1 66 GLANDERS 



of the local swelling the patient becomes dull and dejected, 

 the eyes have an anxious expression, the coat is lusterless, the 

 flanks contracted, the respiration hurried and the appetite is 

 impaired. Frequent shudders are observed to pass through 

 the muscles of the fore legs and sometimes the trunk is subject 

 to violent convulsive movements. The most active and 

 fractious horses become listless and indifferent to their sur- 

 roundings. These general phenomena constitute what the 

 French call the "organic reaction," but they are not always 

 so clearly marked. Differences in their intensity are observed 

 but they are never completely absent. 



The temperature reaction never fails to show itself. In 

 about eight hours after the injection the temperature of a glan- 

 dered horse gradually rises 1.5°, 2° or 2.5° F., and even more 

 above the normal. The rise in temperature usually attains its 

 maximum between the tenth and twelfth hour, occasionally 

 not till the fifteenth, and more rarely not until about the 

 eighteenth hour. An important fact to note is that the reac- 

 tion called forth in glandered horses by the injection of mallein 

 persists for from 24 to 48 hours and in some cases the temper- 

 ature remains above the normal for even a longer time. In 

 practice it is advisable to take the temperature of the suspected 

 animals two or three times before the injection of the mallein, 

 and every two hours, beginning at the eighth and going to the 

 twentieth hour after the injection. It is often sufficient for 

 diagnostic purposes to take the temperature but four times, 

 viz., at 9, 12, 15, and 18 hours after the injection. 



In healthy horses the injection of mallein, even in a much 

 larger dose, produces no effect on the temperature or the gen- 

 eral condition of the animal. There is produced, however, at 

 the point of injection, a small edematous swelling, somewhat 

 hot and painful to the touch, but the edema instead of increas- 

 ing, diminishes rapidly and disappears in less than 24 hours. 



The reaction called forth by the injection of mallein in a 

 glandered animal is quite specific. When it occurs one is 

 enabled to state at once and with certainty that glanders exists, 

 although the lesions may be quite minute or ob.scure. When 



