24G Ninth Annual Report of the 



ANTHRAX. 



During the summer we have had a number of outbreaks of 

 this disease. In the vicinity of Rome, Oneida and Higginsville 

 a large number of farmers lost many cattle and horses. 



Upon one farm a little boy contracted " malignant pustule " 

 from milking a diseased cow. When the Department's atten- 

 tion was first called to investigate it was difficult to diagnose 

 the cases by post-mortem. 



Dr. V. A. Moore, bacteriologist of the New York State Veter- 

 inary College, was called to assist. After the diagnosis was 

 made we immediately used the modified form of Toussaint's 

 method, which had been used by the Department on previous 

 occasions with apparently good results. Some of the animals 

 so treated died. We then used the vaccine manufactured by 

 one of our manufacturing chemists. Some animals died after 

 this was used. This seemed to hold the disease in check, or 

 those that were afterwards affected appeared to have it in a 

 mild form. 



One old lady upon whose farm some 20 milch cows and a horse 

 had died, stated that she thought both treatments (Tous- 

 saint and vaccine) were of some benefit. On account of the 

 extent of this outbreak as well as the one that occurred in Sul- 

 livan county, it seems proper that a history of modes of con- 

 tagion of the disease might be beneficial. For the history, I 

 think that which is published in Friedberger and Frohner's 

 pathology is very complete. 



" Anthrax is perhaps the oldest known disease of animals. 

 It appears to be alluded to in the second book of Moses, ix, 10, 

 as the sixth plague of Egypt. In the third book of Moses stress 

 is laid on the possibility of transmitting the disease by clothes 

 to man. The epidemic which was described by Homer in the 

 first book of the 'Iliad,' and which ravaged among men, mules 

 and dogs, seems to have been anthrax. 



" Ovid has given in the ninth book of his ' Metamorphoses ' 

 a tolerably exact description of an outbreak of anthrax. Tlu- 



