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2 



ANTHRAX. 2 8 3 



inoculation into the tissue. It has been found, however, that 

 by reducing the temperature of the fowl and by raising that of 

 a frog, these animals may be infected by inoculation, and they 

 have even under certain conditions been killed. The usual 

 method of infection in man, of course, is by the skin, and it is 

 found that anthrax usually affects those who attend on or 

 slaughter animals that are subject to this disease, so that those 

 usually affected are butchers, grooms, and others engaged 

 in similar employments. During the time that I was acting 

 as physician to the Western Dispensary in Edinburgh, which 

 was situated near the public abattoir, several cases of localized 

 poisoning and two of general anthrax poisoning came under 

 my charge within a comparatively short time. These were all 

 cases of butchers, who having slight scratches on their hands 

 or arms, had been infected by the blood of animals that they 

 had killed which were suffering from splenic fever. Tanners, 

 skin-dressers, and wool-sorters are also specially liable to this 

 form of the disease, though the latter class are also very 

 frequently affected through the lungs. In certain regions 

 where the disease seems to be almost endemic the spores of 

 the bacillus may make their way into the alimentary canal 

 of the human and other subjects, through the medium of 

 food or water. 



It has already been stated that the anthrax bacillus within 

 the body of an animal is incapable of forming spores, but in 

 those cases where the bacilli can make their way from the 

 lungs into the saliva, from the mouth, or from the lower 

 part of the alimentary canal, whence they are discharged 

 with the secretions, spores may be readily enough formed. 

 Consequently an affected animal must always remain a centre 

 of infection, and even the dung from a diseased animal may 

 contain a large number of spores which, when scattered over a 

 field, are sufficient to infect whole herds or flocks. The only 

 way in which to get rid of the infection in such a case is to 

 burn the animal at once, or to bury it deep down in the 

 earth. This latter method of disposing of the animal should 

 only be resorted to where it is possible to bury it six or seven 

 feet deep. It is a well-known fact that the organism cannot 

 form spores where oxygen is absent, and at any tempera- 

 ture below 12 C., and below this temperature the bacilli are 

 incapable of existing for any length of time. At a distance 

 of six or seven feet from the surface the temperature of the 



