THE USE OF MALLEIN. 439 



animal the guinea-pig or cat may be chosen. The be- 

 haviour of bacillus mallei in the frog is so peculiar that 

 Sacharow (2) advises the introduction of pieces of suspected 

 material into the abdominal cavity of this animal. In fifty- 

 eight experiments either bouillon-cultures of bacilli or pus 

 from fresh glander nodules were injected. In no single 

 case did any frog become diseased, but after intervals of from 

 two to fifty-five days the animals were killed, and without 

 exception pure cultures of bacillus mallei could be ob- 

 tained from the liver, spleen, kidneys or blood ; the bile 

 especially contained countless numbers of bacilli. This 

 observer has not practically tested the value of his method 

 with the nasal secretion where numerous other micro- 

 organisms are associated with bacillus mallei, but the sugges- 

 tion of Straus that the male guinea-pig should be used has 

 frequently been followed in the diagnosis of doubtful cases. 

 In this animal a local suppuration can be set up in two to 

 three days after the peritoneal injection of suspected material, 

 and specific microbes can be separated from the pus. In 

 undoubted cases of glanders, and also in those where no 

 ulceration or nasal discharge exists, .excision of suspected 

 nodules and application of the methods briefly indicated 

 above may convert doubt into certainty ; but the em- 

 ployment of mallein as a means of diagnosis in equivocal 

 cases promises to be of even greater value, and sufficient 

 experimental work has now been carried out in England, 

 France, Germany and Russia to permit some conclusions 

 to be drawn on this subject. 



About four years have now elapsed since Kalning of 

 Dorpat (3) prepared a fluid from cultures of bacillus 

 mallei that had been raised upon potato. The growth 

 was removed, thoroughly mixed with water, and the mix- 

 ture then heated for twenty minutes at a temperature of 

 1 20 c C. for four successive days. After having been left in 

 the incubator for two days at 39° the liquid was filtered 

 and the filtrate sterilised by heating to 1 20° for fifteen 

 minutes. Using the term introduced by Babes (4) this 

 fluid is known as mallein. In April, 1890, Helman had 

 previously made a short communication on the use of 



