256 ON FEVERS AMONGST HOUSES, CATTLE, ETC. 



succumb ; dogs and cats appear to possess a remarkable power 

 ■of resisting the poison, yet nevertheless at times suffer very 

 acutely from abdominal irritation, and not uncommonly die. 

 In certain hot seasons when anthrax assumes a malignant form, 

 horses, cattle, pigs, and dogs, fall victims from inoculation, the 

 morbid poison gaining access to the system along with the grass 

 on which blood, &c., may have been accidentally spilled, and 

 the archives of foreign literature abound with numerous 

 evidences of this. M. Dalac says its propagation may depend 

 upon the emanations from diseased animals attached to the 

 forage, and he records cases of malignant pustule in the human 

 subject following contact with the bodies of sheep dying of 

 splenic apoplexy, and concludes by referring to the medical men 

 who attended the cases. He likewise gives a number of names 

 of high veterinary and medical authorities who accept tlie con- 

 sequence of contagion by contact with the bodies of animals 

 •dying of anthrax.* 



In a report by Mr E. Ceely on the outbreak of anthrax fever 

 at Swineshead, Lincolnshire,! we are favoured with facts having 

 greater value on account of their reference to events in our 

 vicinity. We are there informed the disease first appeared in 

 some sheep, and subsequently some oxen grazing with them 

 were attacked, and pigs whicli only passed over the ground were 

 seized. The malady was confined to one field, which after a 

 time was cleared, dressed with agricultural salt, and shut up for 

 three weeks, at the end of which, two lots of beasts were put on 

 to graze, and two out of the number were attacked in twenty- 

 four hours. The horses escaped ; dogs and pigs partaking of 

 the warm blood of the dead oxen suffered no harm, and human 

 beings ate the cooked flesh with safety. In other instances 

 pigs fell ill and died after consuming the milk and offal of 

 diseased animals, suffering from the peculiar form of anthrax 

 knoAvn as angina, or throat disease. The report concludes with 

 the following remarks : — 



" The carcases of animals dying of anthrax fever ought to be 

 immediately buried deeply in the soil, as much for the benefit 

 of the owner as the safety of the public. 



"The fatality of this disease, its coramunicability to all 

 animals, and even to man under certain circumstances, would 

 justify the most rigid legislative enactments, and claim increased 

 vigilance and intelligence on the part of inspectors at slaughter- 

 houses, markets, and fairs. 



" The institution, and resolute supervision of public slaughter- 

 houses, wherever practicable, would no doubt accomplish much 

 in defence of the public interest. But there is a class of men 



* Eec. de Med. Vet. 1860. 



t Sixth report of the medical officer of the Privy Council, 1863. 



