686 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



British Guiana, which is in all probability mal de caderas. This disease, pro- 

 visionally described in the report of the government veterinarian as cerebro- 

 spinal meningitis, has been prevalent among mules and horses in certain dis- 

 tricts of Berbice, British Guiana. 



Tests in reg-ard to the diagnostic value of the ophthalmo reaction in 

 glanders, Lorenz (Berlin. Tierdrztl. Wchnschr., 29 {1913), 'No. U, pp. 232- 

 255). — A report in regard to tests made according to the specifications suggested 

 by Frohner, namely, 0.05 gm. mallein siccum (Foth) dissolved in 4.5 gm. of a 

 0.5 per cent carbolic acid solution. The solution was prepared on the day it was 

 to be used. Several drops were instilled in the conjunctival sac of the right 

 eye, and in the left eye a few drops of a 0.5 per cent carbolic acid solution 

 were introduced. This procedure was found to be especially valuable for rest- 

 less animals. 



The agglutination and complement fixation tests were made in addition to 

 the above but were always conducted before the conjunctival reaction. Au- 

 topsies made of the 13 animals agreed with the findings of the mallein test in 

 all cases, while the agglutination and complement fixation tests were negative 

 in two cases where the animals were positively glandered. The conjunctival 

 test is deemed a good one providing it is carefully conducted and the results 

 obtained properly interpreted. 



Observations in regard to the influence of mallein on the results of other 

 diagnostic methods with sound horses, R. Reinhardt (Ztschr. Infektions- 

 Jcrank. u. Hyg. Haustiere, IS (1913), No. 6, pp. 295-306) .—For this work mallein 

 siccum (Foth) was used in the ratio of 0.03: 5 cc. in 0.5 per cent carbolic acid 

 solution. The solution was used for both the conjuctival and cutaneous tests, 

 although for the latter mallein brute (Pasteur Institute) and concentrated 

 mallein (Klimmer) were also employed. In addition to the above tests the 

 precipitation, complement fixation, and agglutination tests were compared. 



A cutaneous or conjunctival instillation of mallein did not have any influence 

 upon the outcome of a thermomallein reaction nor upon the serologic blood 

 tests. Evidently the amount of antigen taken up by the blood stream as a 

 result of cutaneous or conjunctival introduction is too small to produce appre- 

 ciable amounts of antibodies. By giving mallein once or twice subcutaneously 

 no effect on a subsequent cutaneous or conjunctival test with mallein was pro- 

 duced. 



As a result of giving mallein subcutaneously, in most instances a negative 

 precipitation reaction was obtained, and only in one instance where Foth's mal- 

 lein was used was a positive reaction noted. In a few instances the complement 

 fixation reaction was positive after mallein was introduced either once or 

 twice subcutaneously. In these cases one horse showed positive 29 days after 

 receiving the antigen for the first time, and 2 other animals after 13 (negative 

 for 151 days), 19, 29, and 42 days (negative 157 days), respectively, after a 

 second injection. 



According to the tests complement-fixing bodies may be in the blood of sound 

 horses after 3 days and on an average in from 4 to 9 days. The bodies which 

 result from giving a second injection seem to remain longer than those pro- 

 duced by a single injection. The agglutination value was found to be raised 

 in every instance when mallein was injected. The agglutinins required about 

 3 days or a little over for their production and the highest value was noted in 

 a horse 8 days after malleinization. The highest average values were obtained 

 between the eighth and nineteenth days. A second injection in some cases in- 

 creased this value. When a complement fixation test was obtained the agglu- 

 tination titer was usually high, but in some cases where the agglutination test 

 was high no inhibition of hemolysis was noted. 



