations nor chemical analysis of the tissues, lilood, and mucous dis charges of the infected animals, have led to the discovery of the principle of contagion. It is known, however, that from the very. beginning of the disease a contagious matter is formed, which attaches itself to every part of the diseased animal. It is principally contained in the secre tions of the mucous membranes, but, being -volatile, attaches itself also to the urine, the dung, the blood, the skin, and the breath. It may be communicated to the atmosphere by exhalations from any part of the sick animal, or its carcase. Experience has shown that healthy .cattle may be infected by coining near the sick animals, or near anything contaminated by their excrements or exhalations, without actual con tact with them. The contagious matter has no .effect in open air at a distance of twenty to thirty paces, because the air either dilutes or modifies it so as to deprive it of its power. But in cases where a current of air comes directly from an accumulation of infected matter, and also in inclosed spaces the contagion may be -carried to greater distances. Therefore, the -disease rnay be communicated in a large stable to a healthy animal quite a long distance from the diseased one, or may be carried from one stable to another as far as a hundred feet apart. This happens only when the exhalations are carried over directly from one stable to the other, by a current of air so rapid as not to _allow time for the air to dilute or modify the -contagious matter. Where one stable is sep arated from another by a partition which is not air-tight, the contagion is veiy easily transmitted. _Beside,s these direct means of infection, the disease may be carried to healthy animals indi -rectly, in many ways. For instance, objects which have come in contact with infected matter, may be carried to a distant place and there spread the disease. Porous substances, such as woolen clothing, wool, hay, straw, etc., are particularly liable to absorb the contagious .matter, which may diffuse itself after some time in a distant place. Thus butchers, drovers, and other persons who visit infected stables, may carry the diaease from yard to yard, and from village to village. In railroad trucks, the -woodwork absorbs a considerable amount of the .contagious matter, and, if not thoroughly disin fected, may communicate the disease to animals .subsequently placed therein. The dung of diseased animals may spread the contagion to distant places by being carried away on the -wheels of vehicles or the shoes of persons. Dogs and cats may carry it in their fur and birds in their plumage. A small quantity of blood or dung on the sole of a shoe or on the tip of a walking-stick has sometimes been sufficient to carry the disease to a great distance. The modes -of possible transmission are, in fact, so numerous .and involved as to render it, in many instances, a matter of extreme difficulty to account for the -cause of an outbreak of the plague. The vitality of the contagious matter is variable, according to circumstances. Air is ita most potent and reli able destroyer. Hay and straw which have lain above the stables of sick animals have been often used as fodder with impunity after an airing of twenty-four hours. Wool, impregnated with the mucus from the nostrils of sick animals, was found to be innocuous when thoroughly aired for five or six day& Stables and pasture-grounds will be thoroughly disinfected in a few weeks by the action of the atmosphere. In the same way clothing and other porous substances become entirely disinfected by airing. The stronger the current of air the more prompt its disinfecting _action. On the contraiy, if infected porous sub stances are not exposed to. currents of air, the contagious matter is preserved for a long time. Closely-packed hay and straw, the woodwork and floors of closed stables, manure-heaps, packed-up clothing, etc., may remain infected for several montha. A case is recorded of the rinderpest breaking out anew in a stable which had stood empty for four months, but had not been disinfected after a previous outbreak. The flesh and hides of carcases which had been buried for over three months were found to be capable of infecting healthy animals. Very high temperature has the same effect in destroying the power of the contagious matter as currents of air, but summer heat is effective only in so far as it promotes the drying up of the contagious parti cles, and rendera them more volatile and more easily diluted by the air. The contagious matter is not destroyed by cold, not even by frost; on the contrary, its power is preserved, as the dry ing up of the substances containing it is thereby hindered. Dung frozen through the winter spreads the contagion upon thawing in the spring. All ruminating animals are liable to the rinderpest, but goats and sheep are less com monly and less severely affected by it than neat cattle. The disease does not affect non-ruminat ing animals, nor is it in any way dangerous to man. The rinderpest breaks out generally on the fifth or sixth day from the time of infection, sometimes as early as the fourth, and frequently as late as the eighth or even ninth day. Accord ing to some observations, the period of incuba tion may extend to two or three weeka, but the instances of so protracted an incubation are to be considered as entirely exceptional. The spread of the disease in a herd of cattle is usually slow in the beginning. Often when the contagion is introduced only a single animal is infected. This one, after the few days required for the incubation, becomes sick and commences to evolve