256 VETERINARY BACTERIOLOGY 



solution within two hours. It is well to add even more of the or- 

 ganism if it appears to dissolve rapidly, as it is desirable to get as 

 concentrated a solution as is possible. The solution must then 

 be carefully neutralized, preferably by the use of 5 per cent, sul- 

 phuric acid. This is then filtered through paper, then through 

 a Berkefeld filter, to remove all undissolved bacteria. The filtered 

 solution is termed " mallease." A test-tube is filled to a depth of 

 3 cm. with mallease, and blood-serum from a suspected case is 

 introduced by means of a pipette. The end of the pipette should 

 be passed through the layer of mallease and should rest against the 

 bottom of the tube before the serum is allowed to flow. A quantity 

 of serum about equal to the mallease is introduced. The pipette is 

 withdrawn quickly and carefully to prevent any mixture of the 

 two liquids. The serum has a higher specific gravity and remains 

 at the bottom, with the mallease as a distinct superficial layer. 

 If the serum is from an animal free from the disease, there will be 

 no reaction. A positive diagnosis of glanders is indicated by a 

 white cloudiness that appears along the line separating the two 

 liquids. This is due apparently to precipitation by the specific 

 precipitins formed in the serum. In acute or well-marked cases 

 the reaction occurs almost immediately, and usually in all cases 

 within fifteen minutes. The test is too recent to speak authorita- 

 tively of its reliability, but the reports thus far seem to indicate 

 that it is far more reliable and more easily carried out than any of 

 the other glanders tests. 



Fixation of Complement Test. Schlitz and Schubert 1 have 

 described a satisfactory method of adapting Wassermann's syphilis 

 test by fixation of complement to the diagnosis of glanders. Mohler 

 and Eichhorn 2 have tested out the method and found it highly 

 satisfactory. They prepare hemolytic amboceptor for sheep 

 erythrocytes by injecting the washed red blood-cells intraperi- 

 toneally into a rabbit. The corpuscles are suspended in an equal 

 bulk of physiologic salt solution, and 14, 20, and 24 cubic centi- 

 meters are injected at intervals of seven days. The serum from 

 the blood of the rabbit may be used in five or six days after the last 

 injection. It must be inactivated by heating to 56 for thirty 



1 Arch. f. Wiss. u. prakt. Ticrlx -ilkunde, Band 35, pp. 44-83, 1909. 



2 Bull. 136, Bureau An. Ind. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



