BLOOD-POISONING 519 



laid upon keeping cholera serum cool at all times. Even the 

 best of serum may contain a few germs, but this small number will 

 do no harm unless they get a chance to multiply. Germs will not 

 grow if the fluid in which they exist is kept at a low temperature. 

 If the serum is kept cool we will, accordingly, have little or no in- 

 crease in the number of germs contained. If, on the other hand, 

 the serum be allowed to get warm, and remain so for some time, 

 the bacteria rapidly multiply, and in a short time the serum simply 

 swarms with them. 



Dirty Needles. — Another source of danger in the use of hog- 

 cholera serum consists in the use of unclean syringes and needles, 

 and lack of care in cleansing and disinfecting the skin at the point 

 where the needle is to be inserted. Neglect in this matter may 

 often result in carrying of germs into the tissues, which form an 

 abscess at the point of injection. Germs from this point may enter 

 the blood and set up a generalized pus infection, with development 

 of numerous abscesses throughout the body. 



Many of the bad results charged to serum are traceable to 

 serum that contained large numbers of germs when injected, or 

 to the use of dirty syringes, carelessness in cleaning the skin, and 

 other negligences that often prove costly. 



Proper Care of Wounds. — As a precautionary measure against 

 blood-poisoning, all wounds, whether accidental or surgical in na- 

 ture, should receive careful attention. Antiseptic appUcations and 

 dressings should be used until the injury is sufficiently recovered 

 from to be out of danger of septic infection. If abscesses form, they 

 should be opened at the lowest point and the pus allowed to freely 

 drain. The wound should be kept open until it has healed up 

 from the bottom and danger of infection is over. In sows after 

 farrowing, if their is any indication of infection, treatment should 

 be started quickly in order to avoid serious consequences. The 

 danger of infection of wounds can be very much decreased by keep- 

 ing feed lots, hog sheds, and similar places in a cleanly condition. 

 A hog with an open wound or ulcer that is wallowing around in a 

 filthy feed lot, in mud up to her belly, and eating corn and other 

 feed out of the mud, cannot help but become the victim of blood- 

 poisoning. The wonder is that more of them do not die. 



The active treatment of septicemia must be quickly started if 



