Eeprinted from The Journal of Comparative Medicine, February, 
March, and April, 1897. 
ABORTION IN DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 
VETEEINAKY INSPECTOR, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 
Charles F. Dawson, 
There are perhaps few veterinarians or stock-raisers who have 
not at some time encountered instances of this trouble in the domes- 
ticated animals. Authors on veterinary matters generally recog- 
nize two kinds of abortion.1 The first, and probably the least in 
importance so far as this paper is concerned, is known profession- 
ally as sporadic abortion. We believe that a large number of the 
cases coming under this head are, as it is claimed for them, due to 
accidental causes or external influences. Some of them are very 
likely due to the ingestion of certain substances which have a spe- 
cific influence upon the genital organs, acting directly upon them 
through the parturition centre. Other ingesta may, by causing 
violent purgation from irritation of the intestinal walls, have their 
influence upon the uterine muscular tissue by induced uterine hyper- 
seraia. 
la support of the views held by many practitioners that cattle, 
horses, and sheep do at times eat along with their fodder certain 
plants which have abortifacient properties, I quote from a note by 
the late Professor Joseph Leidy,2 in which he says: “ Some years 
ago a physician living in the lower part of our city submitted to 
me for determination a root-fragment which he said was used in the 
circle of his practice in a rural district as a domestic emmenagogue. 
Not recognizing the root, he afterward brought to me a portion of 
the stem and leaves of a plant which proved to belong to the com- 
mon ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), growing abundantly in 
the meadows. It has occurred to me that if this plant has the qual- 
ity attributed to it, it may, when cut among hay and fed to cattle, 
be one of the causes of abortion among cows.” 
Because it is well known that ergot, by reason of its action upon 
the vasomotor nervous system, can cause the uterus to contract 
1 In this paper, and according to the general custom the term abor- 
tion is used as indicating a premature expulsion of the fceths regardtess“»f thq, question of.its 
viability. , ! JU 1 1> i IA I I ' 
- Journal of Comparative Medicine and Surgery, vol. viii. t8$7p r- %, j r r f. - , 2 
upon its contents with sufficient force to expel them, and because 
of the frequent occurrence of this fungus in the fodder of animals, 
it has been reported as being a factor in causing a large number 
of cases of sporadic abortion. There are, however, records of 
numerous experiments where ergot has been fed in large quanti- 
ties to pregnant cattle without causing them to abort. If we 
accept that ergot has the same systemic effects in all animals we 
should conclude that either the doses given were not sufficiently 
large and frequent or that the ergot used did not contain the 
ecbolic principle. We know that ergot does exert its physio- 
logical action upon cattle, because of a notable outbreak of 
ergotism which occurred several years ago in Kansas.1 Great 
excitement prevailed among stockmen at the time, they fearing 
that they had to do with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. 
An investigation by the department revealed the fact that the hay 
upon which the animals had been feeding contained large quantities 
of ergotized rye. The characteristic effects of the drug were pres- 
ent ; the extremities became gangrenous and sloughed away. 
The literature of the subject of abortion teems with contradictory 
statements both from members of the veterinary profession and 
from laymen. The agricultural societies of Great Britain have 
appointed numerous committees to investigate the disease, with the 
result that it seems to-day that very little more is known about it 
than formerly. 
The alleged causes of sporadic abortion are very numerous, indeed, 
and it would seem that the number of conditions which might cause 
an animal to abort is limited entirely by environment and existing 
circumstances. We can very well understand that if a pregnant 
animal were jammed in a stall or doorway or were to receive a vio- 
lent blow upon the abdomen, or were subject to external violence 
of any kind, that the placental attachments could thereby be rup- 
tured. This happening the foetus would die, become a foreign 
body, and be expelled. 
