Vol. X. No. 239 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



203 



THE GENERAL OCCURRENCE 

 OF ANTHRAX. 



Anthrax attacks all animals, and natural cases are met 

 with in all the higher domesticated animals and in man, but 

 most frequently in cattle. In Great Britain, it is mostly met 

 with in cattle, and after cattle in pigs, while horse° and sheep 

 are together next in order of susceptibility. A curious fact 

 is that in e.Kperiments, it is found that sheep are more suscep- 

 tible than cattle, the reason that they do not so often con- 

 tract the disease under ordinary circumstances probably being 

 that they are less exposed to infection, and also to the fact 

 that in sheep the disea.se is not so ea.sily recognized and i.s 

 less often reported. 



A constant feature is that the disease occurs in cattle 

 two years old or more, and except in the case of outbreaks, 

 it is quite rare in the calf. This is not due to any greater 

 susceptibility of adults, but rather to the fact that they are 

 more exposed to infection from such sources as feeding 

 cakes, etc. It is probable also that horses are almost, if not 

 quite, as susceptible as cattle: but here again, their exposure 

 to infection is far less. Dogs are the most resistant of the 

 domestic animals, especially old dogs, and it is very doubt- 

 ful if natural cases occur in poultry, the fowl being almost 

 immune. Of the smaller animals it is an interesting fact 

 that white rats are immune to anthrax, while the brown and 

 black rats are easily killed by it. 



Some idea of the virulence of the anthrax bacillus 

 may be gained from the fact that a single bacillus introduced 

 under, or merely into, the skin, is suflficient to kill a mouse or 

 a guinea pig. 



In the human being, anthrax is commonly met with in two 

 forms: one is 'wool-sorters' disease', well known in Bradford and 

 other places where wool is handled. The wool may be infected 

 to a very great degree, and the explanation is that, in some 

 countries, it is badly clipped, and even torn oft", so that blood 

 gets into it; subsequently the germs are scattered into the air 

 from the dry wool when it is handled, and infection occurs 

 by inhalation or by their entry through scratches or wounds. 

 The other form of the disease is known as 'hide-carriers' 

 disease', and is the result of carrying infected hides on the 

 back; infection here takes place through an abrasion in the 

 skin, giving rise to what is known as 'malignant pustule'. 

 Malignant pustule also occurs in wool-sorters' disease, when 

 the infection is through the skin. 'Intestinal anthrax' is 

 a rare form of the disease and is the result of eating the 

 flesh of animals dead of anthrax. 



In St. Vincent, at the present time, anthrax is in 

 abeyance, because of rigid legislation as to the destruction of 

 anthrax carcasses, the extent to which vaccination has been 

 conducted, and also because of the fact that animals become, 

 after some time, more or less immune to the disease. This 

 does not mean that they will not take the disease, but that 

 they have acquired a greater resistance to it than before. In 

 this connexion, it may be mentioned that one of the princi- 

 ples of natural immunity is, that a race of people or herd of 

 cattle is immune to any disease in direct ratio to its previous 

 experience of it — in other word.s the more experience they 

 have of it, the less likely they are to take it. The proba- 

 bility in St. Vincent is that sporadic cases will occur from 

 time to time, but that anything in the nature of an outbreak 

 is, for the present at least, unlikely. 



CANDELILLA WAX. 



Mention was made of Candelilla wax in the Afjri- 

 cidtural News, Vol. IX, pp. 10-1. and 124, while 

 material lor planting the species (Pcdilantlius sp.) 

 from which it is obtained has been distributed among 

 some of the Botanic Stations by the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The following note on the plant 

 appears in the Chamher of Coinmerce Journal for 

 May I9II:— 



A trial parcel of candelilla wax has been prepared for 

 shipment to New York from San Luis Potosi, says the 

 American Consul there. A local firm has fitted up a render- 

 ing outfit and is extracting the wax, pending negotiations 

 as to price, quantities and form in which delivery is desired. 

 The shrub is being delivered to the local firm from neighbour- 

 ing haciendas and waste mountain lands. The plant has 

 been pulled up, as the easiest method of gathering it, but as 

 the subsoil is a mass of tangled roots it is said that its 

 destruction is almost impossiljle. The local dealer has thug 

 far recovered about 3 per cent, in weight of wax. The entire 

 shrub is fed into boiling tanks and the wax skimmed from 

 the surface. The waste is used as fuel to heat the tanks. 

 The wax is of a brown slate colour, but by rolling it into thin 

 sheets it can be bleached in the sun to a very light shade. 

 It is proposed to instal means of filtering, to remove cellulose 

 and foreign matter. It is also proposed to arrange the 

 rendering tanks so that they can be set up and moved about 

 in candelilla districts, to avoid the expense of cartage of the 

 shrub and obtaining fresh material. As the use of the wax is 

 still experimental, its industrial application cannot yet be 

 defined. It is expected that it will prove a cheap and 

 satisfactory substitute in the manufacture of varnishes, 

 insulators, lacquers, sealing wax, dental wax, and water- 

 proof papers and inks. The shrub grows in great pro- 

 fusion on the mountain sides and waste lands in San 

 Luis Potosi. It is locally said that the wax seals the 

 plant against evaporation and enable.s it to flourish on 

 thin soil and with a minimum of moisture. The yield 

 is estimated at 12 to IS tons per acre, and it replaces itself 

 rapidly. The following data are condensed from a pamphlet 

 issued by the Department of Public Instruction: The cande- 

 lilla is a species of Euphorbia. It contains a small amount 

 of rubber: less than one-half of 1 per cent. Near the coast it 

 increases in size but yields less wax. The wax is harder and 

 more brittle than beeswax and possesses a high coefficient of 

 expansion. Its melting point is from 67° to SO'C, specific 

 gravity 0-982 to 0'98.5G, saponification value 35 to 86'.5, 

 hydrocarbons 425 to 59 7; dissolves in turpentine, chloroform, 

 hot ether, and lienzene. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Mr. H. A. Ballon, M.Sc, Entomologist on the Staff 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, returned to 

 Barbados from Antigua, where he had been conducting 

 investigations into the sugar-cane pests of the i.sland, 

 by the S.S. 'Liiristan', on June 10, 1911. ' 



Mr. P. T. Saunders, M.R.C.V.S., the newly appoint- 

 ed Veterinary Officer on the Staff of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, arrived in Barbados to take 

 up the duties of his office, by the R.M.S. 'Magdalena', on 

 the 5th instant. 



