ANTHRAX. 337 



problems relating to the health of cattle, of man, and to the 

 dairy interest generally. We shall, therefore, consider at 

 some little length the two diseases of splenic fever (anthrax) 

 and tuberculosis, and then refer very briefly to other important 

 bacterial diseases of animals and of plants. 



ANTHRAX. (SPLENIC FEVER.) 



Anthrax is the disease of domestic cattle first deserving our 

 attention. This was the first definite disease of animals proved 

 to be produced by bacteria. It was the study of this disease 

 which furnished practically all the data upon which the germ 

 theory of disease was originally built. It proved to be an 

 easy disease to study and, occurring among animals, it was 

 possible to demonstrate the causal nature of the bacteria by 

 inoculations, a test which is manifestly difficult, or impossible, 

 in regard to strictly human diseases. For this reason anthrax 

 was very well understood before human diseases were investi- 

 gated. It has been a vigorously contested battle-ground, and 

 one where the germ theory won its first, its most famous, and 

 most decisive victory. The monumental mass of evidence 

 which has accumulated around this disease has furnished the 

 data and the methods by which the whole subject of germ dis- 

 eases has been tested. It has presented great problems and 

 has offered their solution. For this reason anthrax demands 

 our first attention, even though it is a disease not very com- 

 mon in our own agricultural communities, and, in its ravages 

 upon our herds, does not begin to compare with tuberculosis. 



Anthrax is a disease of domestic animals which has been 

 known for many centuries. It is mentioned in the writings of 

 Moses, and Homer refers to it in the Iliad as a well-known 

 disease. From those early days it has been more or less con- 

 stantly found among domestic animals. It occurs practically 

 all over the globe, in all latitudes were cattle are kept, and seems 

 to be entirely independent of climate. Every country of 



