CHAPTER XI 



SERUMS AND THEIR MODE OF 

 PREPARATION 



Sero-therapy is a branch of prophylactic and curative 

 medicine which has made great strides within recent years, 

 its primary object being the neutralizing of liberated toxins 

 circulating in the blood and lymph streams. These toxins 

 are the products of specific bacteria located in certain 

 structures of the animal body, and the serum itself does 

 not prevent the growth of the bacteria. 



When these pathogenic bacteria settle in a structure, 

 they incubate, and in the processes of growth pour out 

 a constant stream of toxin, which is continually entering 

 into a kind of combination with the receptors of the cells. 

 It therefore follows that antidotal serum should be used 

 before serious cell changes have taken place. And this 

 is exactly borne out in practice, as, for example, in tetanus, 

 swine fever, and diphtheria in man ; and to make certain 

 of a recovery the serum should be injected before the 

 diseases are established. 



As the making of serums scarcely comes within the 

 domain of the individual practitioner, a general outline only 

 of the modus operandi will be given. 



The horse is the animal commonly used both for the 

 making of human and veterinary serums, and it is most 

 essential he should be quite healthy and be free from 

 such diseases as tuberculosis and glanders, for which he 

 is tested by tuberculin and mallein respectively. 



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