Many arguments, pro and con, have been made regarding another 
cause of sporadic abortion—that of sympathy. We can conceive 
that an animal may, through the organs of special sense, receive a 
mental shock sufficiently severe to be reflected to parts of the sym- 
pathetic nervous system. While we have no data to prove that 
sympathy ever causes an animal to abort, and while we do not 
believe that the sympathetic nervous system is as highly developed 
in the lower animals as it is in man, we have the familiar old sight 
1 First Annual Report, Bureau of Animal Industry, 1884. 3 
that a cow roughly treated will not 11 give down” her milk, and 
that the presence of the calf will cause the milk to flow. 
It is an unquestioned fact that in human practice the uterus of 
the puerperal patient may be made to contract by the simple appli- 
cation of the newborn to the mother’s breast. In fact, this knowl- 
edge is made use of in some instances where the uterus seems slow 
to contract. Can we have any better evidence of the close bond 
of sympathy existing between the various parts of the nervous 
system ? If the slight stimulus exerted by the application of the 
young to the mammae, or the mere presence of the young, so affects 
the nervous organization of the mother as to cause a “flow” of 
milk, or a contraction of the uterus, why might we not conclude 
that in severe nervous shocks, such as sudden fright, being chased 
by dogs, the sight and odor of blood, etc., we have stimuli suffi- 
ciently severe to cause the uterus to contract with sufficient force to 
expel its contents ? 
We must remember that in all the domesticated animals the sense 
of smell is much more highly developed than in ourselves, and that 
because an odor does not to us seem to be of sufficient intensity to 
warrant us in believing that it could exert any great influence upon 
the sympathetic nervous system, is no reason at all for believing 
that the same argument would be true in the case of the lower 
animals. 
As before stated, we say that all cases of abortion which result 
from kicks, blows, disgusting sights, odors, etc., are due to external 
causes. Now we may have sporadic abortion occur from what we 
are pleased to term internal or systemic causes. Under this head 
we would put those cases which could occur from the ingestion of 
food containing plants which have ecbolic properties. We may 
also have as a cause of sporadic abortion certain conditions of the 
animal’s system. Any severe disease may so affect the pregnant 
animal as to cause it to abort. A severe lung-disease in which the 
respiratory area is greatly lessened, causing an imperfect oxygena- 
tion of the blood, would make itself felt at the point of greatest 
tissue-change, the uterus in this case, and would be very apt to start 
up a revolution in that organ. 
A badly ventilated stable containing many animals could, by 
virtue of the gradual accumulation of the carbon dioxide and other 
poisonous exhalations from the animal body, be the cause of abor- 
tion. This, however, we believe to be a very infrequent cause, as 
most stables have sufficient ventilation to prevent the accumulation 
of such gases in poisonous qualities. 4 
Cases of abortion could occur from a displacement of the uterus, 
and by any cause which would operate to prevent the natural 
enlargement of that organ, such as fibrous adhesions to other struc- 
tures. 
On account of the immense volume of the stomachs in the cow, 
and of the caecum and colon in the mare, it is easily understood 
how, in cases of acute indigestion, when those viscera are greatly dis- 
tended with gas from the fermentation of their food-contents, they 
can by encroaching upon the gravid uterus exert an influence upon 
that organ and cause it to expel its contents. 
Theoretically, any disease or condition which impoverishes the 
blood also impoverishes the uterine structures, and we probably 
have some cases of abortion due to this state of the blood, or anaemia. 
Therefore, Texas cattle-fever, which has been shown by Dr. Theo- 
bald Smith to be due to a parasite which lives at the expense of the 
blood, should cause a pregnant cow to abort, provided she had the 
disease in a severe form. 
Since writing the above regarding the influence of anaemia brought 
about in the blood of cattle suffering with Texas cattle-fever, I have 
received the following evidence that the theory is a correct one. 
Col. R. J. Redding says in a letter addressed to Dr. D. E. Salmon : 
te Mr. Wiug desires me to state a circumstance in regard to the out- 
break of Southern cattle-fever in Greene County that he overlooked 
in writing to you the other day, viz., of the cows that were attacked 
that were pregnant, all, excepting one, aborted, and of several that 
were nearly due to calve or a few days overdue the calf in every 
case was dead.” 
