262 GENERAL THERAPEUTICS FOR VETERINARIANS 



a temperature rise of less than 1.2° C. [2.1° F.] are to be considered 

 free from the disease. The reports from different countries con- 

 cerning the diagnostic value of subcutaneous malleinization are 

 contradictory. [In the United States, the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry and the Pennsylvania Livestock Sanitary Board have 

 abandoned it for the ophthalmic test.] A disadvantage of the 

 method is that it cannot be applied to horses in a febrile condition. 



[The directions for applying the subcutaneous mallein test, as published 

 by the U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry in 1910 and 1912, are as follows: 



The preferable site for injection is on the side of the neck about the centre, 

 where any local swelling is plainly visible. The hair should be clipped from 

 an area about 2 inches in diameter, and the skin thoroughly cleansed with a 

 disinfecting solution, such as 5 per cent, carbolic acid. Carefully steriUze the 

 syringe and needle before commencing the injection of each group of animals, 

 and immerse the needle in a disinfecting solution before injecting each animal. 

 It is better to use a separate syringe, needle, and thermometer for animals 

 exhibiting symptoms suspicious of glanders. Carbolized oil, vaseline, or lard 

 should be used to f aciUtate the insertion of thermometers and also to disinfect 

 them. On the day of injection, the temperature of each animal should be 

 recorded not less than three times at intervals of not less than two hours; for 

 instance, at 2, o, and 8 p.m. A careful clinical examination of each animal, 

 should also be made, and to each one some designation should be given by 

 which the animal will be known throughout the test. Mallein may then be 

 injected at 8 or 10 p.m., providing the preliminary temperatures are not ab- 

 normal. After injection the temperatures should again be recorded, starting 

 at the expiration of not more than 10 hours, and should be repeated at intervals 

 of approximately 2 hoiu"s ujitil the expiration of at least 20 hours from the 

 time of injection, and should be continued over a longer period in the case 

 of an animal with a rising temperature at the twentieth hour, if, at the same 

 time, a local reaction ia present. What constitutes a reaction sufficient to 

 warrant condemnation of the animal has been the subject of many articles 

 and prolonged discussion. The Bureau of Animal Industry has adopted the 

 following uniform principles for judging the mallein test: 



1. In order that a reaction produced by mallein may be considered posi- 

 tive it should evince the characteristics of a typical reaction; that is, a combi- 

 nation of thermal, local, and general reactions. 



2. By a typicfiJ reaction is to be understood a gradual rise of temperature 

 of at least 3** F. and to above 104" F., the maximum temperature being sus- 

 tained in the form of a single or double plateau. It should be accompanied 

 by a local as well as a general reaction. 



