A plentiful supply of straw should be provided for bedding and the food should consist of fresh vegetables, cabbage leaves, carrot and turnip tops and the like for the morning meal and broken animal biscuits for the evening meal. Occasionally a little water may be placed in the cage in an earthenware dish. The tray which receives the dejecta should be cleaned out and supplied with fresh sawdust each day, and the soiled sawdust, remains of food, etc., should be cremated. These cages are sterilised after use either by autoclaving or spraying with formalin. As ~animal inoculation~ is purely a surgical operation, the necessary instruments will be similar to those employed by the surgeon, and, like them, must be sterile. In the performance of the inoculation strict attention must be paid to asepsis, and suitable precautions adopted to guard against accidental contamination of the material to be introduced into the animal. In addition, the hands of the operator should be carefully disinfected. The list of apparatus used in animal inoculations given below comprises practically everything needed for any inoculation. Needless to remark, all the apparatus will never be required for any one inoculation. [Illustration: FIG. 171.--Hypodermic syringe with finger rests.] Apparatus Required for Animal Inoculation: 1. Water steriliser (_vide_ page 33). It is also convenient to have a second water steriliser, similar but smaller (23 by 7 by 5 cm.), for the sterilisation of the syringes. 2. Injection syringe. The best form is one of the ordinary hypodermic pattern, 1 c.c. capacity graduated in twentieths of a cubic centimeter (0.05 c.c.), fitted with finger rests, but with the leather washers and the packing of the piston replaced by those made of asbestos (Fig. 171). The instrument must be easily taken to pieces, and spare parts should be kept on hand to replace accidental breakage or loss. Other useful syringes are those of 2 c.c., 5 c.c., 10 c.c., and 20 c.c. capacity. A good supply of needles must be kept on hand, both sharp-pointed and with blunt ends. To sterilise the syringe, fill it with water, loosen the packing of the piston and all the screw joints, place it in the steriliser and boil for at least five minutes. Disinfect the syringe _after use_, in a similar manner. The needles, which are exceedingly apt to rust after being boiled, should be stored in a pot of absolute alcohol when not in use. 3. Operating table. 4. Surgical instruments. Sterilise these before use by boiling, and disinfect them _after use_ by the same means. Wipe perfectly dry immediately after the disinfection is completed. Scissors, probe and sharp-pointed. Dissecting forceps of various patterns. Pressure forceps. Retractors (small self retaining Fig. 172). Aneurism needles, sharp and blunt.