the contagious matter, which infects one or more of the animals in the same stable or herd. Then. again, an interval of time elapses before the disease is developed in the new victims. As soon as several animals are diseased, the con tagion spreads more rapidly, and many are attacked at the same time. Want of proper caution on the part of stable-men and other attendants is often the cause of an exceedingly rapid progress of the contagion, which is carried in their clothing from one end of the stable to another. Dr. J. Burdon Sanderson, one of the commissioners appointed by the English Govern ment to investigate this disease during its last invasion of Western Europe (1865), in speaking of the phenomena of cattle plague and the gen eral character and progress of the malady during the life of the affected animal, says that it is an essential or general fever, and that it can be shown, more clearly than in any human disease of the same class, that the disturbance of the system which is understood by the term fever may exist independently of local changes occur ring in particular organs; and in this respect a fact new to pathology has been discovered, i. e., that the increase of the temperature of the body, which is the one and only symptom which all fevers have in common, exists for several days before any other derangement of health can be observed. Although constitutional or general in its origin, the disease i,s attended with local alterations of strueture, some of which are so constant and invariable that no definition of the malady can be complete which fails to recognize and include them. One or two days before any other change occurs in the condition of the infected animal there appears an increase of tem perature, which is most readily detected by means of a thermometer introduced into the rectum. The temperature is found to have risen by 2° to 4° Fahr., from the normal temperature of 102°. At the same time symptoms of fever are observed, such as shivering,muscular twitch ings, dryness of the skin, a staring eoat of hair, an unequal distribution of temperature through out the body, and changes of temperature, which are partieularly noticeable at the base of the horns. A very important and characteristic symptom at an early stage of the disease is a peculiar alteration of the mucous membranes. This alteration is very soon noticeable in the vagina of cows, which becomes spotted or striped with red. The next day small yellowish white or gray specks are clearly seen on the red spots and stripes. These specks are formed by the loosening of the cuticle, which ean be rubbed off or detached by the finger, leaving in its place a dark-red depression. The same red spots and stripes and yellowish or gray specks appear in the mouth and nose of the sick animals of either sex. The next day after the appearance of the pecu liar eruption upon the mucous membranes, there is a disinclination to eat and ruminate, and with cows a diminution and soon a total absence of milk. Two days after the manifestation of the above described symptoms, marked changes in the general appearance of the diseased animal are apparent. It lies down very frequently; when standing it draws the hind legs forward as if suf fering from colic. The look is distressed, the head drooping, the ears hanging, the breathing oppressed; the pulse becomes rapid and -Weak, the discharges from the eyes, the nose, and the mouth become thick and purulent, the breath fetid. The iris, which at the commencement of the fever is generally inflamed and cherry red, resumes its natural color with the increase of secretions from the lachrymal duet. Cows far advanced in pregnancy generally calve in this stage of the disease. On the second or third day diarrhcea sets in. The feces, at first thin and watery, then thick and slimy, are filled with detached masses from the mucous surface very fetid and more or less tinged with blood. When the diarrhoea has lasted two or three days the disease advances with rapid strides. The animal is so weak as not to be able to rise, the evacuations of excrements are invol untary, the breathing is uneven and rapid, the beatings of the heart are no longer perceptible, the pulse becomes very feeble and the tempera ture rapidly falls. Death usually occurs on the fifth day from the first visible signs of the disease. Sometimes the course of the disease is so rapid as to reach its culmination within two days. On the average seventy to seventy-five per cent. of the diseased animals die. Those that survive have not had the disease in its most malignant form. Once convalescent the animals recover very fast; but the diarrhoea continues for several days after the disappearance of all other symptoms. In summer, when the cattle are grazing, the disease is less severe than iu winter, when they get dry fodder and are kept in close stables. The symptoms and progress of the disease are the same with goats and sheep as with neat cattle, but the percentage of fatal cases is somewhat less. Many of the symptoms of rinderpest occur in the lung disease (pleura pneumonia), the malignant catarrhal fever, and the mouth-and-foot disease. The lung disease is distinguished from the rinderpest by the absence of the characteristic eruptions upo,n the mucous membranes; the malignant catarrhal fever, by the dimness of the transparent cornea, which in the rinderpest remains elear; the mouth-and-foot disease by the ulceration of the foot, the less degree of fever; and its peculiarly rapid spread. ing from one animal to entire herds. Among the lesions observed after death there are several, though no more constant than several of the prominent symptoms, that materially assist in establishing a proper diagnosis. The age and general condition, the state in which the animals were kept before they were affected, their breed, the character and intensity of the disease, all appear to have some influence on the seat and seriousness of the lesions. These vary according

