REPOET OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 55 



The course of the disease and the lesions produced in guinea pigs 

 are well described by Loffler. As a place of inoculation he chose 

 one side of the abdominal surface, about half way between the ax- 

 illa and the groin. The hair was carefully cut away, a fold of skin 

 raised and cut through completely with scissors. Into this incision, 

 about two-fif ths inch long, a named needle was introduced and moved 

 to and fro under the skin, to form a little pocket for the reception of 

 the infectious material. 



At the place of inoculation an ulcer forms during the first week, 

 with suppurating base and thickened border. Towards the end of 

 the first week the nearest lymphatic glands, in this case those near 

 the groin, begin to enlarge. The lymphatics themselves do not, 

 however, swell into cords, as is true of farcy in the horse. The 

 glands grow to the size of hazel-nuts, sometimes larger, and their 

 contents soften into a purif orm mass. The capsule as well as the skin 

 over it may rupture and the contents discharge on the surface. 

 When this takes place early, numerous glanders bacilli are found in 

 the discharged pus. In some animals the disease may stop here and 

 the ulcer heal. The primary ulcer usually heals in from two to three 

 weeks. The guinea pig after four to six weeks may have entirely 

 recovered. In the majority of guinea pigs, however, the disease ends 

 fatally. In the second week the testicles of the male contain hard, 

 nodular places. Inflammation sets in, the overlying skin becomes 

 red and oedematous, and finally breaks. Puriform masses, contain- 

 ing numerous bacilli, are discharged. In females the labia and 

 mammse more rarely inflame and suppurate. At about the same 

 time one hind or fore foot may begin to inflame, swell, and give rise 

 to great pain on pressure. Sometimes the inflammation may leave 

 one foot and appear in another; more rarely all feet may be affected. 

 They may also become ulcerated, but as a rule the death of the ani- 

 mal ensues before this takes place. Besides these characteristic 

 changes in the feet and testicles, there may be nodules in and under 

 the skin in different regions of the body which may also break and 

 form ulcers. In the face these nodules start from the periosteum, or 

 even the bone itself. The mucous membrane of the nose was in- 

 volved in only one-third of the eighty -five cases studied by Loffler. 

 The disease process was first noticed at about the same time with the 

 swellings of the feet, and manifested itself by difficult breathing and. 

 sneezing. The secretion is scanty and dries up into brownish crusts 

 around the external nares. This lesion is speedily followed by ema- 

 ciation and death, which usually takes place in the third or fourth 

 week, sometimes as early as the second and as late as the eighth 

 week. 



At the autopsy the place of inoculation may be occupied by an 

 ulcer or healed and cicatrized. The inguinal or axillary glands are 

 swollen and contain small abscesses, or the whole gland may have 

 been converted into pus inclosed in the gland capsule. In the skin 

 are abscesses as large as peas or hazel-nuts, in part healing. One or 

 more feet are swollen. The swelling may be due to a periarticular 

 abscess, to inflammation of the joint itself, or of the ends of the bones 

 forming it. The lungs usually contain a variable number of small 

 grayish-yellow nodules, situated chiefly under the pleura. In almost 

 every case the spleen is involved. It is enlarged, and contains a 

 large number of minute, slightly projecting, yellowish nodules, some 

 attaining the size of a pin's head. They are frequently found in the 

 liver, though in smaller numbers. In the omentum, the suspensory 



