Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1895-04-24
TO PRODUCE SERUM.
HOW "MR. BILLIE" SAVES MANY
PRECIOUS LIVES.
The Easy Life Suits Him, and He Holds
the Record for Producing AntI-Toxine
AT First He Objected to the Treat.
ment, but Now He Enjoys 1t.

ment, but Now He Enjoys 1t.
There was horse once that thought
1t would be much nicer to be driven up
Filth avenue attached to a runabout
win dark body and crimson wheels
than to be YEARLY dragging truck
ABOUT tie rough pavement. He thought
IL would be nice to be a high-stepPer,
well groomed and we'll cared for, and
take spin once or twice a day through
the park. He envied those other
wealthy horses and looked up to them
from his little workaday world and be-
came pessimist.
Ihls morse is unhappy no longer. He
LOOKS down upon the prancing, high
hooI-throwing animals in the park
ana mas the proud consciousness that
ne is not like other horses. He is a
lie saver He is "Anti-Toxine Bill No.
{. He has furnished more serum
than any two other horses in the world
ana saved the lives of any quantity
OF poor children suffering from diph-
therla. BILL" or Mr.. Billie" as some
OF the stable attendants at the New
YORK College of Veterinary Surgeons
call him, is aperfect mine of anti-toxine
and since he was discovered has fur
nished fifteen quarts of the serum.
Mr.. Billie" is very undemonstra-
i've morse and under his wool blanket
LOOKS like any other gray horse of the
heavy western variety. He stands six
teen hands in height and weighs a
/ prn1f L. ho
before he became this wonderful pro-
queer OF anti-toxine. He was picked
up at horse sale by the buyer for the
establishment, and because he had
something the matter with one of his
hind legs he was easily bid in for 81.
This was the best 81 the college ever
spent. Mr.. Billie" was taken to the
! college and after few days of rest was
given the usual dose of toxine, which is
the poisonous substance formed by the
diphtheria bacilli.
Mr.. Billie" did not like it at first.
He had been examined by the usual
test to see if he had CHAMBERS or any
other horsey diseases, had been pro-
nounced sound, with the exception of
the game foot and general debility
caused by a little too much truck
work. When they injected the two
| cubic centimeters of toxine under his
skin near the shoulder by means Of the
special hypodermic syringe Mr..
Billie" looked around in surprise and
mildly protested. 1t made his tenn
perature go up and made him feverish
and he did not care for that. Then in
| q h in,
and the dose was repeated. The horse
began to thrive and grow fat and now
has taken 200 cubic centimeters with
out so much as winling. This contin-
I ued for three months and the eX-truck
/ horse seemed to like the life. 1t was
much pleasanter to have plenty to eat
| and nothing to do, with an hour of eX-
/ ercise night and morning, than to be
| whipped and beaten and hitched to q
| truck. Then the physicians took his
| temperature and looked very wise and
one day they made an incision in ''Mr.
| Billie's" neck and inserted glass tube
and got out a lot of blood. They took
one quart the first time and tested
! it by separting the serum and were
surprised at finding it twice as strong
as any taken from the other forty
| horses in the two stables where the
/ work goes on. About seven quarts of
| blood were taken out and the horse
| was given another dosing. Another
| horse who has produced a large guam
! tity of serum is named Robby He is
/ q roam, standing about 1873, good
stopper, and is often driven to a run
about for exercise. He has a fashion
| ably banged tail and is as good horse
as anyone would wish to own. The
operation of procuring the serum,
which has just been described, is
very simple one and merely consists
| in filling the animals system very full
! of the tOXine poison. Some of the
| horses cannot stand it. Out of the forty
horses who have been operated upon
! eight have died. These were horses
some of them-who were too old to
| properly take the treatment. All the
! horses at the two stables are now young
! horses, or years of age, as it has
| been found they are more adapted to
| the process and give the best results.
| Sometimes the serum is of clear, yell
| lowish color and sometimes it is red
| der. The color varies and the reason
! for this is not known. The anti-tox-
! inc is steriliZed and put up into small
! bottles. The board of health uses a
! great deal of the anti-toXine which
| comes from the New York College of
! Veterinary Surgeons. There is lab
| oratory on the second floor of the
! building where the whole work of
! nrenaratiOn is done