78 PRACTICAL BACTERIOLOGY 



1. Temperature. 



2. Loss of weight. 



3. Peculiar position in cage. 



4. Loss of appetite. 



5. Condition of the coat or hair. 



6. The condition of the secretions from the air passages, con- 

 junctiva, kidneys, diarrhoea or haemorrhage from the bowels. 



7. The condition of the seat of inoculation. When an animal dies 

 in two to four days after inoculation, evidence of either acute or toxic 

 processes will be found. 



When the inoculation produces chronic conditions the animal 

 may be under supervision for weeks, and must be weighed daily at 

 the same hour, the temperature taken at the rectum, the thermometer 

 being pushed past the sphincter. 



Too much stress must not be laid upon moderate and sudden 

 daily fluctuations in either temperature or weight, as normal animals 

 when confined in cages and fed regularly present striking temporary 

 gains and losses in weight, and unexplainable rises and falls of 

 temperature, often as much as a degree from one day to another. 



CXLVI. POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION OF ANIMALS. 



Perform the autopsy as soon as possible after death. When delay 

 cannot be avoided, place the animal in the ice-chest until such time as 

 is convenient. 



A. 



1. Sterilize a suitable post-mortem board with corrosive sublimate 

 solution 1 to 1000, place the animal belly upwards, and tack the four 

 legs fast to the board. 



2. Wash the surface of the thorax and abdomen with corrosive 

 sublimate solution, make an incision through the skin at the pubis, 

 introducing one blade of the scissors, and extend the incision as far as 

 the chin. 



3. Carefully dissect the skin away from the abdomen, thorax, 

 axillary, inguinal, and cervical regions, and fore and hind legs, and 

 pin it to the board as far as possible from the thorax and abdomen. 

 It is from the skin that the chances of contamination are greatest. 



B. 



All incisions from now on are made with sterilized instruments. 

 1. Take an ordinary potato-knife, heat it quite hot, and place it 



