TRICHINA 
903 
that is, if the flesh contains living nematodes. If the trichinae 
are dead they will be motionless, and the cyst will be dissolved. 
It is best to experiment on some small animal, as the bird. In 
the bird you have a small amount of gastric juice ; this makes 
it somewhat disadvantageous. The sparrow is a very nice bird 
to experiment with ; feed it on infested meat; then after io 
hours kill it, and make a thorough examination of the small 
intestines. If the trichinae are dead or alive they will follow the 
second test, as previously spoken of. By the use of methylan- 
lin violet, picrocasminate of ammonia, aniline blue, as stains, the 
living not staining in any way, while the dead become tinted. 
A great many experiments have been made by prominent men 
upon the subject of the amount of heat it would take to kill the 
trichinae in a piece of meat. It was found to be about 55 de¬ 
grees C. In boiling meats it should always take from one and 
one-half hours to three hours to kill the trichinae in a piece of 
meat. The time required varies with the size of meat to be 
cooked. Trichinae are killed by cold as well as by heat; the 
temperature for cold is about 14 degrees or 15 degrees C. It 
will be less when the meat has been previously treated with 
salt. In itself salt applied often enough and long enough will 
kill trichinae in meat. After the animal has been killed it is 
always marked with more or less enteritis and peritonitis. To 
find the embryonic trichina it is best to make a microscopical 
examination. In muscular trichinosis the lesions consist of 
cysts large enough to be seen with the naked eye, and also the 
calcified cyst. If the affection has become chronic it will be 
impossible to see the calcified cysts in lard, therefore it is very 
necessary to make a microscopical examination. Cut a small 
piece of meat parallel with the direction of the fibres ; first steep 
it with water and place on a slide, cover with a cover glass and 
put under the microscope. The preparation can be examined 
in a 75 per cent, solution of common salt, 001-5 per cent, solu¬ 
tion of acetic acid. Very often calcareous tubercules are mis¬ 
taken for calcified trichina because they are very much alike. 
