BACILLUS ANTHRACIS. 559 



lowed by vomiting, diarrhoea, moderate fever, and pains 

 in the legs and back. In acute cases there may be dysp- 

 noea, cyanosis, and toward the end convulsions. The 

 pathological lesions are similar to those described in 

 animals. 



Wool-sorter's disease, or pulmonic anthrax, is found 

 in large establishments in which wool and hair are sorted 

 and cleansed, and is caused by the inhalation of dust con- 

 taminated with anthrax spores. The attack comes on 

 with chills, prostration, then fever. The breathing is 

 rapid, and the patient complains of pain in the chest. 

 There may be a cough and signs of bronchitis. The 

 bronchial symptoms in some instances are pronounced. 

 Death may occur in from two to seven days. The path- 

 ological changes produced are swelling of the glands of 

 the neck, the formation of foci of necrosis in the air- 

 passages, oedema of the lungs, pleurisy, bronchitis, en- 

 largement of the spleen, and parenchymatous degener- 

 ations. 



Many theories have been advanced to account for the 

 occurrence of intestinal anthrax among cattle and sheep, 

 which in these animals is the most wide-spread form of 

 the disease. It has been thought that infection was 

 produced mainly by the eating of food contaminated by 

 anthrax spores derived from the bodies of infected ani- 

 mals; but only in rare instances has it been possible to 

 trace the cause of the disease to this source. The 

 grazing of cattle on infected pastures has also been 

 assigned as the cause of the disease; but this does not 

 explain the occurrence of epidemics or the infection of 

 cattle on pastures which have never before been visited 

 by animals affected with anthrax. By some anthrax 

 has been called a miasmatic disease and likened to 



