22 USE OF MALLEINE, AND PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 



CHAPTER YI. 



Use of Malleine for the Detection of Glanders^ 

 and Prevention of Disease. 



(a) Use of Malleine. 



Malleine contains the components of the bacilli of Glanders. 



In case of any doubt in the diagnosis of 

 glanders, a hypodermic injection of two cubic 

 centimeters of malleine will determine the 

 question. The temperature of the horse must 

 be taken morning, noon and night, of the 

 day previous to the injection. The Malleine 

 (which in the United States of America can 

 be obtained from the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry at Washington, D.C.), is injected 

 into the neck with a hypodermic syringe. 

 Twelve hours after the injection the tempera- 

 ture must be taken every four hours for 

 twenty hours. If there is a rise of 1.8 

 degrees Fah. above the average of the day 

 preceding the injection of malleine, the horse 

 is suffering from glanders. If there is no 

 rise, or only a slight one, it may be taken for 

 granted that glanders is not present. 



{b) Prevention of Disease. 



The columns of the chart devoted to 

 "Causes of Disease" are intended to imply the 

 necessity of the adoption of the corresponding 

 sanitary measures required for the prevention 

 of the respective diseases. It may be asserted 

 that 75 per cent, of the ills of the horse are due 

 to errors in regard to diet, work, stable- 

 management, and general hygienic arrange- 

 ments. 



Many excellent treatises have been written on 

 the sanitation and stable-management of 

 horses, and it is not the province of this work 

 to say more in this connection than that the 

 consumption of food should be gauged by the 

 amount of physical work required of the 

 animal; that in all cases it should be as clean 

 and free from mould, dirt, sand, or other 

 impurity as possible, and should be given at 

 regular intervals; that drinking water should 

 not be contaminated with drainage, or 

 deleterious matter of any kind, nor given 

 immediately after exhausting work, par- 

 ticularly during exposure to cold winds; 

 that the stable should be dry, light, 

 well-ventilated, thoroughly drained, and 

 kept at as even a temperature as it is 

 possible to secure. The first signs of 

 sickness, especially during the presence of 

 epizootics, should be at once attended to, and 



work stopped on the first symptoms of loss of 

 appetite, elevation of temperature, or general 

 unthriftiness. During the spring and fall 

 months, the regular administration of 

 Powder No. 16 once a day in food three 

 times a week, will prevent many diseases of 

 the excretory organs; and it may be regu- 

 larly given at any time of the year, during 

 the prevalence of any epizootic. The powder 

 will either prevent or considerably lessen the 

 severity of an attack of influenza, pink-eye, 

 or distemper, and it is an excellent Condi- 

 tion Powder. After a period of rest, or after 

 a serious change in climate, a horse should be 

 graduallv accustomed to the maximum 

 amount of work required, and it is a good 

 plan to commence any great change of diet, 

 or general condition, with one dose of purga- 

 tive medicine, followed by Powder No. 16, 

 once a day. Medicine No. 22, once or twice 

 a day, will prevent or cjuickly arrest the 

 common acclimatisation fever so frequent 

 after a great change of climate. Disinfec- 

 tion of stables should in all cases be periodi- 

 cally made, and daily during the prevalence of 

 infectious disease. The simplest and most 

 effectual disinfectant is chlorinated lime in 

 solution (one pound of lime to two gallons of 

 water). Freely sprinkle with a garden water- 

 ing-can over the floor, and in the drainage 

 gutter of the stable. A five per cent, solution 

 of chloride of zinc is more expensive, but has 

 the advantage of being inodorous. The 

 various preparations of Solution of Tar are 

 also useful. Fumigation with burning pine- 

 tar or sulphur or creolin vapour, is advisable 

 in the case of the existence of any contagious 

 disease. After an outbreak of glanders or 

 anthrax, it is necessar}" to remove and burn 

 all wood-work, which is likely to have been 

 in contact with the diseased animal or its 

 disciiarges. 



In an actual outbreak of anthrax, where 

 deaths have occurred, those animals which 

 have been subjected to the contagion may be 

 successfully vaccinated with anthrax vaccine, 

 as a preventive; but considerable caution 

 should be exercised in its use for fear of intro- 

 ducing the disease, where it did not pre- 

 viously exist, and it should only be done 

 under the best expert advice given after a 

 thorough investigation. 



