RABBIT CONFERENCE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1730, 28 April 1888, Page 4

RABBIT CONFERENCE.

Sydney. April 25. M. Loir has supplied full particulars of Pasteur’s scheme to the Eabbit Conference. It appears that during Pasteur’s investigations of chicken cholera about two years ago, he accidentally discovered that rabbits were especially susceptible to the malady. M, Loir says it is impossible to give direct proof that human beings are not susceptible to the disease, but states that no ease has ever beeu reported, even were diseased poultry eaten. Microbes would die at a temperature of 67deg C. and the virulence of the disease would be much weakened by exposure to the air. There was no danger of the disease being conveyed te cows’ milk, even if the animals were fed on the poisoned food. M. Loir states further, that no animals, except rabbits, are affected by the disease. During the first few removes from rabbit to rabbit the virulence of the disease increases, but soon it attains its maximum intensity, and then it becomes more virulent in the rabbits than in fowls. The answer given by M. Loir to questions asked in reference to the experiments conducted in France seemed to indicate that the injection was only a small portion of the experiments, which were generally carried out by direct poisoning. The representatives of New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand have been appointed a committee to conduct experiments. The conference adjourned pending the report of the committee. April 26. The Eabbit Conference will resume its sittings in Adelaide towards the end of May. The experiments which the conference has decided upon consist of tbree series (1) To test the question of communicating the disease to rabbits and the possibility of the disease spreading from rabbit to rabbit; also to ascertain the readiness with which each commission can be procured and the exact channel of the commission ; (2) To ascertain whether the disease is transmissible from infected rabbits to other domestic animals, both mammals and birds; (3) Whether the infecting power of the disease is weakened as reported, by its transmission from rabbit to rabbit.