On the contrary, abortion may be caused by au opposite condi- 
tion—that of plethora, where we have an abnormal accumulation 
of food-principles in the blood, and where, from the decreased 
activity of the secreting and excreting organs, the abnormal accu- 
mulations are not removed. 
Sudden changes of temperature can cause abortion by a central 
determination of the peripheral blood. In order to understand this 
condition, better known as a “ congestive chill,” we must recog- 
nize that as soon as au animal becomes pregnant the uterus becomes 
the seat of a most extraordinary tissue-metamorphosis ; that in 
order for these great changes to take place the uterine blood-supply 
must be greatly increased. Those who have studied the uteriue 
bloodvessels of a non-pregnant animal will remember that the uter- 
ine arteries are not relatively large. In the pregnant state, how- 
ever, the reverse will be found to be true. The former small, 5 
tortuous arteries are now much enlarged, carrying very much more 
blood than they did formerly. So when from a sudden blanching 
of the skin and superficial structures the blood is driven to the 
internal organs the uterus gets a large share, and becomes con- 
gested, the delicate lining of the walls of the arteries in the pla- 
cental structures becomes injured, and the maternal connection of 
the foetus is severed. 
It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that abortion in our 
animals may be caused by an almost infinite number of conditions. 
In the case of the human family, with the possible exception of 
frequent bodily injuries, women are subject to and do abort from 
many of the same causes which are said to produce abortion in the 
lower animals. We find in all the standard works on midwifery, 
and it is a common experience of many persons, that abortion may 
be caused by numerous agencies, the most frequent being uterine 
hypersemia and inflammations, over-frequent coitus, fevers, noxious 
gases in the atmosphere, states of the nervous system produced by 
fright, anxiety, sudden losses, shock, constant suckling in those 
who become pregnant during lactation, obstipation, excessive vom- 
iting of pregnancy, alcoholism, trifacial neuralgia, albuminuria, 
abnormalities of the pelvis, inflammatory adhesions preventing the 
normal development of the gravid uterus, an atonic condition of the 
uterus, malnutrition, severe diarrhoea, tumors, etc. Knowing that 
any one of these may be operative in producing abortion, is it not 
reasonable to suppose that some of the same causes may also be 
operative in the lower animals ? 
In support of the theory held by many persons, both lay and 
professional, that strong mental impressions upon the mother are 
reflected upon the foetus in utero, I will mention two cases where 
circumstances seem to narrow the question down to a point where 
we could hardly account for the conditions present on any other 
theory. Dr. Theobald Smith1 had occasion to investigate tubercu- 
losis in a herd of cattle, and used as a diagnostic agent hypoder- 
matic injections of tuberculin. The injections were made in the 
shoulder and neck regions. In Case No. I. he found a twin-preg- 
nancy, each foetus being about sixty millimetres long. In each of 
these foetuses he found a blood-red spot situated anterior to the 
shoulder-joint and surrounded by a tributary zone of injected blood- 
vessels which extended in foetus No. 1 nearly to the occiput, down 
the sides of the neck to the median ventral line, and also down the 
lateral aspect of the forelimb to the carpus. In foetus No. 2 the 
1 The Veterinary Magazine, 1895, vol. ii. No. 2. 6 
left side was more affected than in foetus No. 1. The hemorrhagic 
area extended from near the median dorsal line ventrad to the 
shoulder-joint, a distance of about six millimetres. This vascular 
injection extended not only over the area described in foetus No, 1, 
but also nearly encircled the eye, and extended beyond the ear to 
the top of the head. 
In Case No. II. the foetus was seventy millimetres long. In 
front of the left shoulder there was a blood-red spot, suggesting a 
cutaneous hemorrhage. There was no anastomosing network of 
bloodvessels as in the foetus in Case No. I. 
In Case No. I. several injections of tuberculin were made, but no 
definite note was made of the exact points at which they were made. 
It is highly probable that both sides of the neck were injected, for 
in Case No. II. careful note was made of the side and exact loca- 
tion of the point of operation, and the post-mortem examination 
revealed the fact that the hemorrhagic area in the foetus exactly 
corresponded with the seat of the tuberculin-injection in the mother. 
