THE GLANDERS BACILLUS 149 



only a slight febrile reaction, occurs, in the horse not 

 exceeding about 102, the normal being about 100; but 

 if glandered ever so little, the temperature runs up to 

 103 or even 106 in eight to sixteen hours. At the seat 

 of inoculation a large swelling appears, and any local 

 lesions, if present, become much enlarged. This swelling 

 is of more importance diagnostically than the rise of 

 temperature. 



It was discovered at the Wellcome Research Labora- 

 tories that many non-glandered horses, if immunised 

 against other bacterial products such as diphtheria toxin, 

 react to mallein, but the local swelling rapidly disappears 

 and the rise in temperature persists for a shorter period. 

 With this exception, the mallein test as a diagnostic 

 agent is practically infallible. It seems to act but 

 feebly as a curative agent, although a few cases of ap- 

 parent cure after its use have been reported. 



The Glanders and Farcy Order, 1894, sec. 17, compels 

 seizure and total destruction of every part of an animal 

 that had glanders at time of death. 



Epidemic Abortion in Cattle. 



Bang described a very small non-motile, oval or rod- 

 shaped, Gram-negative bacillus, found in the exudate 

 betAveen the foetal membranes and the uterine mucous 

 membrane, and also in the stomach and the blood of the 

 foetus. The bacillus was sometimes lying singly, but in 

 many cases was markedly clumped. This clumping is 

 attributed to the agglutinating action of the animals' 

 serum, and is especially noticeable when the bacillus is 

 grown on serum media. Bang described the bacillus as 

 growing in a shake culture from \ to 2 centimetres below 

 the surface only, but McFadyean's cultures grew best 

 either on or just underneath the surface. The bacillus 

 grew on all the ordinary media, the agar-gelatin serum 

 medium being the most favourable. On agar gro\vth 

 takes ten days or more to appear. On potato the growth 

 closely resembles that of glanders. The organism only 

 grows between 30 and 37 C. The thermal death-point 

 is 00 C. 



A Departmental Committee appointed in 1905 issued 

 a Report in 1909, in which Sir John McFadyean and 

 Mr. Stewart Stockman found that, although vaginal 



