Post-mortems 



241 



scissors. The animal at once dies, the blood pouring out 

 into the pleural cavities. After coagulation the serum can 

 be secured by carefully pipetting it from the cavities. 



Fig. 67. Showing the method of taking blood from the carotid artery 



of a rabbit. 



Post=mortems. Observation of experiment animals by 

 no means ceases with their death. Indeed, he cannot be a 

 bacteriologist who is not already a good pathologist and ex- 

 pert in the recognition of diseased organs. 



When an autopsy is to be made upon a small animal, it is 

 best to wash it for a few moments in a disinfecting solution, 

 to kill the germs present upon the hair and skin, as well as 

 to moisten the hair, which can then be much more easily 

 kept out of the incision. 



Small animals can be tacked to a board or tied, by cords 

 fastened to the legs, to hooks soldered to the corners of an 

 easily disinfected tray. The dissection should be made with 

 sterile instruments. When a culture is to be made from the 

 interior of an organ, its surface should first be seared with a 

 hot iron, a puncture made into it with a sterile knife, and 

 the culture made by introducing a platinum wire. 



16 



