92 CLINICAL BACTERIOLOGY AND 



method, and the results compared. Needless to add, the 

 pus should be so taken that there is no danger of outside 

 contamination by other bacteria. If need be, a stroke 

 culture on agar should be made, and a gelatin-tube also 

 inoculated. 



Having ascertained the causa causans, a suitable auto- 

 genous vaccine should be made in the manner already 

 described. 



When the abscess or abscesses are very tense and dis- 

 tended with purulent matter, internal pressure should be 

 relieved by lancing, to bring about lymphoid osmosis. Hot 

 fomentations should be applied to them to cause capillary 

 distension, relieve congestion, and increase the flow of 

 bacteriolytic and bacteriotropic blood to the parts ; and if 

 the blood is viscid, citrate of soda solution should be 

 applied, with the internal administration of citric acid. 

 Upon no account should strong antiseptics be applied, 

 as they will undo all the good the vaccines are endeavour- 

 ing to do. 



If the abscesses are old-standing, and they usually are, 

 one can begin with full doses; 500,000,000 staphylo- 

 cocci to a full-grown horse may be given at the outset, and 

 the results carefully watched. In five to seven days 

 1,000,000,000 may be given. A week later 2,000,000,000 

 may safely be injected, and so on, increasing the dose until 

 one finds the maximum benefit has been gained. 



In the case of streptococci, one cannot give such large 

 doses, and we would not advise giving more than 100,000,000 

 as an initial dose, increasing in the same proportion as for 

 staphylococci. When the streptococcal infection is a severe 

 and acute one, we have obtained considerable benefit by 

 combining the vaccine with the antistreptococcal serum. 



Fistula of the Poll (Poll -Evil) and Fistula of the 

 Withers in the Horse. 



These two conditions may be conveniently taken together. 

 The bacterial cause is the same, the pathological lesions 



