32 



Malijiiiaiit Edema. 



Fig. 8. Edema bacilli with flagella 

 Agar culture ; flagella staining. 



2. Malignant Edema. Oedema malignum 



(Septicaemia gangracnosa, Septicemie gangreneuse [French]; 

 Malignes Oclem {German}; Setticemia gangrenosa [Italian].) 



Malignant edema is an acute, fel)rile, infectious wound 

 disease of domestic animals, 

 wliicli is characterized princi- 

 pally by edematous, later crepi- 

 tating swellings at the place of 

 infection. Its cause is the anae- 

 robic bacillus oedematis maligni. 

 History. The development of crep- 

 itating swellings following injuries, 

 seatons, castrations, etc., has been 

 known since earliest times, and Girard 

 (1880) proved that crepitating swell- 

 ings in sheep may be produced by 

 putrid animal substances. Chauveau 

 (1873) showed by experiments carried 

 out on male goats that the living or- 

 ganisms contained in injected putrid 

 blood were closely associated Math the 

 development of the disease. Pasteur 

 (1877) studied more closely the bac- 

 terium, named by him as ''Vibrion 

 septique, ' ' and also succeeded in grow- 

 ing it in pure culture. Later Koch 

 & Gaffky (1881) extensively investi- 

 gated the disease produced by the in- 

 oculation of dirt, and which they 

 termed malignant edema. Since that 

 time Kitt, Jensen & Sand, and Le- 

 clainche, have contributed to the bac- 

 teriology, while new observations re- 

 garding its occurrence in domestic 

 animals have been published by Jen- 

 sen & Sand, Ratz, Frohner, Carl and 

 others. 



Occurrence. Malignant edema 

 occurs everywhere since its caus- 

 ative agent is ever present in the 

 superficial layers of the soil. 

 Nevertheless it is not a very fre- 

 quent disease, Init may occur in 

 horses and cattle, in cows partic- 

 ularly after parturition. Occa- 

 sionally in sheep it causes great 

 losses, and may in veterinary 



Fig. 10. Bacillus of maliynant edema. llOSpitals amOUg llOrSCS aSSUme 



''"i'rSle.r;^'r ilaT ^r ^2 '^°"»»*?<' eliaraeter as a sequel 

 aration; fuchsin staining. ot Operations (L. A. Merillat). 



Fig. 9. Bacillus of inalignant edema. 



Spore formation tiiree-day old 



agar culture, stained with 



diluted fuchsin solution. 



