form to a columnar form during the different stages of rest and activity. The mammary glands are abundantly supplied with blood. The arterial supply leaves the heart through the posterior aorta and passes backward. This artery divides into two large branches known as the common iliacs. The common iliacs are short and divide into the external and internal iliacs. The blood for the mammary gland passes through the former as far down as the pubis, at which point a branch is given off, known as the prepubic (deep epigastric of man). The prepubic artery divides into two branches, the posterior abdominal and the external pudic and the latter into two parts, one going to the subcutaneous abdominal muscles and the other to the mammary gland in the female. For the blood to reach the udder it must pass through the posterior artery to the common iliac, the external iliac, the The mammary prepubic, external pudic, and the mammary. artery has four principal branches, two going to the posterior gland, one branch between the glands, with nearly all its subdivisions entering the anterior gland. There is also a small branch for each rudimentary gland. The large branches subdivide within. the gland tissue. The veinous circulation is more complex than the arterial. The blood is collected from the gland by from 14 to 17 large vessels, which empty into the mammary vein, which runs parallel with the artery at the base of the gland. The mammary vein on each side is divided into two parts, and these anastomose in front and behind the glands. A third large branch collects the blood from the teats, and the more dependent parts of the glands, extends forward and unite with the external branch above. The mammary vein enters the external pudic vein posteriorally, and the blood is conducted through the prepubic, the external iliac, the common lilac, and the vena cava to the heart. The mammary vein also passes forward and becomes a part of the subcutaneous abdominal, and this becomes the internal thoracic, and returns to the heart by the way of the anterior vena cava. The mammary veins from the glands on opposite sides anastomose both in front and behind,as shown in plate VII, so that there exists a complete circuit of veins around the whole group of glands, and a complete circuit of veins leading to the heart both forward and upward. The only thing that determines the direction of the blood is the position of the valves in the vessels. The larger volume of blood passes forward through the subcutaneous veins, thus bringing them into great prominence, and giving rise to the popular name of milk veins. These abdominal veins enter the thoracic cavity just behind the sternum on each side of the cartilage, the point of entrance into the body being known as the "milk well." See plate VIII. As the blood may pass to the heart through the posterior vessels as well as the anterior, it would seem that undue prominence is attached to these veins in judging the milking qualities of cows. If a large volume of blood should return by way of the posterior vessels, the abdominal veins will appear less prominent. One of the factors tending to increase the size of these veins is pressure upon the iliacs as a gravid uterus. The course of the circulation in the udder will be better understood by reference to plate VIII, as well as plate IX, showing the course of circulation between heart and udder. The lymphatic circulation is also well developed. A very large lymphatic gland occupies the space above and behind the glands. The nerve supply arises from a branch given off at the last dorsal vertebrae. The nerve center controlling secretion has not been located, but it is supposed to be in the spinal cord. It is possible that the will can exercise some influence, but the evidence is not sufficiently clear to warrant drawing a positive conclusion. PSEUDO SCABIES. By A. W. Bitting, D. V. M. Early in February of the present year reports were received from Wabash county, that sheep had been brought into that locality affected with scabies, and furthermore, that the skin was affected with black worms. A number of sheep died and neighbors feared the presence of a new disease and the spread of infection. The correspondents were referred to the Live Stock Sanitary Commission, as being the proper authorities to deal with the question. On February 14, the Commission visited the place and placed a quarantine upon the flock. Later, the owner, not being satisfied with the condition of things, sent part of the carcasses of sheep that died to the Station for examination. No scabies were found and the "black worms" in the pelt proved to be the awns of Stipa spartea, a grass which grows in the southwestern States, from which place these sheep had been imported. The awn or beard of this grass is very long and has great powers of penetration. The awn when started in the ground forces itself downward by the straightening due to the absorption of moisture. The beards had gotten into the skin of the sheep while grazing, and had worked along in the loose tissue beneath. The