A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR THE IDENTIFICATION 

 OF GUINEA-PIGS UNDER TREATMENT 



A. PARKER KITCHENS 

 From the Mulford Biological Laboratories, Glenolden, Pennsylvania 



The problem of identifying guinea-pigs under treatment is a 

 simple one if only a few animals are in use; the popular method of 

 recording their colors may be adequate; or, separate cages or 

 pens may be provided for each animal. But in laboratories 

 where ten or more animals are inoculated every day a more highly 

 systematized method is required. 



Celluloid or aluminum ear tags are both convenient and satis- 

 factory for a small number of animals ; they are not easily lost un- 

 less two or more full grown male pigs are kept in the same pen. 

 The ear tag method, however, has the disadvantage of consuming 

 considerable time. Furthermore it involves an extra item of 

 stock to look after; if the tags happen to be all used, there may 

 be some difficulty and annoyance in finding a substitute. 



Another method in common use is a pictorial description of the 

 animal. On the record sheet is printed the outline of a guinea- 

 pig with the regions of the body indicated. The colors are then 

 noted on the diagram according to their regional distribution. 

 In some laboratories, a rubber stamp is used as the basis for the 

 pictorial description, an arrangement which may be desirable 

 when the same record sheet is to be used for other animals. 

 Many laboratory workers merely draw an elongated oval with 

 little marks at one end to represent eyes and ears and record on 

 this simple diagram the color distribution. All these pictorial 

 methods are reliable, but so much space is required for the esquisse 

 that the record of a large amount of work becomes extremely 

 bulky. 



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