CHAPTER XLIX 



THE MICROBE OF SPLENIC FEVEK 



THIS is a disease both of the lower and the human 

 animal. It originates with the lower animals, and 

 from them is communicated to Man. Therefore, 

 when it prevails among sheep, cattle, horses, it is 

 liable to become epidemic among the people. 



The blood of the animal or person having this 

 disease turns dark, and dark spots, frequently 

 coal black in the center, appear on the surface 

 of the body. For this reason the disease has been 

 called anthrax, because this word comes from a 

 Greek word which means a coal, or a black sub- 

 stance. 



The disease also greatly affects the spleen. 

 This organ becomes congested, swollen to twice or 

 three times its normal size, with high fever. The 

 disease is therefore also known as splenetic fever. 



The microbe that causes this fever is represented 

 in Fig. 88. It belongs in the Eod-shaped type. 

 The little rods are cup shaped at the ends. Their 

 shorter diameter is about the -f^W part of an 

 inch; their longer diameter much more. They 

 propagate by the Production of Spores. 



To the lower animals the fever comes in two 

 forms. One is the acute form. By swallowing 



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