animal best
suited for producing what is now known as diphtheria antitoxin.

_Production of diphtheria antitoxin._

In laboratories, to-day, sound horses incapable of ordinary labor are
devoted to this life-saving task, and, without serious injury or
inconvenience to themselves, they develop artificially in their blood
this agent which neutralizes the effect of the diphtheria germ. The
blood of the horse, when removed, precipitated, and strained, contains
this property which is used almost exactly as vaccine in the case of
smallpox, except that in the case of diphtheria the development of the
disease is so slow that it is not necessary to use this treatment until
the disease has appeared. In smallpox, on the other hand, the disease is
so rapid that when contracted it is too late for vaccination to be of
much value. In New York State, the Department of Health furnishes this
horse antitoxin free of expense to health officers to use with persons
or families unable to purchase the preventative, so that no longer does
any need exist for the continuance of diphtheria as a cause of
mortality.

If the disease is early recognized and a proper amount of antitoxin
injected, that is, forced in under the skin so that it may be absorbed
by the blood, the probability is that in all cases the patient will
recover. It is equally useful with vaccine as a preventative of disease,
and in a school, for instance, where diphtheria has broken out, it is
only a reasonable precaution to use antitoxin freely to prevent
infection of those exposed to the disease.

To make use of the antitoxin at the proper stage of the disease, early
recognition is important, and fortunately science here can be of great
service. By wiping out the throat with a sterilized swab of cotton, the
bacteria present in the throat, if any, will adhere and may be wiped off
onto a gelatine substance in which the germs can grow. In twelve hours,
they will have developed, if present, so that with a microscope they can
be positively recognized. In Massachusetts, and particularly in the city
of Boston, the Board of Health maintains a laboratory with a medical
expert in charge, to whom physicians may refer these smears for
diagnosis. No excuse exists, therefore, in such a city for failure to
recognize and prevent the further development of diphtheria, since every
wise physician would take a sample of mucus from a throat in case of any
irritation there, the Board of Health would