An Attempt by Feeding to Induce in Animals Reactivity to Trichinella Spiralis in the Absence of Infection 1

Abstract

Summary 1. The repeated feeding to guinea pigs and rabbits of killed larvae of Trichinella spiralis, presumably containing denatured (cooked) or undenatured (frozen) antigen, failed to induce reactivity in the animals as measured by skin tests or flocculation tests of the serum. 2. Rabbits are superior to guinea pigs for experiments requiring skin-testing or flocculation of serum after infection with trichinae. 3. The flocculation test gives promise of being a useful test in suspected cases of trichinosis; an objection is that it requires large amounts of dried antigen. 4. This experiment did not afford an explanation for the unusually high incidence of positive skin reactions among patients confined in institutions.