Dr. Smith examined a number of foetuses of more advanced age 
and several of the same age, but did not find similar lesions; and 
while he does not wish to put forth his discovery as a hypothesis to 
explain the relationship existing between the maternal organism 
and that of the foetus in utero, it seems to me that these authenti- 
cated cases may be effectively used as an argument by those who 
believe that “birth-marks” are due to some disturbance of the 
nervous system of the mother being manifested in the foetus. 
In concluding his article, Dr. Smith says : “ It is probable that 
we must realize a definite combination of certain conditions before 
this remarkable effect may be actually seen. These are a certain 
age-limit of the foetus, a certain time-limit between the tuberculin- 
injection and the autopsy, and perhaps a certain impressionable 
condition of the mother.” 
Possibly the blow upon the head given at the time of slaughter of 
the mother may have had something to do with producing part or 
all of the extravascular condition of the skin of the foetus. Grant- 
ing this, the theory of the reflection of maternal impressions is not 
disproved, and we are met with the knowledge that this possible 
cause was of short duration, and of an entirely different character 
from the tuberculin-injections, which were repeated and operative 
for a much longer time, and in an entirely different way. 
In human medicine we cannot, of course, advance any convinc- 
ing proof of the theory, held by many persons, that strong mental 
impressions may affect the foetus in utero, and evidence themselves 7 
by causing certain abnormalities in the offspring. We find recorded 
in standard works on midwifery statements of authors who take up 
valuable space to relate the stories of the mothers of children so 
afflicted concerning the time and character of the circumstances 
which caused their children to be “ marked”. Many of these 
stories contain much strong circumstantial evidence, and would tend 
to show that there is a most intimate bond of union existing between 
the sympathetic nervous system or “ mind ” of the mother and the 
child she is developing. 
If it is true that the vasomotor nervous system of the mother may 
be sufficiently shocked by a hypodermatic injection of tuberculin, 
which in a healthy non-tuberculous animal does not even cause a 
rise in temperature, could we not reason that the results of physical 
impressions upon the pregnant uterus and its contents are probably 
limited mainly by the intensity of the impressions received; that 
many of the cases of sporadic abortion are the outcome of these 
impressions, and that the differences between the mere transient 
vascular dilatations noted in the foetus by Dr. Smith and a com- 
plete separation of the foetal and maternal structures are those of 
degree only. 
Having discussed the subject of sporadic abortion, and expressed 
my belief that the conditions mentioned are operative in causing it, 
I will now take up the other variety. Much has been written about 
infectious abortion, but we know very little regarding its etiology. 
It is hoped that this preliminary paper may be followed by others 
which will throw more light upon the subject. 
In looking over the literature of the subject one is impressed 
with the similarity of the prescribed methods of treatment. Even 
those who try to explain all cases of abortion as being due to one 
or other of the causes already mentioned in this paper invariably 
prescribe a mode of treatment which would of itself indicate that, 
even though their views as to etiology be divergent, they can all 
meet upon a common ground as regards treatment. 
Those who believe that odors, sympathy, fright, etc., are the 
factors in causing animals to abort could with perfect consistency 
adopt the cleansing methods of treatment, because by vaginal 
douches and removal of all material soiled by the discharges they 
get rid of the uterine debris which, were they not so treated, would 
decompose and give off disagreeable odors. 
Those who believe that all cases of abortion are due to infection 
could, for obvious reasons, also adopt the same sanitary measures ; 
and because each side to the controversy has had more or less sue- 8 
cess in combating the disease by the adoption of the same sanitary 
measures each holds to its respective views regarding the etiology. 
That there is a form of abortion in animals having as its cause a 
contaginm cannot be doubted. Opinions have been handed down 
by investigators favorable to the contaginm theory, and numerous 
experiments have been recorded which, while they give no direct 
evidence supporting the theory, show that there is sufficient evidence 
for their formulators to make known their views without much fear 
of successful contradiction. 
