The endermic reaction for Brucella infection has been used for the most part as a confirmatory test. But Burnet1 and others have reported positive cutaneous reactions in cases in which the blood serum showed no agglutination with Brucella and in which the blood cultures were negative.
Various antigens have been used in testing for cutaneous hypersensitiveness to Brucella and its products. These antigens may be classified roughly into two groups: (1) bacterial suspensions and (2) filtrates of broth cultures.
The use of the filtrate of a broth culture from twenty to thirty days old was described in 1922 by Burnet,2 who called the substance "melitin." It has since been widely used, particularly in countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and the results have varied. Trenti3 in 1923 reported specific reactions in nine cases of undulant fever, with negative results in forty controls. Olmer and Massot,4 Debré, Marie