CHAPTER XX 



ANTHRAX, BLACKLEG, IIEMORRHAGIC 

 SBPTICEMIA, AND CORN-STALK DISEASE 



Anthrax. The disease commonly known as anthrax is 

 one of the most interesting of the transmissible diseases of 

 man and the lower animals. The causal organism is large, 

 and is found in great numbers in the tissues of the dead 

 animal. It grows profusely on many kinds of culture 

 media of both animal and vegetable origin. These facts 

 led to its discovery and cultivation early in the develop- 

 ment of bacteriology. The information gained from a 

 study of this organism was of the greatest importance in 

 the study of other and more obscure diseases. 



In 1849 Pollender noted the organism in the blood of 

 animals that had died from the disease. This observation 

 was confirmed by others. Robert Koch, in 1876, cultivated 

 the organism on artificial media. He proved that its arti- 

 ficial cultivation could be continued for long periods of 

 time, and that on reintroduction into the body of a suscep- 

 tible animal, a disease identical in symptoms and lesions 

 with the naturally occurring cases would be produced. The 

 causal relation of bacteria to the production of disease was 

 thus -proved where previously it had been suspected, but 

 not established with certainty. In 1881 Pasteur published 

 the results of his researches on a method of protecting ani- 

 mals against anthrax by vaccinating them with weakened 

 cultures of the organism. This work was the starting-point 

 for the development of vaccines and other biological pro- 



252 



