104 Agricultural Bacteriology. 



water for an hour. The carcass should be disposed of at 

 once after opening so that flies shall not have access to 

 the blood. 



It should also be remembered that the urine, f eces, and 

 discharges from the nostrils may contain the organisms. 

 Barns may thus become contaminated, and where spores 

 form, infection persists for long periods. The milk may 

 sometimes contain the organisms just prior to the death 

 of the animal. 



BLACK LEG. 



Black leg or symptomatic anthrax, as it is often called, 

 because some of the symptoms and lesions resemble those 

 of anthrax is a disease of importance, especially in the 

 western states where cattle are given a wide range. 

 While found in the majority of the states, in other than 

 the range states it occurs only in isolated localities. 



Animals affected. The animals affected are cattle, 

 sheep, and goats, the latter two very infrequently. No 

 other domestic animal is susceptible to the disease nor is 

 man. It is primarily a disease of young cattle, between 

 the age of six months and two years, and is most often 

 noted among the best nourished animals of the hprd. 

 Purebred and grade animals are more susceptible than 

 common stock of the range. The "long horn" of the 

 Texas ranges did not easily acquire black leg but with 

 the introduction of purebred stock the disease has in- 

 creased greatly in amount. In the northern states it is 

 most frequent from April to September, in the south it 

 occurs at all times of the year. 



Symptoms. The organism is supposed to enter the 

 body through wounds on the skin or mucous membranes 

 of the mouth and intestines. So far as is known the bac- 