The earliest accounts of infectious abortion in the domesticated 
animals were written as far back as the third century before the 
Christian era ; from that early time down to the present the disease 
has existed in a more or less severe form, often amounting almost 
to a scourge in stock-raising countries, and has received the atten- 
tion of the ablest veterinarians of all times. 
Professor Nocard made an extended study of the subject, and his 
report to the French Department of Agriculture shows him to be 
a strong advocate of the theory of the infectious nature of the dis- 
ease. Another French veterinarian, Professor Lebat, showed his 
belief in the infection-theory by treating a flock of aborting ewes 
by means of local applications of antiseptics to the vulvse of all the 
pregnant ones.1 
In the report of the United States Department of Agriculture for 
1883 Dr. D. E. Salmon wrote as follows: “ This disease, which 
evidently depends upon some form of contagion for its causation, 
has been estimated to produce an annual loss in the State of New 
York alone of several millions of dollars. If, as seems likely from 
onr general knowledge of the contagion, the germs of this disease 
are first scattered upon the stall-floors and upon the ground where 
the cattle run, to be taken into the system by soiled food, by the 
dust which rises and floats in the air, or in some similar way, then 
a thorough and continuous disinfection of the stables and runs 
should have a very marked effect in controlling it. In one rather 
large and plainly infected herd I have put this idea into practice 
with the happiest results, the disinfectant being a 1 per cent, solu- 
tion of sulphuric acid.” 
Judging from the numerous articles upon the subject which have 
appeared in the Agricultural Journal of Cape Colony, Africa, the 
disease must be quite common in that country. In one of these 
articles2 Mr. Hutcheon, the Colonial veterinary surgeon, says in 
1 Recueil de Med. Veterinaire, Sept. 15, 1896 
2 Agricultural Journal, vol. iii. No. 13, p. 326, 9 
discussing the probability of the infectious nature of the disease : 
“ Practically, however, all cases of abortion should be treated as if 
it were a contagious disease, for while many individual cases may 
occur which do not affect others, it is an undoubted fact that abor- 
tion very often becomes infectious, and, if precautions to prevent 
its spread are not taken, serious losses are certain to follow.” 
An important paper upon the subject of infectious abortion was 
written by Dr. W. L. Williams,1 who was appointed by the depart- 
ment to investigate the disease. Dr. Williams tabulates ten cases 
in which he gives the details of certain experiments undertaken to 
prove the infectiousness of material removed from the vaginae of 
aborting mares. His experiments fail generally, however, to prove 
what he wished, he having caused only one animal to abort under 
conditions which could leave little doubt that the abortion was 
caused by the introduction of utero-vaginal discharges into the 
vulva of another pregnant mare. This mare aborted thirty-one 
days after. The period of incubation here seems to be a great draw- 
back to the theory he advocates. It is difficult to understand why 
the material he introduced into the vulva did not manifest its path- 
ogenic property in a shorter space of time. Dr, Williams states 
that the weather was unprecedentedly warm during the experimen- 
tation. This being the case, and as no mention is made of any 
extra precautions taken to prevent the multiplication of saprophytic 
bacteria in the material used, could we not reason that the hypo- 
thetical organism of abortion is one which quickly loses its virulence 
when associated with rapidly growing saprophytes in material rich 
in organic matter? In the one case where he produced abortion 
mention is made that the material was immediately transferred from 
the uterus and vagina to the vulva of the experimental mare. 
This one successful experiment in ten is, however, offset by a fail- 
ure to produce abortion by the use of some of the same material 
under the same conditions in another mare. Could not this failure 
be explained on the theory of lack of susceptibility? Could not 
his failures, generally, be explained on the same theory ? All the 
animals used, with one exception, and the author does not say 
whether this exception was the one in which abortion was induced, 
were from a herd of unbroken Texas mares free from abortion. 
The excepted mare had been in the State of Illinois, where the 
experiments were carried on, for some time previous to the intro- 
duction of the others, and had been in foal twice by a native horse. 
