TREATMENT OF PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN GERMANY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1204, 29 March 1895, Page 6

TREATMENT OF PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN GERMANY.

We have received from the office of the chief inspector of stock, Brisbane, a translation of a pamphlet on " Pleuropneumonia and its Prevention by Inoculation," by Professor Dr Schutz, of Berlin, veterinary assessor, Steffen, Magdeburg. The process of inoculation as a cure and preventive of pleuropneumonia has been for years familiar to Australian cattleowners, but appears to have only lately been brought into use in Germany. The pamphlet referred to gives the results of four experiments in inoculation. The first took place on October 9th. The lymph was taken from the lung of a diseased beast much in the same way as is practised in Australia. The inoculation was done in the following manner : 11 At the tuft of the tail the hair was cut off and cleanly shaved, about lOctm. long. The shaven part was washed with soap and water, and a solution of sublimate (1-1Q00). This cleansing and disinfecting of the place to be used for the inoculation was repeated twice before, and again the day just before the inoculation. This was done to destroy any germs of an ulceric matter which might possibly be in existence, ' and is often to be found. It was impossible to say what the results would be, as the antiseptic to be used on bullock tails had never been used before. "All instruments used for the inoculation, sueh % as knives, scissors, pincetts, I and syringes, were sterilised for half an \ hour in a chest up to 160 deg centigrade." : When the fluid lymph was used a diagonal cut was made in the skin, and the lymph injected by using the

syringe. When the pieces of lung were Used a small cut was made in the skin and a pocket formed by using the end of a pair of scissors. Into this pocket the piece Of lung was placed, i and the cuts were closed with wadding Bteeped in sublimate collodion, and over the wadding a piece of stickingplaster was used. Finally the tails were kept steady by means of a rope fastened round the chest for a few hours. The inoculated animals were four days after put with cattle suffering from pleuro-pneumonia and kept in

close contact with them for 13 days. They were then slaughtered, when the post-mortem examination showed that none of them had contracted the disease. Four animals went through i the same treatment except inoculation, and three of them showed that they were affected by the disease. Three other experiments were made, the results showing that the inoculated

animals were proof against contagion or injection of the virus into the dewlap. A trial of lymph mixed with an equal quantity of pure glycerine and kept for 15 days gave perfect immunity. The writer says :—" After the results of our trials we come to the conclusion that inoculation is a valuable remedy against the disease,

provided that it it carefully carried out, but we wish to state distinctly that it is in no way the only one to obtain destruction of pleuro-pneumohia. It tends to establish immunity against infection, and herein alone lies its 1 value/'