388 ACTINOMYCETES. 



be recommended in guinea-pigs, as the abscesses which 

 form primarily imperil the experimenter by opening exter- 

 nally, and death occurs only after twenty-five to thirty 

 days (also here almost always the testicles are diseased). 



(6) Upon man: No purposeful experiments have been 

 made with glanders bacilli in man. A number of fatal 

 laboratory cases indicate the great danger for man of the 

 pure culture. 



Special Methods for Demonstration and Cultiva- 

 tion. — Acute cases of glanders in horses are usually not 

 difficult to diagnose from the clinical symptoms. The 

 diagnosis in subacute and chronic cases is harder and often 

 very difficult, even after autopsy and with the additional 

 help of bacteriologic aids. , 



(A) In the case of living animals the following is recom- 

 mended : 



1. Mallein — the protein of the glanders bacillus — is 

 injected subcutaneously. While healthy animals remain 

 afebrile or show only a slight fever of reaction, those 

 affected with glanders usually show a gradual elevation of 

 the temperature of 1.5°-2° ; x and after it has remained at 

 the highest point for a short time, it gradually falls. At 

 the point of the injection there remains a swelling for 

 several days if the animal is affected with glanders. The 

 method furnishes no absolutely certain diagnostic proof, 

 since sometimes the febrile reaction occurs in healthy indi- 

 viduals, or remains slight in diseased ones. Most authors 

 recommend it highly. 2 



2. The suspected nasal cavity is wiped out with a 

 cotton swab and 1 c.c. of a suspension of the material 

 thus obtained is injected intraperitoneally into a guinea- 

 pig (see p. 387). 



3. One of the swollen, paratracheal lymph-glands is 



1 The elevation of temperature is the more significant, the higher 

 the original temperature. An elevation of more than 2° with a high 

 initial temperature is fairly certain proof. An elevation of temper- 

 ature not over 1.1° indicates an absence of glanders ; 1.2°-1.9° is sus- 

 picious. See Eber (C. B. xi, 20). 



2 The experiences of Prof. Schutz make one especially skeptical. 

 This is particularly true in his latest results with 64 horses : 9 out 

 of 61 healthy horses reacted, while the 3 with glanders did not ! 