1 Sixth and Seventh Annual Reports of Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agri- 
culture, pp. 449-456. 10 
Might not the results have been different if the experimental ani- 
mals had been selected at random from native Illinois stock? 
Bernes1 reports an outbreak of abortion iu a herd of cows which 
he successfully combated by measures based on the assumption that 
the disease was caused by infection. By removing the affected and 
healthy animals to separate buildings and thoroughly cleansing 
and disinfecting the building in which the outbreak occurred no 
more abortions took place. All the cows were served by the same 
bull, and one of them had a vaginal discharge a few days after 
being served. Indications point to the probability in this outbreak 
of infection having been carried by the bull. The number of 
exposed animals was quite large—fifty-two in number—while the 
reported number of abortions was only nine. 
We have recorded many instances where this disease, like many 
others, raged for a while and then disappeared spontaneously. 
Would not this outbreak have conformed to this rule regardless of 
the sanitary measures adopted ? It seems plausible that others 
should have aborted, did we not know that an outbreak of abortion 
is somewhat self-limited in character. It is very probable that the 
specific agent is one which loses part of its virulence from contact 
with the blood aud utero-vaginal secretions. That the glands in 
the mucous membrane secrete a fluid which has germicidal proper- 
ties seems plausible, from the fact that others, as well as myself, 
have failed to get any growth in the ordinary bacterial culture- 
media after placing iu it material taken from the uteri of animals 
in health, to which the male had not recently had access. 
Dr. T. J. Turner,2 in his article upon infectious abortiou in 
mares, records the results of certain experiments made upon preg- 
nant mares to produce abortion. On June 6th Dr. Turner intro- 
duced into the system (method not given) of a pregnant mare near 
term a culture made from diseased foetal membranes from a case of 
abortion. The mare foaled the following night. Dr. Turner says: 
“ On June 29th the foal showed signs of joint-trouble in the right 
knee, and on July 1st the hock-joint was as large as a man’s head. 
Thus, from this experiment, almost just begun, we might say, Do 
we produce the disease iu a colt that when born was apparently in 
health, and that, too, after the inoculation had only been introduced 
a few hours ? Another mare, a dun, inoculated with a culture from 
the blood of Biddy Mac’s colt (culture used in the other experiment 
was from foetal membrane of same case, C. F. D.) ou the 20th 
1 Journal of Com. Path, and Therapeutics, 1891, vol. iv. p. 167. 
2 The Veterinary Journal, vol. xxxvii. 1893. 11 
day of June, gave birth to a dead foal. This was an abortion, as 
evidenced by the diseased placenta. Hence we see that from these 
two inoculations with cultures we have produced both the diseases 
—abortion and joint-trouble. The germs causing these two diseases 
are the same, as shown under the microscope. That these two 
maladies are one and the same disease, but differently manifested, 
there is no doubt.” 
In the absence of more details concerning the experiments made 
by Dr. Turner we cannot accept his work as conclusive evidence 
that the case of abortion which took place, apparently the result of 
the introduction into the system of a pregnant mare of a culture 
of bacteria from the blood of a dead foetus, was due to a specific 
organism. It is possible that the severe arthritis from which the 
offspring of the first experimental mare suffered may, as he claims, 
be due to the presence in the affected joints of an organism identical 
with the one he claims was the cause of abortion in the other mare. 
His statement claiming such identity, however, must be sustained 
by more evidence than a similarity in the morphology of the organ- 
isms. 