pieces ranged from one fourth to two and one half inches in length, and in some cases the whole seed pod had been carried with them. In only a few cases had abscesses occurred. In many places the local irritation was such as to cause the dropping of the wool in patches, thus giving a very ragged appearance to the fleece. The cause of death, however, was due to lung and intestinal parasites. THE EFFECTS OF EATING MOULDY CORN. By A. W. Bitting, D. V. M. During the fall and winter of the past year the State suffered the loss of a large number of cattle, supposedly due to the eating of mouldy corn. The fall of 1898 was exceptionally wet, and large quantities of corn spoiled and were fed in that condition. The popular belief is that the mould or other organism producing the fermentation in the corn also causes disease in the stock. The direct experiments to prove this point have usually given negative results. In cooperation with the Botanical Department of the Station an attempt was made to separate these organisms and to determine the specific effect of each. Samples of mouldy corn were obtained from various sources, and it was found that three organ:isms, one bacterium and two moulds, were constant in the spoiled corn, and that the other bacteria and moulds were not constant. Two horses were obtained, and after a preliminary feeding period, 5 c.c of an active growth of bacteria in boullion solution were inoculated subcutaneously and 36 hours later 10 c.c. more were injected. The effect upon the animal was not appreciable; not even so much as an abscess occurred. After a period of five days a similar test was made with one of the moulds, and after like interval the other mould was tried. Neither of the moulds caused any trouble. The next step was to sterilize large quantities of corn meal, make a mash and inoculate with pure cultures of these same germs. By giving as a mash, by mixing with dry meal and by starvation on other foods, it was possible to get each animal to eat about five pounds per day for five days during each of the three periods. The effect of the meal inocculated with the bacteria and one of the moulds was negative. The effect of the culture containing one of the moulds—a fusarium-produced redness of the gums and some salivation. The next attempt was to feed all the spoiled corn the horses would eat. They ate the corn very well for three days, and after that it was with difficulty that they could be induced to eat any. On the fifth day, one of the horses had slight salivation, occasional colicy pains, and diarrhea. On the seventh day there was some incoordination of movement and stupor. For two days the animal would stand part of the time with the head pressed against the wall, and then quick recovery followed. The second horse showed some irritation of the mucuous membranes of the mouth, but never developed any nervous symptoms. The horse was killed, but a post mortem examination failed to show any lesions. The two horses ate together about four bushels of spoiled corn, most of it being consumed during the first week. After the first week the corn had to be mixed with other feed in every conceivable manner in order to induce the horses to eat any of it. The results of the experiment show that inoculations with cultures of the bacteria and moulds were ineffective, that the eating of the mashes containing pure cultures showed that only in the case of a growth of a species of fusarium did any intestinal disturbance follow, and that in one case the feeding of the rotted grain produced considerable intestinal disturbance and some nervous symptoms, but that the disturbance was light in the other. The disease from which the animals were reported to have died in the State was cerebro-spinal-meningitis, but the experiment did not result in the production of such disease. CONTINUED EFFECTS OF FERTILIZING THE SOIL By W. C. Latta. The piece of ground devoted to this experiment has grown corn continuously since 1880. The purpose of the experiment is to determine the lasting effect of horse manure, gas lime and ammoniated phosphate in continuous corn culture. There are 18 plats in the series, each one rod wide and 10 rods long. The even numbered plats have not been fertilized since the experiment began in 1880. The odd numbered plats received applications of gas lime, ammoniated phosphate and fresh horse manure in 1883 and again in 1884. The plats receiving each kind of fertilizer and the aggregate amounts applied in the two years are: Gas lime (Plats 1, 7, 13). 5 Ammoniated phosphate (Plats 3, 9, 15).. Applied per acre. 500 pounds. ..500 pounds. .50 tons 6. These plats have not been fertilized before or since the dates named above. The effect of the gas lime and ammoniated phosphate, on the yield of grain, has been slight and transient, while that of the manure has been marked and lasting, as will appear from table XXI. The ammoniated phosphate contained 1.75 per cent. available and 4.09 per cent. insoluble phosphoric acid; 3.32 per cent. ammonia, and 1.07 per cent. potash K2). 6 Estimated. |