284 ANTHEAX, OE CAEBUNCULAE FEVEE. 



diffuse erysipelatous inflammation set up over the back, not- 

 withstanding that no abrasion of the skin could be detected, 

 and the juice of the flesh had had to permeate through the 

 bags and shirt. In three days the man was a corpse. For- 

 tunately it is rare to witness such effects from the anthrax 

 poison so far north as the British Isles. 



Malignant pustule is not uncommon in Tuscany. It is 

 extremely prevalent in some parts of Piedmont, Lombardy, 

 and Venice, especially during the hottest seasons. No such 

 disease is seen in winter. 



In some parts of the Neapolitan dominions anthrax pre- 

 vails to such an extent that shepherds migrate with their 

 flocks into the Abruzzi and Appenines. This is, indeed, a 

 practice throughout Italy. Flocks of sheep and goats pass 

 the winter in low marshy districts, where pasture is to be had 

 all the year round, but, fearing the diseases of hot weather, 

 and having wholesome food on the hills, they leave the plains 

 for the latter early in spring. In the Neapolitan provinces 

 of the Capetanata, Bari, Otranto, and Basilicata, many thou- 

 sand sheep are wintered, but if they are kept there beyond 

 the 1st of May, not only are their lives sacrificed, but those 

 of many human beings. Cattle suffer likewise. 



The islands of the Mediterranean furnish us with many 

 interesting facts. Our own dependency, Malta, with its cal- 

 careous rocks, and scanty but fertile and well-cultivated soil, 

 is not free from anthrax; but Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia 

 suffer much more. Professor Lessona of Turin has repeatedly 

 spoken to me of the frequency of malignant pustule in the 

 latter island. In Corsica it is not seen in the heights of 

 Monte Piano, Padro, d'Oro, and Kotondo, but in the fertile 

 valleys between them. 



Without extending further these notes on the peculiarities 

 of districts in different parts of Europe where the many 