Dr. F. L. Kilborne1 investigated an outbreak of abortion in the 
mares of a large stud near Franklin, Pa. He says in his report: 
“ No history of any introduction of the infection from without 
could be obtained beyond the fact that mares were daily being 
received at the stock-farm from various parts of the State, to be 
bred to the stallions of the stud. But as far as could be ascer- 
tained no mare had been received from any stable in which abor- 
tions had previously occurred. The veterinarian in charge of the 
stables had taken the usual precaution to remove the aborting 
mares as soon as discovered and to disinfect the stall. Such mares 
were disinfected per vaginam by repeated injections of a diluted 
solution of corrosive sublimate, 1 part to 10,000 of water, and the 
external organs, tail, and hind limbs sponged over with a strong 
solution, 1 part to 1500 of water. The stable had also been repeat- 
edly fumigated with burning sulphur. Fluid extract of black-haw 
(Viburnum prunifolium) in half-ounce doses once daily had been 
given the pregnant mares during the mouth preceding February 
5th. In this outbreak the first case of abortion occurred on De- 
cember 2d, the birth being premature by 109 days. Up to the 
time of Dr. Kilborne’s first visit—February 5th—ten cases had 
occurred, ranging in prematurity from 23 to 195 days. In addi- 
1 Bulletin No. 3, Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture. 12 
tion to the sanitary measures already practised by the resident 
veterinarian, Dr. Kilborne advised a more thorough disinfection of 
the stalls with a 2 per cent, solution of sulphuric acid. The abor- 
tions ceased from January 29th to February 15th, when another 
outbreak occurred, lasting till March 4th, six mares having aborted. 
It was then decided to take additional precautionary measures to 
check the outbreak. All pregnant mares were removed to another 
building. The floors of the stalls were thoroughly cleansed and 
disinfected with a 2 per cent, solution of sulphuric acid twice a 
week. The external genitals and tail were washed daily with 
bichloride of mercury solution. Intravaginal injections of the 
mercury solution caused the animals to strain, and were discontin- 
ued. Half the mares were given once daily one-half ounce of the 
fluid extract of black-haw in addition to the sanitary measures 
taken. The remaining half of the mares received in the feed one 
heaping teaspoonful of the following powder-mixture twdce daily 
for two weeks, when it was omitted for four or five days: chlo- 
rate of potassium, phosphate of sodium, of each one pound ; and 
sulphate of quinia, three ounces. This treatment and the rigid 
sanitary measures seem to have quelled the outbreak, no more abor- 
tions occurring till in the fall, when three of the mares brought in 
from the pasture and stalled in a small barn with several others 
aborted. This new outbreak was checked by a repetition of the 
treatment and disinfection measures employed in the former out- 
breaks. 
A bacterial culture was made from the vaginal mucous membrane 
of one of the cases by Dr. Kilborne, and experiments were pro- 
jected by Dr. Theobald Smith to determine the presence in it of a 
bacterium which had pathogenic properties. The culture obtained 
proved upon examination to contain only a single species, a short 
motile bacillus. Cultures in peptone-bouillon were made from the 
original culture, and were injected into the vagina of a mare nine 
months pregnant, with the result that in twenty-four hours the 
mare had an abundant purulent vaginal discharge. The discharge 
ceased in two days. This experiment was spoiled by the mare devel- 
oping a severe case of influenza. She foaled in about a week after 
the injection, probably the result of the attack of influenza. 
Intravaginal injections in several pregnant cows did not give any 
positive results, with the exception of a temporary vaginal discharge. 
Intravenous injections of this bacillus into hogs caused only a 
temporary anorexia. Inoculations made into rabbits of this bacillus 
proved fatal in three out of four cases, the animals dying of a dis- 13 
ease simulating hog-cholera in rabbits. Dr. Smith inclines to the 
belief that on account of its pathogenic properties and its cultural 
characters that the organism obtained from the case of abortion in 
a mare is closely related to the bacillus of hog-cholera. He says,1 
in discussing its peculiarities : “Another fact of interest in connec- 
tion with this pathogenic bacillus is its close resemblance to the 
hog-cholera bacillus. . . . and if the bacillus in question had 
been sent me as having come from swine I should not have hesi- 
tated to regard it as a hog-cholera bacillus of rather feeble viru- 
lence, and possessing some slight differential characters from the 
virulent form.” 
In order to determine whether this bacillus is present in the gen- 
ital passages of healthy pregnant and non-pregnant mares, Dr. V. 
