Symptoms. ]^y 



blood, or occasionally large masses of blood may be passed 

 by the affected animals. In horses it is sometimes possible 

 to demonstrate a marked enlargement of the spleen by rectal 

 exploration or by percussion. The urine is dark red and some- 

 times even bloody. (This is a particularly frequent symptom 

 in sheep, in which animals the compression of the nasal openings 

 causes immediate urination.) 



The milk secretion usually ceases shortly after the onset 

 of the disease ; if there is a slight secretion of milk it is yellowish 

 or bloody in appearance, slimy, and possibly bitter. Pregnant 

 animals frequently abort. After the difficulty in respiration 

 has reached a high degree, death finally results with signs of 

 asphyxiation. 



Besides these symptoms, which clearly indicate the pres- 

 ence of an acute infectious disease, in some cases, particularly 

 in horses, more rarely in cattle and very exceptionally in sheep, 

 acute edematous swellings develop on the surface of the body, 

 which make a more accurate orientation of the nature of tlie 

 affection possible. In any region of the body, but especially 

 on the neck, breast, flanks, or lumbar region, a more or less 

 extensive, rapidly growing swelling develops. The swellings 

 are hot, and of a doughy or dense consistence, but the skin 

 covering them usually shows no changes. Exceptionally on a 

 circumscribed area of the skin proper a warm, painful and dense 

 swelling develops surrounding which the subcutaneous tissue 

 also appears greatly swollen as a result of the inflammatory 

 edema. With the swelling of the neck there is usually associated 

 a severe pharyngitis or edema of the glottis which considerably 

 increases the pre-existing dyspnoea. On the rectal mucous 

 membrane carbuncular growths develop occasionally as a result 

 of infection introduced by a rectal examination or by manual 

 removal of the feces. In such cases the feces are usually 

 evacuated under severe straining, and contain dark, tar-colored 

 blood or exfoliated tissue shreds. The rectum is prolapsed; 

 the perineal region is edematously swollen, while the hand in- 

 troduced into the rectum may detect flat or nodular swellings 

 in the hot mucous membrane. 



A primary affection of the skin only rarely occurs in 

 animals, and consists in the appearance of circumscribed, warm, 

 painful and hard swellings which later become gangrenous, 

 commencing in the center, and change into ulcers (carbuncles) 

 which have ragged borders and are covered with necrotic tissue. 



According to some authors anthrax may occur in sheep in the 

 form of an erysipelas-like dermatitis accompanied by a subcutaneous 

 edema which starts at one extremity and soon extends to the body, 

 whereby the patients show high fever and die inside of Yo to 2 days. 

 The anthrax nature of the affection has not yet been positively estab- 

 lished. 



The occurrence of the so-called gloss anthrax is also doubtful, as 

 most cases in cattle designated under this name belong to hemorrhagic 



