130 Agricultural Bacteriology. 



Mallein test. Glanders can often be recognized by a 

 physical examination on account of the characteristic 

 sores in the nose. The horse is subject to nasal diseases 

 that may be mistaken for glanders. When the disease 

 can not be diagnosed by the physical examination, re- 

 course may be had to the mallein test which is similar 

 to the tuberculin test. 



Mallein is prepared in the same manner as is tuber- 

 culin by growing the glanders bacillus in glycerin broth. 

 The manner of applying the test is also similar to the 

 method followed in the tuberculin test. The mallein is 

 injected beneath the skin and a series of temperatures 

 taken both before and after the injection is made. A few 

 hours after the injection of the mallein there appears 

 at the point of inoculation, a hot inflammatory swelling, 

 which in a glandered horse is very painful, and con- 

 tinues to increase in size for twenty-four to thirty-six 

 hours. This persists for several days, gradually disap- 

 pearing in eight to ten days. With healthy horses a 

 small swelling is produced at the point of inoculation 

 but it disappears in twenty-four hours. At the time 

 the swelling appears the diseased animal is dull, 

 breathes rapidly and has a poor appetite. In healthy 

 horses no such effect is noted. In the affected animal 

 a rise in temperature, from 2 to 2.5 F., occurs in the 

 course of eight hours, reaching its maximum in ten to 

 fifteen hours. The high temperature persists for twen- 

 ty-four to forty-eight hours instead of only a few hours 

 as in the tuberculin test. In healthy horses there is no 

 rise in temperature. The test is not quite so reliable as 

 the tuberculin test for some diseased animals do not 

 react to the mallein test. Any animal that reacts to the 

 test is certain to have glanders. 



