!_*H> Recent Literatur*. [April 



habits of buuards when feeding on can-ion: "They congregate about a 

 dying animal, plucking out the eyes and tearing oft soft parts even before 

 death. Thus they pick away the mucosa of the anterior nares, pluck out 



tin- c\ es ami the soft parts around the anus and sheath. \s decomposition 



advances and the tissues soften, the birds crowd into and upon the Carcass, 

 literally smearing the decomposed material over their plumage. In the 

 ease oi an animal dying of anthrax, the tissues contain enormous numbers 

 of bacilli. These in contact with air on the plumage of the bird go into 

 spore formation, and buzzards most certainly act as carriers of infection, 

 by transporting anthrax bacilli and spores from one place to another in 

 this way. Some personal (immediate) COntad with animals or pastures 

 would be necessary in this case for infection. If, however, the spores of 

 anthrax bacilli pass intact through the intestinal tract of buzzards, pas- 

 tures might lie infected from the droppings of birds that had fed on animals 

 dying of anthrax. 



"'The following experiments were carried out to determine the likelihood 

 of that possibility. Three Turkey-buzzards were selected from a lot 

 supplied through the kindness of the Health Officer, Panama, and the 

 Sanitary Inspector at Empire. The buzzards were kept in an isolated 

 room and were given a plentiful supply oi drinking water and chopped 

 meat This meat was thoroughly soaked and mixed with a saline emulsion 

 of anthrax bacilli and spores grown on agar plates. On account oi the 

 tilthy habits of the birds, it was impracticable to obtain specimens oi 

 icccs in which food contamination could be ruled out except by holding 

 the birds and instating a swab or catheter into the cloaca. Abundant 

 materia] was obtained in this way. Specimens were taken at approxi- 

 mately 12, 36, 60 and SI hours after feeding. Numerous agar plates were 

 immediately made, but in none was the anthrax bacillus present. 



" In order to introduce a maximum number of the bacilli, the experiment 

 was repeated with the following variation: Instead of mixing iood and 

 cultures a rubber catheter was introduced into tin 1 gullet of the buzzard 

 and about 20 c. c. oi a very heavy saline emulsion of anthrax bacilli and 

 spores were injected through a catheter into the stomach by a l.uer syringe. 

 The buzzards were watched to see that they did not regurgitate or other- 

 wise unlawfully dispose of the dose. Agar plates were made as before, 

 and anthrax bacilli were found to be absent. Shortly after these experi- 

 ments were completed the birds were killed and cultures taken from various 

 portions of the intestinal tract Anthrax bacilli were absent. 



"We conclude from this experiment that pastures and other locations 

 cannot be infected by blizzards through the agency of droppings, but 

 require more intimate contact. 



"The experiment just outlined illustrates the very powerful digestive 

 mechanism oi buzzards for bacteria, and when we consider that the food 

 of carrion birds is sometimes almost wholly bacteria and bacterial products, 

 we are not surprised at the facility with which they appear to destroy all 

 bacterial species " (pp, 74-75 



From the above experiments it is dear that the possibility of buzzards 



