Tuberculosis 501 



Microscopic detection of the bacillus in' the expectoration may 

 be successful in the horse with pharyngeal or pulmonary tuber- 

 culosis, but fails in those forms that affect the other internal 

 organs. It is all but useless for the expectoration of cattle and 

 dogs. When there is cutaneous tuberculosis or a tuberculous 

 fistula this is much more valuable, and it is especially useful in 

 dogs and parrots. 



The precipitate in the centrifuge will often show the bacilli 

 that are present in milk, but in very many cases of tuberculosis 

 the bacilli are not present in the milk. 



The centrifuge used on the urine may also succeed when kid- 

 neys, bladder or prostate are affected, but the bacilli are rarely 

 found in the absence of disease of these organs. The smegma 

 bacillus is a source of fallacy. 



The serous effusions in the affected seroscs (pleura, peritoneum, 

 pericardium, synovial cavities) may also be centrifuged and the 

 presence of the bacilli revealed. 



The agglutination test of Arloing and Courmont though often 

 giving positive results, (95.5 percent, in pulmonary tuberculosis, 

 50 per cent, in surgical, Arloing and Courmont ; 40 per cent. 

 Knopf ; 25 to 50 per cent., I^artigan) ; yet proved too unreliable, 

 and frequently gave positive results when tuberculosis was absent. 

 The best medium for cultures to be so used is 6 per cent, gly- 

 cerine bouillon, and the age of the tuberculosis culture 8 to 1 2 

 days. One part of fresh blood serum of the suspected animal in 

 a sterilized capillary tube is added to ten parts of the bacillus cul- 

 ture, and the tube placed in an oblique position. In 2 to 24 

 hours a fine sand-like material precipitates along the sides of the 

 tube, and the microscope shows the bacilli in clumps, absolutely 

 still without even Brownian movements. Gallemaerts found that 

 it proved very satisfactory with the serum of Guinea pigs after 

 three days from intraperitoneal inoculation, was less marked 

 after inoculations subcutem, and that in man the agglutination 

 appeared in influenza and pneumonia in the entire absence of 

 tuberculosis. Such an uncertain test cannot be utilized in vet- 

 erinary sanitary work. 



Experimental inoculation with milk, expectoration, morbid dis- 



. charges, the scraping of nodules, etc., is much more searching, 



.and will detect more cases than the microscopic examination. 



