898 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1899. 
When, however, the preliminary temperature before injection is aboye 
104 degrees, the animal may be temporarily passed and tested on a subsequent 
date, but if it is suspected that the high temperature is due to a tubercular 
condition it is advisable to proceed with the test. 
By following a fixed rule the work becomes, so to speak, automatic, and 
greater accuracy is obtained if the following order of procedure is observed :— 
I. Place all the animals to be tested in bails or a crush, and have them 
marked. 
II. Take the preliminary temperature at 2 p-m. and 6 p.m. on the day 
of injection, 
III. Inject the tuberculin at 6 p.m. 
TV. Take the temperatures every three hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 
the following day, or until there is no further rise of tempera- 
ture, and the normal level has been resumed. — 
USING THE THERMOMETER. 
The temperature of cattle, as well as all other of the lower animals, is 
taken in the rectum. Before inserting the thermometer be sure that the 
mercury stands below 97 degrees Fahr. 
With the left hand, firmly but gently grasp the animal’s tail about 8 inches 
from its root; lift it slowly just high enough to permit access to the anus. 
The bulb and lower part of the thermometer may be moistened with 
saliva, lard, glycerine, oil, or vaseline, to prevent its sticking to the mucous 
membrane of the rectum. When inserting the thermometer avoid catching 
the bulb in a fold of mucous membrane by changing its direction either to the 
right or left, or upward or downward as occasion requires. It has been found 
that the thermometer is best introduced in an upward direction. The 
thermometer should be pushed into the rectum sufficiently far so that it can 
be easily withdrawn, and yet evade the swinging motion of the animal’s tail 
when the latter is released. 
The thermometer should remain in position at least four minutes. 
Injecting the Tuberculin.—When the syringe is filled and the proper dose 
set, the operator should take his place, if the animal is in a bail, by the right 
shoulder of the animal, or on the side opposite to that in which he intends to 
inject. Reaching over the animal with the left hand, he must pinch the skin 
firmly at the chosen point with the left thumb and forefinger. With the 
syringe resting in his right palm, the needle between the thumb and forefinger, 
he pierces the skin with a quick thrust, and while retaining hold of the folded 
skin, the piston is taken with the right thumb and the contents of the syringe 
slowly introduced into the subcutaneous tissue. 
The Reaction.—lt may be affirmed that an animal has tuberculosis if its 
temperature rises 2°5 degrees Fahr., or more, on the day following the 
injection. 
If there is any rise less than this, a repetition of the injection after three 
or four weeks is desirable, 
As a rule, with tubercular animals the temperature in a typical case will 
begin rising twelve hours after injection—i.e., at 6 a.m.—and by noon may 
reach 107 degrees Fahr. 
One point worth remembering is that, generally speaking, the smaller and 
fewer the lesions of tuberculosis, the greater and more certain is the reaction * 
produced, while on the other hand cattle suffering from advanced tuberculosis 
will give only a slight reaction; in fact, it is very often observed that in the 
very latest stages of the disease the animal may show no reaction whatever. 
This is explained by the fact that the animal, in consequence of the generalised 
form of the disease, is so literally saturated with tuberculous products, that 
the very small amount of tuberculin injected fails to excite the tissues. It is 
also worthy of mention that, as such advanced cases do not require tuberculin 
injection to discover their diseased condition, this source of failure does not 
count against the value of the test. 