to the period at which death takes place. Flem ing says that if the animal is, killed at the commencement of the malady,. and the symp toms have been comparatively mild, there will nevertheless be found, on examination after death, such alterations in the mucous membranes .as congestion and eeehymoses. The latter are more particularly observable on the free border. of the mucous folds in the fourth compartment of the stomach (true stomach) and around the pylorus, although they also exist to a less degree. in the small intestine, and often in the vagina. When, however, an animal has died from the disease, or been killed when it had attained a certain degree of intensity, the changes are more marked, the body becomes quickly inflated after death, and sometimes even before death occurs. The rectum is elevated and its lining membrane is tumefied and of a deep red color; the tail and hinder extremities are more or less paralyzed during life, and are therefore usually soiled by. the feces. The skin exhibits the characteristic eruption, and in those places where there are. neither glands nor hair, as on the teats, it is. injected in irregular patches of variable dimen sions, the epithelium is thickened, sof t or friable,. and the integument is often cracked. On: removing the skin the vessels which are cut are. generally filled with a dark colored fluid blood, and the flesh is red, blue, or violet-tinted. The. peritoneum in some eases may be slightly injected' or ecchymosed in patches. The whole of the intestines are generally greatly distended with gas, and in some eases the small intestine may be reddened. In the interior of the digestive canal are found the most marked evidences of the disease, though they are not always constant and equally intense in every portion of the mucous membrane. In the mouth, pharynx, true stom ach, small intestine, and rectum, they are most. frequently present. They are least conspicuous and often absent in the oesophagus, the three first compartments of the stomach, and in the ctecum and colon. They may be so trifling as to resemble the lesions of a slight catarrh, while in other instances they are unmistakable and path ognomonie; In the mouth and pharynx. are observed the alterations in the lining membrane and the epithelial changes. It is chiefly where there has been much friction or local irritation that they are most exaggerated, and deep ero :sions, with loss of texture of the derm of the mucous membrane, may be noted. The cesopha gus is rarely affected, though it is not always -exempt. In the rumen the quantity of food may be fouud a little larger than usual. The epithe lium on the mucous membrane lining it and the :next compartment may be more easily detached than ha a healthy state, and a microscopical ,examination of the cells prove them to have undergone a similar change to those of the mouth. The mucous membrane in these com partments is also frequently injected in a general manner, though more deeply in some places than in others. It is not rare to find on this mem brane round, oval, or irregular-shaped eschars, disposed separately or in groups, varying in 'color from a dark browu to a greenish hue. The elimination of these eschars, takes place gradu _ally from around their borders, and cicatrization ,occurs, even in cases which have a fatal termina tion. Submucous extravasation is probably the cause of these gangrenous patches. Around them the tissues are infiltrated, and more or less injected, while beneath the texture is injected or •ecchymosed, and red or green in color. The third compartment sometimes contains food, which is hard, dry, and friable; at other times it is soft and pulpy. In the first case, the epithe lium of the leaves is readily detached, and .adheres to the cakes of aliment removed from between them. This epithelium also exhibits granulo-adipose degeneration. The leaves them :selves are injected wholly or partially, and ecchy moses and eschars may be present in them ; they are .also easily torn. In the fourth compartment and small intestines the contents are at first normal; but they soon change, and there is found a small quantity of thick, yellow, brown, or even blood -colored fluid. The mucous membrane is covered by a viscid, grayish-yellow, or reddish mucus. The mecum and colon at this period contain a -frothy mass of a brownish, sometimes sanguino lent fluid. The rectum has a thick viscid mucus adhering to its inner surface. If the disease pursues its course, the daris detached from the intestine is mixed with exudations and extravasa :Lions to form a viscid, albuminoid, whitish .yellow, brown, or red fluid, in which are shreds and the detritus from the membrane. When an animal has been killed in the early stages of the slisease, and the mucus has been carefully removed from the mucous membrane of the .stomach, it is found that the surface of the lat ter is irregular, and that its tissue is infiltrated .and injected to a degree corresponding with the seriousness of the attack and the stage the malady has reached. The abnormal color, vary ing from a brick-red to a reddish brown, is gen •erally diffuse, but is most marked at the pyloric portion, attaining its maximum of intensity towards the free borders of the folds. Sub mucous extravasation are also frequently met with in this