lUBERCULOSIS AND ITS RELATION TO THE VETERINARIAN. 757 
action seems to be a little quicker if the animal is up and feeding. 
Occasionally the reaction will not reach its height until nearfy 
twenty-four hours after injection, hence the necessity of varying 
the time according to the herd. A very close watch should be 
made of any suspicious animals during the test period, as they 
usually show physical symptoms with the reaction. Some ad¬ 
vanced cases give no temperature reaction, and then the veteri¬ 
narian has to rely wdiolly upon physical reaction and symptoms 
Animals may have a high temperature from other causes than 
the tuberculin ; some of these are advanced stages of pregnancy, 
slight septicaemia following parturition, mammitis, laminitis, pe¬ 
riod of oestrum, indigestion from either over-feeding or feeding 
on straw and coarse foods, improper ventilation of the stable, 
sudden change of atmospheric temperature. During the test 
the animals should be fed as usual, but no water should be 
allowed, as it may cause alterations in temperature at any time. 
x\s there are so many irregularities which may complicate 
the testing no hard and fast rule can be laid down for the 
amount of reaction to condemn an animah The experience 
and sound judgment of the veterinarian is required to interpret 
the tuberculin test in many instances. It is from the want of 
these two qualities on the part of the person making the test 
and not the tuberculin that is the cause of so many reported 
mistakes. The tuberculin test will never be considered as reli¬ 
able, nor can it hold its present good standing as a diagnostic 
agent if applied by the farmers themselves. 
After condemning an animal with tuberculosis the veterina¬ 
rian must in most cases verify the diagnosis by post-mortem ex¬ 
amination. The owner of the animal usually removes the hide 
for its value ; after which the veterinarian begins the autopsy. 
It IS well to have a regular route for such work, especially if 
there are hundreds of spectators. A good method of procedure 
is something in this course : 
First.—Support the carcass on its back. 
vSecond If a cow examine the udder, supra-mammary glands 
and remove. ^ 
