Mulford's Widal Test Outfit - for Practicing Physicians and Laboratories
date: label: date made
content: after 1905
name: label: maker
content: H. K. Mulford Company
notes: label: Description
content: Wood chest with latched, hinged lid. Paper label on top of lid. Additional paper label with list of contents of kit adhered to inside of chest lid. Chest contains: one 30 cc. bottle of Physiological Salt Solution, one 30 cc. bottle of Suspension of Sterilized Culture of Typhoid Bacillus, one 10 cc. dropping flask for Typhoid Culture with rubber bulb attached, one 10 cc. dropping flask for Salt Solution with rubber bulb attached, five graduated test tubes (one missing from original count) , one metal test tube holder (which holds six test tubes), three glass droppers (one has rubber bulb attached); one cardboard box with nine small capillary tubes for collecting serum, one needle in glass capillary tube, extra rubber bulbs and rubber stopper. Kit also contains one paper booklet with directions. One newspaper clipping - "Easy Method of Doing Widal's Reaction for Typhoid" / "Early Closure of War Wounds" - ca 1916, found in kit.
label: Description
content: In 1896, French physician and bacteriologist Georges Fernand Isidore Widal introduced a blood test for typhoid that still bears his name. Scientists had observed that cholera bacteria would clump together when injected into animals that had been immunized against the disease. This clumping, called agglutination, resulted from the binding of antibodies in the blood serum to the bacterial antigens. The clumps were easily observed through a microscope. Widal devised a practical diagnostic technique for typhoid based on this phenomenon. He mixed a small sample of the patient’s blood serum with a suspension of typhoid bacilli, then used a microscope to examine a drop of the solution. If the cells clumped together, the patient had typhoid antibodies, which indicated either current infection or prior exposure to the disease.
label: Description
content: In 1905, bacteriologist John Borden modified the Widal test in a way that freed practicing physicians from their reliance on the services of bacteriological laboratories. By 1912, the Mulford company was advertising a complete test outfit based on his modifications. The kit included a needle and glass capillary tubes for collecting blood from the earlobe, a bottle of salt solution for diluting the sample, a bottle of killed typhoid bacilli suspension, dropper bottles, test tubes, and a rack. The test required no microscope, as the bacterial clumping was visible to the naked eye, appearing as a small white mass at the bottom of the test tube.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
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content: Health & Medicine
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content: The Antibody Initiative
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content: Antibody Initiative: Diagnostics
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content: Antibody Initiative: Infectious Disease, Allergy, and Immunotherapy Collections
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Eleanor P. Custis
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.M-07860
label: catalog number
content: M-07860
label: accession number
content: 223292
objectType: label: Object Name
content: biological
label: Object Name
content: diagnostic, typhoid fever
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: instruction pamphlet (open): 3 1/2 in x 12 in; 8.89 cm x 30.48 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 1/2 in x 7 3/8 in x 4 in; 11.43 cm x 18.7325 cm x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: box, with lid open at 90 degrees: 6 15/16 in x 7 5/16 in x 5 1/4 in; 17.62125 cm x 18.57375 cm x 13.335 cm
label: Measurements
content: stock bottle, salt solution: 3 1/4 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 1/4 in; 8.255 cm x 3.175 cm x 3.175 cm
label: Measurements
content: stock bottle, culture typhoid bacillus: 3 1/4 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 1/4 in; 8.255 cm x 3.175 cm x 3.175 cm
label: Measurements
content: dropping flask, typhoid culture: 2 3/4 in x 3 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in; 6.985 cm x 8.89 cm x 3.175 cm
label: Measurements
content: dropping flask, salt solution: 2 7/8 in x 2 3/4 in x 1 1/4 in; 7.3025 cm x 6.985 cm x 3.175 cm
label: Measurements
content: test tube rack with test tubes: 4 1/4 in x 4 1/4 in x 1 5/8 in; 10.795 cm x 10.795 cm x 4.1275 cm
label: Measurements
content: capillary bulb tube: 1/4 in x 2 1/8 in x 1/2 in; .635 cm x 5.3975 cm x 1.27 cm
label: Measurements
content: rubber bulb: 1/2 in x 1 9/16 in x 5/8 in; 1.27 cm x 3.96875 cm x 1.5875 cm
label: Measurements
content: longest pipette: 5 5/8 in x 5/16 in; 14.2875 cm x .79375 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle in glass tube: 3 9/16 in x 3/16 in; 9.04875 cm x .47625 cm
label: Measurements
content: wide mouthed pipette: 3 3/8 in x 3/8 in; 8.5725 cm x .9525 cm
label: Measurements
content: dropper with bulb: 4 7/8 in x 1/2 in x 3/4 in; 12.3825 cm x 1.27 cm x 1.905 cm