250 ANTHRAX. BACILLUS 



soon become quiet, refuse to take food, and after twenty-four to forty- 

 eight hours suddenly fall over with some convulsions and die. Death 

 is due to paralysis of the respiratory centres and asphyxia. The post- 

 mortem examination shows an edematous gelatinous infiltration at 

 the place of inoculation; a congested, soft, and very much enlarged 

 spleen; and dark blood which, under the microscope, exhibits the 

 bacilli as described above. These findings make the diagnosis of 

 anthrax absolute. 



Prophylaxis. Prophylaxis against the spreading of anthrax should 

 in the first place concern cadavers. The best method of disposal is 

 to bury them in quicklime at or near the place where the animals 

 have died without loss of time and without opening or skinning them. 

 The bodies should be interred at a depth of five to six feet, so that 

 they may be completely covered. Sick animals in which there is 

 little prospect of recovery should be killed, but not by bleeding, and 

 the cadaver should be treated as recommended above. The place of 

 burial should be fenced in for several years to prevent cattle and sheep 

 from grazing there. Burning of the cadavers is also strongly recom- 

 mended, but facilities for this are rarely to be found at the place of 

 death, and transportation to a distant place, particularly if the animal is 

 skinned, involves a probable spreading of the infection. In Germany the 

 law prohibits the skinning of animals sick with or dead from anthrax. 

 If, for economic reasons, the hides are to be saved, they and the knives 

 used in the skinning must be properly disinfected; the latter by boil- 

 ing in water, the former by immersion for a number of hours (not 

 less than twelve) in strong carbolic acid, creosote, lysol, or other 

 similar solution. The process of tanning does not kill anthrax 

 spores. 



Barns, stalls and utensils which may have been contaminated from 

 anthrax-infected animals must likewise be disinfected; 



Vaccines and Serumtherapy. Vaccination for the protection of 

 animals against anthrax has been employed for a considerable time. 

 The vaccine used contains live but attenuated and sporeless anthrax 

 bacilli. There are various methods of decreasing the virulency of 

 anthrax bacilli, such as cultivation in the presence of small amounts 

 of antiseptics (carbolic acid, bichromate of potash, sulphuric acid), 

 cultivation in the blood serum of immune or immunized animals, 

 cultivation under higher atmospheric pressure, and cultivation in 

 successive generations at comparatively high temperatures. The 

 latter method is generally employed in practice to obtain vaccines for 

 the protective inoculation of domestic animals. The higher the 

 temperature under which the anthrax bacillus has been grown and 

 the longer the cultivation has been continued the more attenuated 

 the organism becomes; but in order to get a truly protective vaccine 

 the attenuation must not be carried too far. The method most 

 commonly employed is that of Pasteur, and the vaccines used are 

 prepared as follows: 



