182 LOUIS PASTEUR. 



exhibit the same symptoms, but varied according to 

 the kind of animal that was smitten by it, the 

 disease was supposed to vary with the species that 

 was attacked by it. The splenic fever of the horse 

 was distinct from that of the cow ; the splenic fever of 

 horse and cow were again different from that of the 

 sheep. In the latter, splenic fever was called sang-dc- 

 rate ; in the cow, it was maladie du sang ; in the horse, 

 splenic fever ; in man, malignant pustule. 



It was not until 1850 that trustworthy data were 

 first collected regarding the nature of the malady, its 

 identity with and difference from other maladies. 

 From 1849 to 1852 a commission of the Medical 

 Association of Eure-et-Loir made a great number of 

 inoculations, applied other tests, and proved that the 

 splenic fever of the sheep is communicable to other 

 sheep, to the horse, to the cow, and to the rabbit ; 

 that the splenic fever of the horse is communicable to 

 the horse and to the sheep ; that the splenic fever of 

 the cow is communicable to the sheep, to the horse, 

 and to the rabbit. As for the malignant pustule 

 in man, no doubt remained that it must arise from 

 the same cause as splenic fever in animals. What 

 class of men is it that the malignant pustule most 

 frequently attacks ? Shepherds, cowherds, cattle 

 breeders, farm servants, dealers in hides, tanners, 

 wool cleaners, knackers, butchers all who derive 

 their living from domestic animals. In handling con- 



