20 



I do not think it necessary to make any extended comment on the facts 

 brought to light by this series of retests. So far as the possibility of 

 the latter reactions being due to reinfection is concerned, I would say that this 

 danger was fully considered and guarded against. If reinfection occurred in 

 any of these cases it was through one or other of the so-called ceased reactors, 

 and not from any outside source. 



I may add that while the work performed by Dr. Moore was the most 

 systematic and thorough of any which we undertook on similar lines, the 

 results obtained by him were corroborated by like retests conducted by other 

 •officers in various parts of the Dominion. 



Further proof of the dangerous character of these horses, which, through 

 an acquired tolerance to Mallein, are erroneously classed as ceased reactors, 

 is, I am sorry to say, furnished by our own official records, several instances 

 having occurred in which, horses held under supervision for periods deemed 

 sufficient to ensure safety, were permitted to mingle with healthy animals, with 

 disastrous results. , 



Not the least remarkable feature of these cases is the fact that they seldom 

 develop clinical symptoms themselves,, although, beyond doubt, many of them 

 are capable of transmitting infection to others. 



This report has already exceeded a reasonable length, but I cannot well 

 iciose without giving the concensus of opinion arrived at by our inspectors as to 

 what constitutes an actual and typical Mallein reaction. Ability to differentiate 

 with certainty, at least in the majority of cases, between typical and non- 

 typical reactions, is, for obvious reasons, perhaps the most important factor in 

 the use of Mallein. 



We are fortunate in having on our inspection staff a number of careful and 

 closely-ohservant men, and the results of their experience have been condensed 

 as follows : , 



In horses affected with Glanders from the 4th to the 15th hour after the 

 injection of the usual dose of reliable Mallein a distinct rise of temperature- 

 takes place, except in certain cases .which will be specially mentioned later. 

 The temperature gradually rises until the 14th or 15th' hour' after injection, 

 whei), after remaining at about the same height for a longer or shorter period, 

 it gradually declinesj the downward course being not mifrequently preceded by ^ 

 a slight secondary elevation. 



This thermal disturbance should, under ordinary circumstances, indicate 

 a rise of at least 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the highest control temperature 

 taken before injection. ' The wide variation in normal temperature shown by 

 ' the equine species, especially in Western America, demands the application to- 

 this rule of certain definite limitations. For instance, if invariably followed, a 

 horse having a^jre-injection temperature of, say, 99°, would be condemned at 

 101.5°, which might be well within his normal range. On the other hand, an 

 animal with a pre-ifijection temperature of J02°, which is not at all strikingly 



