542 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



site of the local eruption. Over the surface of the body swellings 

 occur which are rapidly followed by farcy buttons, which break into 

 ulcers; we find the indurated cords and enlargement of the lym- 

 phatics. 



Bleeding from the nose, sudden swelling of one of the hind legs, 

 and the swelling of the testicles are apt to precede an acute eruption 

 of glanders. As the symptoms become more marked the animal has 

 difficulty of respiration, the flanks heave, the respiration becomes 

 rapid, the pulse becomes quickened, and the temperature becomes 

 elevated to 103°, 104°, or 105° F. 



With the other symptoms of an acute fever the general appearance 

 and station of the animal is that of one suffering from an acute pneu- 

 monia, but upon examination, while we may find sibilant and mucous 

 rales over the side of the chest, and may possibly hear tubular mur- 

 murs at the base of the neck over the trachea, we fail to find the tubu- 

 lar murmur or the large area of dullness on percussion over the sides 

 of the chest which belongs to simple pneumonia. 



Where there is doubt as to the diagnosis, the mallein, the inoculation 

 test or the complement-fixation test may be employed. The mallein 

 test is made by injecting mallein (a sterilized extract from a culture 

 of glanders bacilli) beneath the skin. If the horse has glanders there 

 results a febrile reaction and a swelling at the point of injection. If 

 the horse does not have glanders the mallein has no effect or, at most, 

 it produces a slight swelling only at the point of injection. The 

 inoculation test consists in the inoculation of a susceptible' animal 

 (usually a guinea pig) with some of the suspected discharge from 

 the nose or a farcy ulcer. If the material is properly used, and if it 

 contains bacilli of glanders, the experimental animal will develop the 

 disease. Neither of these tests should be put into use except by a 

 competent veteriaarian. The complement-fixation test is a highly 

 specialized laboratory test and can only be carried out by one versed in 

 laboratory technique. ( See Bureau of Animal Industry Bulletin 136. ) 



The post-mortem examination of' the lungs shows that the pneu- 

 monia of glanders is a lobular, V-shaped pneumonia scattered through 

 the lungs and caused by the specific inflammatory process taking 

 place at the divergence of the smaller air tubes of the lungs. In some 

 cases of acute glanders the formation of nodules may so irritate the 

 mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and cause such a profuse 

 discharge of mucopurulent or purulent matter that the specific char- 

 acter of the original discharge is entirely masked. In this case, too, 

 the submaxillary space may 'for a few days so swell as to resemble the 

 edematous inflamed glands of strangles, equine variola, or laryngitis. 

 This condition is especially apt to be marked in an acute outbreak of 

 glanders in a drove of mules. 



Cases of chronic farcy and glanders, if not destroyed, may live in a 

 depraved condition until the animal dies from general emaciation and 

 anemia, but in the mgfJ^B^tjec/fepaftfeJBycfeofigfeome sudden exposure to 



