Bacilli Resembling the Anthrax Bacillus 411 



that i : 800 parts per body-weight of dog's serum contain- 

 ing the antitoxin would protect a mouse. Similar results 

 have been attained by Marchoux. * Serum therapy in 

 anthrax is, however, of no practical importance either for 

 prophylaxis or treatment, as vaccinating the animals is 

 far cheaper and more satisfactory. 



Bacteriologic Diagnosis. When it is desired to have 

 a bacteriologic diagnosis of anthrax made where no labora- 

 tory facilities are at hand, an ear of the dead animal can 

 be inclosed in a bottle or fruit jar and sent to the nearest 

 laboratory where diagnosis can be made. The ear contains 

 so little readily decomposable tissue, that it keeps fairly well, 

 drying rather than rotting. It contains enough blood to 

 enable a bacteriologist to make a successful examination. 



Sanitation. As every animal affected with anthrax is a 

 menace to the community in which it lives, to the men who 

 handle it as well as the animals who browse beside it, 

 such animals should be killed as soon as the diagnosis is 

 made, and, together with the hair and skin, be burned, 

 or if this be impracticable, Frankel recommends that they 

 be buried to a depth of at least 1^-2 meters, so that the 

 sporulation of the bacilli is made impossible. The dejecta 

 should also be carefully disinfected with 5 per cent, carbolic 

 acid solution. 



BACILLI RESEMBLING THE ANTHRAX BACILLUS. 

 Bacilli presenting the 'morphologic and cultural char- 

 acteristics of the anthrax bacillus, but devoid of any disease- 

 producing power, are occasionally observed. Of these, 

 Bacillus anthracoides of Hiippe and Wood,f Bacillus anthra- 

 cis similis of McFarland,J and Bacillus pseudoanthracis 

 have been given special names. What relationship they 

 bear to the anthrax bacillus is uncertain. They may be 

 entirely different organisms, or they may be individuals 

 whose virulence has been completely lost through un- 

 favorable environment. 



* "Ann. de 1'Inst. Pasteur," November, 1895, t. ix, No. 11, pp. 

 50-75. 



f "Berliner klin. Wochenschrift," 1889. 16. 



t "Centralbl. f. Bakt.," vol. xxiv, No. 26, p. 556. 



\ "Hygienische Rundschau," 1894, No. 8. 



