Note 85 — Chapter V

This test is made by injecting into the animal a small quantity of tuberculin, which is a sterilized glycerin extract of cultures of the tubercle bacillus. In a tuberculous animal, even in the very earliest phases of the disease, tuberculin causes a temporary fever that lasts for a few hours. By taking the temperature a number of times before and after injection it is possible to readily recognize any febrile condition. A positive diagnosis is made where the temperature after inoculation is at least 2.0° F. above the average normal, and where the reaction fever is continued for a period of some hours.