THE TUBERCULIN TEST 347 



permanganate is necessary to disinfect each 1,000 cubic feet of 

 air space. The premises should be closed for six hours and then well 

 aired. 



The walls are finally painted or covered with whitewash contain- 

 ing five per cent, of crude carbolic acid. Healthy animals, which 

 have not been exposed to infection, may now be allowed to return to 

 their disinfected quarters. 



The Tuberculin Test* 



It is best to take the temperature of the animal from 6 a.m. every 

 two hours until tuberculin is injected on the evening of the same day 

 between 8 and 10 p.m. The temperature is taken with a clinical 

 thermometer (sold by druggists) , which is anointed with vaseline and 

 held in the rectum, or bowel, for three minutes. The test is unreliable 

 in animals whose temperature reaches 103 deg. F. (except in the 

 young, when this may be considered a normal maximum) during the 

 period prior to the injection. Sometimes the test is not positive in 

 animals in an advanced stage of tuberculosis, but in these signs are 

 often evident, as emaciation, cough, enlarged glands, etc. The test is 

 also misleading if performed within a few days of calving — either 

 before or after. The injection is made under the skin just behind the 

 left shoulder blade, or on the side of the neck, with a syringe and 

 needle previously boiled for five minutes. If a number of cows are to 

 be tested, the needle and syringe need not be boiled before each 

 injection is made, but the needle should be wiped off after each 

 injection with a clean cloth saturated with alcohol. The animal 

 should be kept in the barn at rest during the days of the test and 

 should not be allowed large quantities of cold water to drink so as to 

 reduce the temperature. The temperature of the animal should be 

 taken at 6 o'clock in the morning following the injection, and from 

 that time every two hours till 8 P. m. 



A rise of two degrees or more is necessary for a positive reaction 



that is, a rise of two degrees over the maximum temperature 



taken the previous day before the injection— in order to prove the 

 animal has tuberculosis. 



* Winslow's "Veterinary Materia Medica and Therapeutics." 



