534 PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS 



The directions given by the United States Government for using 

 mallein for the diagnosis of glanders in horses are as follows : 



"Make the test, if possible, with a healthy horse, as well as with 

 one or more affected or supposed to be affected with glanders. Take 

 the temperature of all these animals at least three times a day for one 

 or more days before making the injections. 



"The injection is most conveniently made at 6 or 7 o'clock in the 

 morning, and the maximum temperature will then usually be reached 

 by or before 10 P.M. of the same day. 



"Use for each horse one cubic centimeter of the mallein solution as 

 sent out, and make the injection beneath the skin of the middle of one 

 side of the neck, where the local swelling can be readily detected. 



"Carefully sterilize the syringe after injecting each horse by naming 

 the needle over an alcohol lamp or, better, use separate syringes for 

 healthy and suspected animals. If the same syringe is used, inject the 

 healthy animals first, and flame the needle of the syringe after each 

 injection. 



"Take the temperature every two hours for at least eighteen hours 

 after the injection. Sterilize the thermometer in a 5 per cent solu- 

 tion of carbolic acid, or a 0.2 per cent solution of corrosive sublimate, 

 after taking the temperature of each animal. 



"The temperature, as a rule, will begin to rise from four to eight hours 

 after the injection, and reach its maximum from ten to sixteen hours 

 after injection. On the day succeeding the injection take the tempera- 

 ture at least three times. 



" In addition to the febrile reaction, note the size, appearance, and 

 duration of any local swelling at the point of injection. Note the general 

 condition and symptoms of the animal, both before, during, and after 

 the test. 



"Keep the solution in the sealed bottle and in a cool place, and do 

 not use it when it is clouded or if it is more than six weeks old when it 

 leaves the laboratory of the Bureau it is sterile." 



If the result of first injection is doubtful, the horse should be 

 isolated and retested in from one to three months, when the slight 

 immunity conferred by the first injection will have disappeared. 

 The second injection into healthy horses usually shows no reaction 

 whatever. 



Mallein may cause reactions in the presence of other diseases than 

 glanders, such as bronchitis, periostitis, and other inflammatory lesions 

 and is not so specifically valuable as tuberculin for diagnosis. 



