556 BACTERIOLOGY. 



greatly enlarged. The anthrax bacilli in these animals 

 seem to live almost exclusively in the bloodvessels and 

 to leave them only by means of hemorrhages. In this 

 way they reach but only late in the disease -the 

 various secretions of the body, the urine, the intestinal 

 secretions, and occasionally the bile. The passage of 

 the anthrax bacillus from the mother to the foetus in 

 pregnant females is possible, as has been shown by the 

 investigations of Strauss, Chamberlain, and others, but 

 it very rarely occurs. 



Occurrence in Cattle and Sheep. Cattle and sheep 

 are affected chiefly with the intestinal form of an- 

 thrax, infection in these animals commonly resulting 

 from the ingestion of food containing spores. The 

 bacillus itself, in the absence of spores, is quickly de- 

 stroyed by the gastric juice (Koch, Gaffky, Loffler). 

 The disease usually takes a rapid course, and the mor- 

 tality is high 70 to 80 per cent. The pathological 

 lesions consist of numerous ecchymoses, enlargement of 

 the lymphatic glands, serous, fatty, and hemorrhagic 

 infiltration of the mediastinum and mesentery, of the 

 mucous membranes of the pharynx and larynx, and 

 particularly of the duodenum, great enlargement of the 

 spleen, and parenchymatous changes in the lymphatic 

 organs. The blood is very dark and tar-like. Bacilli 

 are present in enormous masses. 



^Sheep are also subject to external anthrax, infection 

 taking place by way of the skin; cattle are seldom in- 

 fected in this way. At the point of inoculation there 

 develops a hard, circumscribed boil the so-called an- 

 thrax carbuncle; or there may be diffuse oedema, with 

 great 'swelling of the parts. When death occurs the 

 appearances are similar to those in intestinal anthrax, 



