STATE HYGIENE 645 



supply, and so keep the collected lymph and pulp as free 

 as possible from blood. 



The point of importance is to know when a vesicle 

 (inoculated area) is fit to collect from. On no account 

 should anything be taken from it if it is advanced, viz., if 

 there is the least sign of suppuration. 



Preparation after Collection. — The material resulting 

 from the collection, is triturated in a special machine to the 

 consistence of a cream with a suitable proportion of glycerin 

 and water, and this mixture is kept for a considerable 

 time before issue. 



Throughout the above operations, it goes without saying 

 that the strictest surgical cleanliness should be observed 

 in general and in detail, but the employment of antiseptics, 

 advocated by some, should be avoided as far as possible 

 owing to the danger of sterilizing the lymph itself. A free 

 use of ethereal soap and boiled water, combined with the 

 employment of an autoclave, and the precautions known to 

 all surgeons regarding general and personal cleanliness, 

 suffice to insure perfect results. 



Glycerinated Lymph. — The admixture of glycerin with 

 vaccine lymph in order to produce an easily manipulated 

 pulp has long been practised, and Warlomont (' Manual of 

 Animal Vaccination ') credits the Vaccination Committee 

 of Milan with being the first to establish the method. A 

 modification, viz., glycerin and water, was introduced by 

 him into Holland, and in this country it has been practised 

 at the Army Vaccine Institute since 1889. In 1892 

 St. Yves M(^nard and Chambon (Paris) noted that storage 

 of lymph with glycerin for a considerable time gave most 

 excellent results, but it remained for Monckton Copeman 

 to demonstrate (1892) the reason for this, by proving that 

 storage with glycerin killed or inhibited the growth of the 

 extraneous organisms found in the lymph. 



Since then the matter has received considerable attention, 

 and it is now clearly shown that storage of calf lymph with 

 a 50 per cent, solution of glycerin and water, produces at 

 the end of a month or six weeks a vaccine practically free 



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