134 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



satisfactorily employed only by especially trained labora- 

 tory workers. Second, even its most enthusiastic advo- 

 cates admit that the results fail to correspond with the clini- 

 cal finding's in 5 to 10 per cent, of cases, and thirdly, that it 

 is available only in normal pregnancy, as it gives uncertain 

 results in inflammatory conditions and uterine myomata, 

 or when the pregnancy is complicated by nephritis or tox- 

 aemia." 



Graves ( ] ), speaking of this test, states, "Opinions dif- 

 fer as to the present value of the Abderhalden test for preg- 

 nancy, some regarding it as too inaccurate to be of much 

 clinical value, while others consider it reliable and practical 

 (McCord). The test requires much skill and care, there be- 

 ing numerous chances for error. For that reason it has not 

 yet come into general practical use." 



Thus for woman, where accurate diagnosis is most im- 

 portant, leading authors either condemn the test as unre- 

 liable or seriously question its value in the present state of 

 knowledge concerning it. 



Zell(-) concludes that the test is very reliable, but when 

 questioned admits that the serum of a cow may react for 

 twenty or more days after abortion, that many tests are 

 valueless because of slight errors in drawing the blood or 

 decanting the serum, and that various diseases nullify the 

 value of the test. Finally, he admits that the test is not at 

 all sufficient or complete within itself and must always be 

 considered in conjunction with — not as a substitute for — 

 physical examination. In 78 clinical cases summarized, the 

 test was erroneous in 5 animals — or 6.4 per cent. Any 

 fairly good diagnostician can be more accurate by physical 

 examination. Some have claimed a place for the Abder- 

 halden test on the ground that, in the cow and the mare, 

 physical diagnosis is impracticable in the first half of preg- 

 nancy and in the second half physical examination imperils 

 the pregnancy. Neither of these assumptions is true 

 Should the test become simplified and its accuracy be ad- 



1 Gynecology, Graves, Win. P., 1917. 



2 C. A. Zell, The Abderhalden Test for Pregnancy in Animals, Jour. Am. 

 Vet. Med. Assn., Oct., 1917. New Series Vol. 5, No. 1, page 39. 



