ABSTRACTS
343
In the fourth experiment the author claims to have obtained support for his concep-
tion that long drawn out and severe reactions in the field may be due to a superimposed
natural infection contracted soon after vaccination. Eight buffaloes were vaccinated
with different doses of the dried goat spleen vaccine. Three days later they were injected
with a lethal dose of virulent cattle virus. The temperature of these animals persisted
up to the 18th day (compared to 10 to 12 days in the simple vaccinated animals) and they
lost also very much more in condition.
These experiments seem to demonstrate that the vaccine may be safely used for
Burmese buffaloes in good condition, provided they are well cared for and given at least
30 days'rest after inoculation. Some loss in condition may be expected. The quanti-
ty of vaccine given does not appear to affect the reaction, but it is possible that a very
severe and long drawn out reaction may be due to infection soon after inoculation. Surra
may be a complicating factor in the inoculation of buffaloes. [V. R. R.]
(a) An effective treatment for the control of the sheep head grub, Oestrus ovis,
in areas where the winters are cold. N. G. COBBETT (1940). J.
Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 97, 565
(b) A method of large-scale treatment of sheep for the destruction of head
grubs (Oestrus ovis). N. G. COBBETT (1940). J. Amer. Vet.
Med. Assoc. 97, 571
(a)THE infestation of sheep with the larvæ of Oestrus ovis, though not responsible for
considerable death rate amongst these animals, undoubtedly tells heavily on their
general health. In areas where the winters are too cold for the sheep bot flies to survive, the
first-stage larvæ winter over in the nasal passages of sheep. These minute grubs remain in
a quiescent state of development on the nasal mucous membranes throughout the winter
months and migrate to the frontal sinuses for further development in early spring. The
author reports that application of one fluid ounce of a 3 per cent solution of saponified
cresol (lysol) in the nasal passages of infected sheep during the winter months, kills these
larvæ. Recovery was obtained in 90 per cent of the cases with one; such course of treat-
ment and in 98 per cent when the treatment was repeated after an interval of 5 days.
This treatment causes temporary irritation of the mucous membrane, giving rise to spas-
modic coughing and sneezing and a flow of mucus from the nostrils. No injury resulted
when the treatment was administered quickly and the treated animals released promptly.
The method of applying the treatment is to force the fluid into the nasal passages by 35
to 45 pounds of air pressure. The head of the animal being held on the dorsal surface
with the muzzle slightly elevated.
(b) Approximately 90,000 New Mexico range sheep in 45 flocks were treated for head
grub infestation during 1936-39 by the method described in the procceding article and the
method proved practicable and satisfactory to the sheep owners. The treatment was
applied principally during the months of November and December. To facilitate the
treatment of large numbers of sheep, the author devised a restraint table consisting of a
tilting V-shaped restraint trough and its supporting stand ; and an air pressure treating
apparatus consisting of a solution tank, auxiliary tank, lead-off and a nozzle for injecting
the solution into the nostrils of sheep. With sufficient help available to insure the con-
tinuous operation of two restraint tables it was possible to treat as many as 700 sheep in
one hour. The animal is restrained and handled in the manner in the preceeding article
and the point of nozzle is inserted one to two inches first into one nostril and then the other
in a downward and outward direction so that the stream of solution is directed towards
the interior surface of the lateral wall of each nasal passage. [B. C. B.]
Production of heat and ovulation in the anestrous ewe. BELL, CASIDA
BOHSTEDT AND DABLOW (1941). J. Agri. Res. 62, 10, 619
T HE article reports attempts to produce oestrus and ovulation in the ewe during sea-
sons when it is usually anestrous, during the spring and early summer months.
Injections of endocrine substances were used. A study of the vaginal smears of the
experimental ewes is also included as oestrus may sometimes occur without ovulation.