286 ANTHRAX. 



swelling, with sometimes small haemorrhages, and their 

 capillaries contain enormous numbers of bacilli, as has 

 already been described in the case of the ox (Fig. 75); 

 the spleen also shows a corresponding condition. Highly 

 susceptible animals may also be infected by being made to 

 inhale the bacilli or their spores, and also by being fed 

 with spores, a general infection rapidly occurring by both 

 methods. 



Anthrax in the Human Subject. As we have noted, 

 man occupies a middle position in the scale of suscepti- 

 bility to anthrax. It is always communicated to him from 

 animals, and usually is seen among those whose trade leads 

 them to handle the carcases or skins of animals which have 

 died of the disease. It occurs in two principal forms, the 

 main difference between which is the site of entrance of 

 the organism into the body. In one, the path of entrance 

 is through cuts or abrasions in the skin, or through the 

 hair follicles. A local condition called a " malignant 

 pustule " develops, which may lead to a general infection. 

 This variety occurs chiefly among butchers and those who 

 work among hides (foreign ones especially). In Britain the 

 workers of the latter class chiefly liable are the hide-porters 

 and hide-workers in south-eastern London. In the other 

 variety of the disease, the site of infection is the trachea 

 and bronchi, and here a fatal result almost always follows. 

 The cause is the inhalation of dust or threads from wool which 

 has been taken from sheep dead of the disease, and which 

 has been contaminated with blood or secretions containing 

 the bacilli, these having afterwards formed spores. From 

 the fact that this variety occurs in the centres of the wool 

 stapling trade (in England, chiefly in Yorkshire), it is called 

 " woolsorter's disease." 



(i) Malignant Pustule. This usually occurs on the 

 exposed surfaces the face, hands, forearms, and back, the 

 last being a common site among hide-porters. One to three 

 days after inoculation a small red painful pimple appears, 

 soon becoming a vesicle, which may contain clear or blood- 

 stained fluid, and is rapidly surrounded by an area of 



