Other microbes have also been described as occurring in the blood or discharges; but attempts to transmit the disease by using cultures or the different morbid products which observers have collected have invariably failed, and it has therefore been concluded that the disease is not contagious, but merely infectious. Moussu does not regard this disease as a hæmorrhagic septicæmia, because the blood proves sterile unless grave pulmonary, intestinal or renal complications occur, and because the disease appears capable of being cured in a short time by simple methods. In the present state of knowledge he prefers to regard it as an infectious disease of diphtheritic form, at first localised in the upper respiratory and digestive tracts, always tending towards a grave toxæmia, and towards complications due to various other infections. Even though direct contagion has not been proved, it is impossible to doubt that stables may become infected. This is sufficiently proved by the continued appearance of the disease when disinfection is neglected after the occurrence of the first case. It is possible that the causes formerly assigned—viz., chills, the influence of draughts, and a morbid predisposition—may increase susceptibility in animals otherwise well cared for, but it is quite certain that infection of the stable is an important factor. =Lesions.= The lesions vary with the complications, but those shown in the beginning are always identical. The mucous membrane of the nasal cavities is congested, inflamed, sphacelated, and ulcerated at different points. The turbinated bones and the ethmoid cells may become necrotic; in the larynx the region of the glottis is always most markedly affected; the mucous membrane becomes ulcerated in the neighbourhood of the vocal cords, and the tissues may become more deeply attacked. In the trachea and bronchi the mucous membrane undergoes desquamation, and may become ulcerated at the points where false membranes have formed. The mucous membrane of the sinuses is always affected, but is rarely ulcerated. Such complications as capillary bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, and gangrene of the lung may be noted. The mucous membrane of the mouth presents a violet-red or blackish-red colour; the tongue and gums are swollen, and ulcers as large as a lentil or a halfpenny may occur either singly or in a confluent form. The genito-urinary apparatus reveals signs of croupal cystitis, submucous effusions of blood, vaginitis with the formation of false membranes, acute pyelitis, etc.