A. Moore made a series of observations upon the vaginal secretions 
of five healthy mares, one of which was pregnant. These observa- 
tions are recorded in Dr. Smith’s report. Dr. Moore isolated eleven 
species of bacteria of the following genera: two species of uon- 
motile bacilli ; four species of micrococci; and five species of strep- 
tococci. Heither of the species of bacilli had characters which 
would show they were identical with the bacillus of which Dr. 
Smith wrote. 
Recognizing the importance of having an intimate acquaintance 
with the normal bacterial flora of the genital passages as a prere- 
quisite for the future investigation of infectious abortion in animals, 
I, at the suggestion of Dr. V. A. Moore, undertook a series of 
observations to determine those forms normally present in the 
vaginae of cows.2 
My method for collecting the vaginal secretions was as follows : 
a cotton applicator, made by twisting absorbent cotton round the 
roughened end of a piece of stout copper wire, was thrust into a 
test-tube through its cotton-wool stopper. The whole was placed 
in a sterilizer kept at 140° C. for one hour. This proved an excel- 
lent means of transporting the secretions free from contamination. 
When the sample was to be taken the external genitals and under 
the surface of the tail were thoroughly washed with a 2J per cent, 
solution of carbolic acid, followed by a bath of sterilized distilled 
water and dried by means of sterilized cotton-wool. An assistant 
held the tail to one side, the labia were separated, and a speculum, 
anointed with carbolized vaseline, was introduced and held in place 
1 Bulletin No. 3, Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture, 1893, p. 58. 
2 The description of the biologic characters and the drawings of these organisms are 
reserved for a future communication. 14 
by an assistant. By opening the speculum the interior of the vagina 
and the os uteri could be plainly seen, and the applicator could 
be applied to the parts and bring away secretions it had absorbed 
during contact. Upou reaching the laboratory the applicator was 
removed from the tube, and twirled around in a flask of about 50 
c.c. of melted agar. By this means any bacteria which were re- 
moved from the vagina in the meshes of the cotton were washed 
out. The infected agar was then poured into a double dish ten 
inches in diameter and similar to the ordinary Petri pattern. By 
the use of this size dish ample room was given for the development 
of a large number of different organisms from a single inoculation. 
From the large number of species from bacteria which these obser- 
vations show are present in the bovine vagina, and the infrequency 
of the occurrence of the same species in different observations, it 
would seem that the flora of the bovine vagina is either very exten- 
sive or that the presence of such large numbers of species is acci- 
dental. 
If we admit that they gain entrance to the vagina from the ven- 
tral surfaces of the tail and from the soiled vulvar surfaces, it 
would seem that most of them came from the feces. 
Upon reflection we find that the rumen is a most admirable bac- 
terial incubator because of the fact that in this portion of the alimen- 
tary canal the very conditions exist which are necessary for the 
development of bacteria—i.e., warmth, moisture, and an alkaline 
reaction. Flourens has shown that fluids pass with facility from 
the rumen into the other three stomach divisions, and might 
we not, therefore, expect to find a very large number of species of 
bacteria by this means washed from the stomach into the intestine 
and appearing in the feces of these animals? 
It is only in the abomasum, fourth or true stomach, that we find 
conditions that are inhibitive to the multiplication of sgwwe-bac- 
teria. When a ruminant swallows water some of it passes without 
much delay into all four of the stomach-divisions. It is probable 
that many of the bacteria are thus washed into the fourth stomach, 
and that their sojourn there is of short duration, many of them 
passing through the pylorus with the chyme iuto the intestine, where 
conditions are more favorable for their multiplication. 
It would, therefore, seem that the number of species to be found 
in the bovine vagina is limited in a measure by the number of 
species swallowed with the food. 
The observations were made upon perfectly healthy cows which were not known to have been in contact with a male for some time 
previous to my operations. 
By the method given above forty-five species of bacteria of the 
following genera were studied: twenty-one species of bacilli, thir- 
teen of which were motile, two of them being spore-producers, and 
eight of which were non-motile, two of these being spore-pro- 
ducers; seven species of micrococci, seven species of diplococci, 
eight species of staphylococci, and one streptococcus. The Journal 
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