MALLEIN AS A DIAGNOSTIC FOR GLANDERS. 
375 
that correspondence, and if yon think the same of sufficient im¬ 
portance for a space in the Review it is at your service. 
If the stamping out of glanders in this city is practised on 
the lines of the opinion expressed, the alarming prevalence is 
readily accounted for. Yours truly, 
L. McLean, M.R.C.V.S. 
LETTER OF INQUIRY. 
Brooklyn, June 17, 1896. 
Dr. Z. Taylor Emery , Commissioner of Health , City : 
Sir : —To enable me to comply intelligently with the 
ordinances of the Board of Health, I will thank you to inform 
me if your Department considers an animal that reacts to the 
mallein test affected with glanders ? An early reply will oblige 
Yours, etc., 
L. McLean, M.R.C.V.S. 
commissioner’s letter of transmissal. 
Department of Health, Commissioner’s Office, 
38 and 40 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., June 24, 1896. 
L, McLean, M.R.C.V.S ., 14 Nevins Street , Brooklyn , N. Y. : 
Dear Doctor : —Enclosed please find a copy of the special 
report of Dr. E. B. Ackerman, Veterinary Inspector of this De¬ 
partment, relating to the mallein test and its being considered 
infallible, or otherwise, for the determination of the presence of 
glanders. Trusting the same will be satisfactory to you, I am, 
Yours very sincerely, 
.Z. Taylor Emery, M.D., Commissioner of Health. 
REPORT OF VETERINARY INSPECTOR ACKERMAN. 
Brooklyn, June 20, 1896. 
Hon. Z. Taylor Emery , M. D., Commissioner of Health : 
Dear Sir :—In reply to L. McLean’s letter of June 17, 1896, 
which was referred to me for an opinion, I beg to state that there 
are several questions to consider before the matter can be defin¬ 
itely settled. The history of the case before and after injection 
would have to be taken into consideration, as well as the amount 
of reaction obtained from the inoculation and the quality of 
mallein used ; since, if the mallein is improperly made, it will 
not produce a reaction on a diseased horse, and unless mallein is 
! properly diluted it will occasion a thermic reaction in a healthy 
horse. I do not think we are justified in destroying an animal 
in good health, which is fat and with coat and body in good 
healthy condition, and with no external symptoms of glanders, 
