66 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XI, No. 3 
Michin (6), and others have studied the reaction for the diagnosis of glan¬ 
ders very closely, large numbers of serums being tested simultaneously 
by the agglutination, complement-fixation, and conglutination tests. 
All these investigators reported very favorably on the conglutination 
test, their conclusions being that it was a valuable addition to the serum 
tests for the diagnosis of glanders and should be employed in conjunc¬ 
tion with the agglutination and complement-fixation tests. Schtitz and 
Waldman (13) reported good results with the conglutination test, and 
also a modification of this test in testing the serum of the mule and ass. 
In this country work has been done on the conglutination test by 
Fitch (4) in the diagnosis of glanders and by Wehrbein (17) in the 
diagnosis of dourine. 
The phenomena on which the conglutination test is based were dis¬ 
covered through the work of Ehrlich and Sachs (3), who found, by com¬ 
bining fresh normal horse serum, inactivated cow serum (heated at 56° C. 
for one-half hour), and the washed red blood corpuscles of the guinea pig, 
that after a certain time the guinea-pig corpuscles were agglutinated 
and to a certain extent hemolyzed. 
Bordet and Gay (2) and later Streng (15) studied this phenomenon and 
explained the reaction by stating that in fresh normal horse serum, 
besides alexin or complement, there is a normal sensitizer or amboceptor 
which has an affinity, on the one hand, for the alexin in the horse serum 
and on the other hand for the blood corpuscles. When this affinity has 
been satisfied the blood corpuscles are capable of taking up the alexin. 
After the corpuscles are alexinized they are then capable of being acted 
upon by a certain substance in the cow serum, a colloidal substance, 
termed by Bordet (2) “colloide de boeuf,” and later conglutinin, which 
has the property of strongly agglutinating and hemolyzing the blood 
corpuscles. The term “conglutination” was applied to this reaction. 
Streng (15), experimenting with a large number of serums of various 
animals to determine the presence of conglutinin, found that this sub¬ 
stance was not peculiar to cow serum alone, as he was able to demonstrate 
it in the serums of all ruminants, failing only in one instance with goat 
serum, and he attributes this failure to the fact that the goat used was 
quite young. The source of the complement is also immaterial, as serums 
from rabbits, guinea pigs, and man work equally well. Blood corpuscles 
from the guinea pig, sheep, or goat can be used with good results; with 
the sheep and goat, however, little hemolysis takes place, although the 
corpuscles are very strongly agglutinated. 
Great similarity exists between the complement-fixation and conglu¬ 
tination tests, as the latter is also a complement deviation, with the 
difference that instead of hemolysis as an indicator, an agglutination of 
the red blood corpuscles takes place. 
