54-4 



APPENDIX 



of work along with the hands should be disinfected between handling different groups 

 of animals. 



Handling of newborn mice in experimental procedures often results in cannibal- 

 ism by the mother. To avoid this, the mother can be anesthetized lightly with diethyl 

 ether and then replaced in her cage to recover while the newborn are being worked with. 

 Chloroform should be avoided and should be banned from mouse rooms or adjoining 

 areas. Certain strains of inbred mice (DBA/2 and C3H, for example) are highly 

 susceptible to the fumes of chloroform and succumb very quickly to traces in the air. 



Fig. 87. Table for changing cages. 



Mice to be culled should be removed from the room for destruction and may then be 

 sacrificed by any suitable procedure, such as cervical dislocation or inhalation of ether 

 or carbon dioxide. 



Maintenance of health. 1333 — Diseased or latently infected mice should not be used 

 in an experiment unless the investigator wishes to evaluate his introduced variables 

 in terms of the agents of disease already present. It is most important therefore that 

 (1) healthy mice be provided for an experiment and (2) the state of health be main- 

 tained throughout the work. The diseases of mice are manifold and only the ground- 

 work has been laid in understanding latent infections. In a later section the requisites 

 the purchaser should consider in selecting a supplier of experimental mice will be 

 mentioned. All mice should be maintained under "pathogen-free" conditions. 

 Simply stated, procedures of maintenance should guard against the introduction of 