part, differing in size from a fine -point to a large patch. In the small and large intestines there also exist, at this period, analo gous alterations; but, while the redness of the -abomasum is usually diffuse, in the small intes tine it generally appears in the form of transverse strim, which are crossed by lighter colored longi tudinal streaks, this intercrossing forming a somewhat regular pattern. These extravasations .are common in the small intestine, but the infil trations and exudations are not so frequent in the abomasurn. In the duodenum the altera tions are usually more intense than in the remain der of the intestine, and it is not rare to find in it a very marked diffused redness and much san guine effusion. The congestion is often greatest around the solitary glands and Peyer's patches, whose volume is more or less increased. Fre quently the areolated aspect of these patches is most conspicuous at the termination of the first period. The same lesions are found, but in a less degree, in the large intestines. In these the most salient portions, such as the borden of the valvulte, are the parts which are the most deeply colored and most extensively ecchymosed. The infiltration is greatest if diarrhma has not been present. In cases where the disease has made considerable progress, the lesions are still more characteristic. The mucous membrane of the abomasum and intestine is deeper colored, often blue or black, and in the duodenum of animals which have succumbed, it may even be uniformly black, while the petecchice and ecchymoses are more numerous. In the abomasum, but oftenest in the intestine, toward the fifth day of the disease, there appears a pigmentation, varying from a bright gray to a slate color, or even darker, and which takes the place of the abnormal color due to the blood. This appearance is first noticed in the rectum, and in the intestines gen erally its tints seem to be related to the intensity of the blood coloration, of which these parts have been the seat. It is therefore in the duode-• num, and especially near the pylorus, that it is deepest-tinted and most extensive. In the duode num it is diffuse, but in the remainder of the small intestine it is limited, as a rule, to a double series of perpendicular zones more or less incom plete, and in the rectum is usually in the form of longitudinal lines. This coloring matter is deposited in the most superficial layer of the mucous membrane, and is constituted by minute irregular granules, which, according as they are disposed separately or in clusters, give rise to the different shades. Around the orifices of Brunner's glands, and in the texture of the villi, this deposit appears to be most localized. The epithelium of the fourth compartment of the stomach rapidly undergoes changes analogous to those observed in the mouth. Their intensity depends upon the part examined, as well as the gravity of the attack and its stage. In the first and last portions of the small intestine, in the mecum, in the first section of the large colon, and in the rectum, they are generally more developed than elsewhere. In mild cases the epithelium, though not yet detached, is always less adherent to the derm than in health. In more serious cases this layer is found completely detached over a considerable surface, and espec ially in the small intestine. The excoriations thus produced vary both as to extent and num ber, and are generally covered by a gray, red, or dark colored viscid mucus. The matter is tena cious, and adheres firmly in flakes to the mem brane. The extent of these flakes is generally from a quarter to two inches in length. The color is gray, yellow, red, brown, or black; their free surface is smooth, and more or less convex; their variable consistency is less at the border than the center ; the membrane beneath them is injected and spotted with small extravasations, and their margin, in consequence of the retrac tion of the flake, is separated for a short space from the border of the erosion. The mortifica tion which may invade the intestinal wall does not usually go beyond the mucous membrane. In rare and very severe cases it extends to the submucous connective tissue, or even to the mus cular layer. The liquefaction of the mortified patches causes a loss of substance in the mem brane, and these places are designated excoria tions or erosions, according as the derm remains intact or not. Their number is as variable as are the patches. The viscid masses covering the surface of the intestine, as well as the flakes, are produced by the utricular glands of the gastric and intestinal mucous membrane, which are greatly altered and tumefied. Peyer's glands undergo alterations of a particular character. They lose their epithelial covering, and, in the Majority of epizootics, undergo changes analo gous to those of the solitary glands; though in other epizootics they are rarely affected, and when they are the lesions are not always equally marked. Sometimes they are merely covered with a mucus layer, like the other parts of the intestine, and are injected; at other times they are more salient than' usual from tumefaction; and they then may contain contents like that of the solitary glands; again, they may he covered by a croupal exudation or false membrane, sev eral lines in thickness, and gray, yellow, red, or blue in color, adhering hy its central part to the naucous membrane. The presence of these patches is not a constant feature in the pathological ana tomy of the disease; in certain epizootics it is almost always present, while in others it is excep tional. Among the eonditions which appear to have an intluence