VACCINE-THERAPY 175 



Methods of collecting the Materia Morbi with a View 

 to identify the Bacilli of Tuberculosis. 



When one is called upon to make a bacteriological examina- 

 tion of a case of tuberculosis, one must collect morbid 

 material reasonably suspected of harbouring the bacilli. In 

 the case of pulmonary tuberculosis the sputum is chosen. 



In those animals which do not expectorate, consider- 

 able difficulty is experienced in collecting the sputum, 

 and various methods have been adopted. Tracheotomy 

 has been recommended low down in the windpipe, and a 

 swab of cotton-wool inserted to remove the bronchial 

 secretion, or a trocar may be inserted between the tracheal 

 rings, and a feather passed through the cannula ; the animal 

 coughs, and the sputum is lodged on it and withdrawn. 

 Others recommend covering the nose and mouth with a 

 clean sheet ; the animal is then made to cough, and the 

 expectorate will be found lodged on the cloth. The writer 

 finds withdrawal of the tongue, previously covered with a 

 handkerchief to prevent it from slipping from the hand, 

 and pressing sharply the larynx to make the animal cough, 

 expels the discharge, which can be collected into a small 

 plate, easily sterilized by previous boiling. In some cases 

 all we find necessary is to withdraw the tongue as far out 

 of the mouth as possible and make the animal cough. The 

 expectorate will then usually lodge on the roof of the 

 mouth or soft palate. The flow of saliva will in a minute 

 or so dislodge the expectorate, and if the nose is now 

 depressed the saliva will float it on, and in dropping from 

 the mouth it can be caught in a sterile vessel. 



When a gland or glands are affected, they may either be 

 dissected en masse, or a piece may be removed for micro- 

 scopical examination of the scrapings therefrom. When 

 suppuration is in evidence, aspirating the fluid may answer 

 the purpose. 



In the case of mammary tuberculosis, the late Professor 

 Walley years ago recommended the use of a harpoon, 

 which is inserted into the suspicious nodule, and a part of 



