314 GLANDERS BACILLUS 



Choromausky has recommended a so-called ophthalmo test for 

 glanders. It consists in the instillation of a very small amount of 

 mallein into the conjunctival sac of the eye. According to Wladimiroff 

 this reaction is not very accurate, since horses free from glanders may 

 also react positively by an inflammatory hyperemia of the conjunctiva. 



Agglutination Test. If the blood serum of horses suffering from 

 glanders is allowed to act on a young, uniformly cloudy bouillon 

 culture of glanders bacilli the latter becomes agglutinated, form small 

 lumps, and these fall to the bottom of the test-tube or the watch-glass 

 in which the test is made. (McFadyean.) This change is due to 

 the precipitins and agglutinins present in the blood serum of gland- 

 erous horses. Such substances, however, are also present in the 

 blood of healthy horses, but in much smaller amounts, and for this 

 reason the agglutination test in glanders has to be made as a quanti- 

 tative test. As a rule, serum from a healthy horse will agglutinate in 

 a strength of 1 in 200 to 300 or even 400; while blood serum from a 

 glandered horse will agglutinate the bacilli in a dilution of 1 in 1000, 

 1500, and even more. 



From a large number of tests made on healthy animals and on 

 horses suffering from glanders the following rules may be drawn: 



Horses whose blood agglutinates only in dilution up to 500 are 

 probably healthy, yet among them occur a few cases (about 6 per 

 cent.) of glanders. 



Horses agglutinating in a dilution up to 800 are probably affected 

 with glanders, yet about 3 per cent, of them are free from this disease. 



Horses whose blood serum agglutinates in dilutions up to 1000 or 

 more are surely infected with glanders. 



Parke, Davis & Company have devised an apparatus called by 

 them the Glanders Agglutometer, which very much simplifies the 

 agglutination test for the veterinary practitioner. It includes an 

 emulsion of killed glanders bacilli and circular pieces of filter paper 

 varying in size for procuring a fairly definite amount of serum. 

 Various sizes of filter paper are dipped into the serum to be tested, 

 and are then placed in small test-tubes, which are filled up to a mark 

 with the bacterial emulsion. In this manner dilutions of 1 in 200, 

 1 in 500, 1 in 800, and 1 in 1200 are obtained. The tubes are set 

 aside in a warm place for a number of hours and then inspected. It is 

 noted in what dilutions agglutination and precipitation has occurred. 



Whenever an agglutination test is made it is necessary to draw 

 some blood from the suspected horse; this is best done from the 

 j ugular vein, with a sterile syringe. The blood may then be allowed 

 to coagulate spontaneously, and after several hours the serum can be 

 removed, or the latter may be separated and collected at once by the 

 aid of a centrifuge. 



The Value of Mallein as a Diagnostic and as a Curative. The value 

 of mallein as a diagnostic of latent and occult glanders in equines 

 has been established beyond doubt. It has become the most important 