in its production only one is known, and that is the condition of the animal before infection; if it has been well nourished these deposits are most likely to be present. The prominent alterations in the glands of the mucous membrane appear to consist in an exag gerated proliferation of their cell elements, accompanied by a prompt granulo-adipose destruction of the newly formed cells. The liver is seldom much altered, but the gall-blad der is very often distended with bile, and its mucous membrane is in somewhat the same condition as that of the intestines. The mucous membrane of the air-passages is greatly altered. That lining the larynx, the trachea, and also the bronchia is injected and marked by extravasa tions which, particularly in the trachea, appear in the form of longitudinal strige. The lungs are frequently ernphysematous (interlobular) to a degree corresponding to the intensity of the malady. This condition is chiefly noticed about the borders of the lungs and the mediastinum, and, passing along the large blood-vesselstoward the lumbar region, it may reach the loins. The lungs are also occasionally cedematous. The pleura, like the peritoneum, is occasionally con gested in places, and even ecchymosed. The heart is usually flabby, dark or clay colored, and friable, and at times there are subendocardial extravasation towards its base; the blood is darker colored than in health, and coagulates imperfectly; or not at all. The kidneys may be tumefied, congested, and' more friable than usual. The bladder is rarely empty, but gen erally contains a quantity of urine, which may be pale, dark colored, or niuddy, and have sus pended in it.shreds of epithelium. Its mucous ruernbrane may also be congested and ecchymosed and covered with viscid mucus. The vulvo vaginal mucous membrane presents a very marked redness, which generally extends to the cervix of the uterus. As in the mouth, there are little elevations of altered epithelium on this. membrane, with erosions covered by viscid mat ter. The udder, frequently congested, some times contains a stnall quantity of thick milk. According to Reynal, the latest observations on the pathological anatomy of cattle plague are those of Damaschino, who has made a complete study of the histological alterations occurring in .the disease. This investigator states that the ulceration of the mucous membrane is due to a_ unique process, which presents a great resem blance to that of pharyngeal diphtheria of man. At the cointnencement the lesion consists in an exaggerated production of epithelial cells, which. are infiltrated with an amorphous substance,. become deformed,, throw out multiple prolonga tions, and acquire an abnormal adhesion, which finally gives them a pseudo-membranous aspect. But beneath these false membranes the young epithelial cells do not submit to the same altera tions. Instead of the prolongations adhering to. each other, and becoming matted together, they are the seat of a purulent transformation, whence results less adhesiveness, and soon the casting off of the pseudo membrane. Af this. moment ulceration commences, and as these tis sues are softened it happens that there is found_ implanted on this surface fragments of hairs,. which are recognized by the microscope. The loss of substance is not always superficial. On. the tongue, sometimes, the lesion ceases at a portion only of the thickness of the papilke, but in other cases it extends throughout their tex ture. In the stomach it is often deeper, com prising a portion of the substance of the glan dula, and even the entire thickness of the mucous membrane to such a degree that, without the presence of a thick layer of adipose tissue at these points, the stomach would frequently be found perforated. On the surface of these ulcerations the adipose tissue exhibits all the characters of inflammation proper (nuclear pro liferation in the conjunctival parietes). In two, cases there was found a lesion of the venal and_ hepatic parenchyma, consisting in a granular degeneration of the glandular elements. In the liver, the lesion, as is usual, showed a predilec, tion for the periphery of the lobules in the vicin ity of the vena portae; there the cells were found in a very advanced stage of granular degenera tion. The epithelium of the kidneys, more. especially, showed the peculiar tumefied troubled. appearance already indicated, though the gran ular coudition was less marked. The muscular alterations consisted in the presence of numerous elongated bodies, very abundant in the right side of the heart, and incontestably situated M. the substance of the muscular fiber. These bodies are blunt at one end, pointed at the other, and are composed of a regular mass of cylindri cal cells lying together in such a manner that at. the pointed extremity there is only a single cell, at the obtuse end two cells, and in the other part sometimes two, sometimes three cells, clustered_ on a given segment. It is surmised that these minute bodies are entozoa in their primary stage: of development. There being no remedy known for this disease, human intervention in dealing with it has thus far been necessarily restricted.

to measures for its prevention and extinction. Most European governments have passed laws and prescribed regulations for the purpose of protecting their respective countries from the invasions of the plague, and for its speedy extir pation on the occurrence of an outbreak. Of all these enactments the regulations now in force in the German Empire are considered as the most complete embodiment of the results of experience and scientific investigation in regard to this subject.