126 LEPROSY AND SYPHILIS. 



It stains readily with all the anilin dyes, but presents in 

 its body conspicuous irregularity of staining, showing places 

 stained very deeply and others that have scarcely any dye 

 at all. 



It is difficult to stain in tissues from the fact that, though 

 readily stained, the bacillus parts very quickly with its color- 

 ing-matter in the presence of a decolorizing agent, and even 

 in the alcohol used to dehydrate the tissue. 



A number of methods for staining sections of tissue for the 

 bacillus of glanders have been suggested. The following is 

 the best : 



Transfer the sections from alcohol to distilled water, put 

 the sections upon a slide and absorb the water with blotting- 

 paper, stain for a half-hour with a few drops of a 10 per cent, 

 solution of carbol-fuchsin in water, remove the superfluous 

 stain with blotting-paper, wash the sections three times in a 

 0.3 per cent, acetic acid solution, not allowing the acid to act 

 more than ten seconds each time, and remove the acid by care- 

 fully washing with distilled water. Absorb all water with 

 blotting-paper, and heat moderately over the flame so as to 

 drive off the remaining water. Clear in xylol and mount in 

 xylol balsam. In properly stained tissues the bacilli will be 

 found more numerous in the centre of the nodule, becoming 

 fewer as the periphery is approached. 



The animals susceptible to infection by glanders, besides 

 horses and asses, are guinea-pigs, cats, and field-mice. The 

 rabbit is very little so ; dogs and sheep still less so. Man is 

 susceptible, and not seldom the infection terminates fatally. 

 House-mice, rats, cattle, and hogs are insusceptible. 



For inoculation experiments the guinea.-pig is made use of. 

 The experiment is generally performed by subcutaneous inocu- 

 lation of the culture or a small piece of the nodule from 

 the diseased animal. The most prominent symptom in the 

 animal is the enlargement of the spleen, with formation of 

 nodules in that organ and in the liver. From these nodules 

 the glanders bacillus may be obtained in pure culture. The 

 animals live from six to eight weeks. The specific character 

 of the inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nostrils 



