454 INFECTIVE DISEASES. 



spleen, closely resembling miliary tubercles. Loffler recommends 

 inoculation of guinea-pigs as tbe most reliable method of diagnosis. 



Sub-cultures of tbe bacillus rapidly lose tbeir virulence. The 

 toxic products have been already described (p. 48). Mallein can 

 be prepared from a culture on sterilised potato by extracting 

 with glycerine and water, or from a culture of the bacillus in 

 broth. A virulent culture is obtained from a glandered horse, 

 or from a guinea-pig inoculated with fresh virus. Sub-cultures are 

 prepared in glycerine broth, and incubated at 37° 0. for a month 

 or six weeks. If the cultures are found to be pure they are sterilised 

 in the usual way, in the steam steriHser, and by filtering- through 

 porcelain a pale, amber-coloured liquid is obtained. To test for 

 glanders, a few drops (2 J cc.) are injected underneath the skin, in the 

 middle of the side of the neck. In healthy horses there is no re- 

 action, or a very slight elevation of temperature. In glandered horses 

 there is marked rise of temperature (101° to 105°), considerable local 

 swelling at the seat of inoculation, and signs of general disturbance, 

 while the glandered tumours become more swollen and painful. The 

 temperature of the horse to be injected should be taken night and 

 morning for two or three days before the operation ; and in horses 

 suffering from febrile disturbance the test should be delayed. 

 Thomassen made a number of experiments on horses suffering from 

 pleurisy, bronchial catarrh, strangles, and other diseases, without 

 any reaction, except in a glandered horse, used as a control experi- 

 ment. Hunting and M'Fadyean, in this country, have made most 

 careful observations and experiments, and there is no doubt that 

 mallein is a very valuable aid in the diagnosis of glanders. In 

 many cases the reaction has been obtained in horses, and the 

 existence of glanders has been discovered only after a most searching 

 post-mortem examination. With this means of diagnosis it is now 

 possible to determine exactly which are the infected animals in a 

 stable where the disease has broken out. The animals can then 

 be slaughtered, and the disease prevented from spreading. 



Stamping-out System Whatever may be the stage of the 



disease or the extent or variety of it, isolation ought to be carried 

 out in its most complete form — ^namely, slaughter. The disease 

 might be completely stamped out, if it were not for the difficult 

 question of compensation. It can undoubtedly be checked by the 

 existing laws. 



In 1869 glanders was included in the list of contagious diseases, 

 and the provisions with regard to giving notice of the disease, the 

 regulation of movement, or exposure, and disinfection, were applied to 



