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New-born calves receiving no colostrum, or else receiving it after some delay, may die of Bacillus coli septicemia, of which scours is a local manifestation. Calves receiving an insufficiently protective dose of colostrum may become victims of various bacterial diseases such as arthritis, nephritis, omphalitis, and possibly pneumonia. Calves receiving a sufficient dose of colostrum may still develop scours of various degrees of severity due to the local multiplication of various types of Bacillus coli in the small intestine. There exists in the young calf a delicate balance between certain strains of Bacillus coli and the mucous membrane and digestive ferments, which, upset in favor of Bacillus coli, produces scours. The necessary conditions for such attacks are in part inherited defects of the digestive tract, both morphological and functional, and special types of Bacillus coli, resident in the herd and environment. The immediate indications are a great increase in the number of Bacillus coli in the lowest third of the small intestine with a spreading of the invasion towards the duodenum as the disease gains headway. Under these conditions a general intoxication results. The bacilli form layers or films attached to the top plates of the epithelial cells. At this time morphological changes in the cells are not yet recognizable. The vacuolar or hydropic condition frequently found antedates the bacterial invasion and may be present in the absence of bacteria. In mild or recovered cases, during the 1st week a fatty infiltration of the epithelium is not infrequently present. In a large number of clinically normal calves, from 1 day to 3 months of age, Gram-negative bacilli were not present in sufficient numbers to be detected in sections, although enriched cultures, when attempted, revealed them.

The conclusions to be drawn from this study are that while there appears to be evidence of serological distinctions between B. abortus and B. melitensis cultures as studied by earlier workers, the experiments reported in this paper show no serological distinctions among the six strains used in the study. B. melitensis II and B. melitensis III were found to be identical with the bovine and swine strains by means of agglutination and agglutinin absorption reactions in unheated sera, by agglutination in heated sera, and with the use of heated cultures in unheated and heated sera.

1. Certain bacilli within one strain may lose their flagella and become non-motile. 2. The change in serological behavior associated with the change in motility indicates that the flagella possess an individual antigenic property. 3. Flagella can be separated from the bodies of the bacilli. 4. A strictly flagellar antiserum can be produced by the injection of a flagellar suspension. 5. This direct production of a strictly flagellar antiserum is proof of the existence in flagella of a separate specific antigen.

A streptococcus epidemic of moderate extent and severity was characterized by clinical symptoms different from the usual septic sore throat, though the organism found was culturally Streptococcus epidemicus. The infection was traced to the milk from a single quarter of the udder of a cow in a dairy of 112 cows producing an otherwise excellent grade of raw milk. A number of the milkers on the dairy farm were found infected. It was impossible to trace the infection of the cow's udder to any one of the milkers, though such an infection seems probable since the streptococcus isolated from the cow was in every respect like streptococci isolated from patients and milkers, and different from those usually found in normal cows or cows with garget. Certain recommendations are made to safeguard producers of raw milk against the occurrence of such epidemics.