Investigations concerning bovine tuberculosis : with special reference to diagnosis and prevention / conducted under the direction of D.E. Salmon.

Date:: 1894

Credit: Investigations concerning bovine tuberculosis : with special reference to diagnosis and prevention / conducted under the direction of D.E. Salmon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$111. t1ie same day, and tlie dif!ereiice iii teiiiperatuie and tlie 9 a. m. temperature. degrees between tlie highest lligln'st tela ienii)era- 1 'intT- Hi^ihest tem- Tem])era- Differ- ix'i'ature before ture, enco be- perature before t ure, en(;e be- !No. of tli(^ first injec- 9 a. m., tween the No. of the Mrst injec- 9 a. m., tween the. animal. tion and the before highest \'. animal. tion and the before highest hour of occur- first in- and I hour of occur- first in- and rence. jection. lowest. rence. jection. lowest. 0 p 0 o '! 0 F. 0 0 312 103.0— 4 p.m. 100, 0 3.0 329 103. 0— 6 p.m. 100. 6 2 4 , 317 lO;]. 0— 5 p. ni. 101.0 2.0 338 103.0— 2 p.m. 102. 2 1.4 318 103. 0— r)i).ni. 98.8 4.2 342 103.0—10 p.m. io:.8 1.2 319 103. 3— 5 ]). m. 99 8 3.5 352 103.0— 6 p.m. 102.6 0.4 323 103. 5— 5 ]). ni. 99.7 3.8 354 103.5— <)p.m. 101.8 1.7 324 104. 0— 5 p. m. 101.0 3.0 ^ 359 103.2- Gp.m. 101.2 2.0 327 103. 0—11 a. m. 102.8 0.2 ] ,1 363 103. 2— 6 p. m. 101.9 1.3 We have here 14 animals which, Avith the exception of ^^Tos. 324, in tlie last stages of pregnancy, and 338, a case of tuberculosis diagnosed previous to the test, gave no evidence of an affection or a condition accompanying which a great variation in temperature, or an unusually low or high temperature, could be expected; and yet, if these animals had received an injection of tuberculin between 9 and 10 a. m., the day the temperature in the tables was taken, and the presence or absence of a reaction later in the day had been determined from the state of the temperature at 9 a. m., even if the tuberculin in the supposed injections had been absolutely inert, at least three fourths of the animals would have been looked upon as giving decided reactions. The degrees of temperature above given were all taken previous to the lirst injections. If we now turn to tlie temperature of the same animals taken previous to the second injections, we find that in eight of them very similar variations exist, and that only two of them have a really normal temi^erature, showing clearly that in many individuals the variations are sufficiently constant to make their determination by precise measurements i^ractically necessary in every tuberculin test from which reliable results are expected. In other words, the varia- tion in the temperature of an animal during the course of a day is fre- quently so great that, if this variation is not determined, and the tem- perature is taken only once previous to a tuberculin injection, it is merely a matter of chance if a high temperature, natural to the animal and indei^endent of the action of the tuberculin injection, is not con- founded with or erroneously taken for a reaction. Special stress is laid on this point because, in a recent article which s^ieaks of the use of tuberculin, the opinion is expressed that while a long series of temperatures before injection may be more scientific, a single temperature before injection at 9 p. m. is sufficient for prac- tical puri>oses.* An examination of the degrees of temperature of the 24 animals included in Tables II to IX, which were taken during twenty-four con- Thc Journal of Coinp. Mod. and Vet. Arcli., xa' (1891), p. 12.$