166 THEORY AND PRACTICE 



suspicious case. You cannot say that he has or has not glanders. 

 Every animal should either be named or marked on the tempera- 

 ture blank. Mark the last case as suspicious and test him again 

 after 30 days. 



In case the horse has not glanders the mallein test will give 

 no results at all, there will be no elevation of temperature. How- 

 ever there may cases come up that will give a little tempera- 

 ture, possibly a degree or two. There will be a slight local 

 swelling, but no radiating lines. Before night these symptoms 

 will be gone. You would declare such a case sound. 



Disposition of the Animals. — The strong reactors should be 

 destroyed, the mild ones quarantined and tested again at the end 

 of one or two months. The non-reactors should be taken out to 

 a clean fresh place and be kept separate from the others. When 

 the tests are made again at the end of the month you may find 

 some that give a marked reaction showing that the disease has 

 developed in that time. On the other hand some will react sus- 

 piciously at the first test and then when tested again show clearly 

 that they were not infected. Such cases should be tested several 

 times. It is important to protect a man's horses as far as possi- 

 ble. Do not kill any more horses than is absolutely necessary. 



The failure to react on the part of some of these animals that 

 are tested two or three times creates the impression in the minds 

 of many that the mallein test immunizes the animal. In some 

 mild cases the mallein seems to act as a curative and the animals 

 become sound again, living along indefinitely, while in others 

 the addition of a little more poison than they already have in 

 their system precipitates the disease to sudden termination. This 

 point is being debated throughout the world today by prominent 

 veterinarians, but we aim to be conservative and protect the 

 public. If you are acting under a state veterinarian who is in- 

 clined to be radical, argue the point with him and if you feel 

 that he is unreasonable, more so than you can endorse you better 

 resign than be caught by his mistake. 



Thorough disinfection must be given a stable where a glan- 

 dered horse has been found and destroyed. This is much easier 

 done where the barn has a good floor. Clean out the stable thor- 

 oughly, wash the stall, etc. Fill a large bucket with boiling 



