PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY OF ANTHRAX. 301 



present any cliaracteristic alterations. In some cases the 

 mucous membrane surrounding them has been seen to be 

 ulcerated ; and in animals of the bovine species the glands of 

 Brunner have been seen to be augmented in volume. 



(6.) Spleen. — This organ is the seat of very remarkable lesions, 

 and in virtue of the general constancy of their character, they 

 may be considered as the most conclusive expression of the ex- 

 istence of charbon. Its volume is often double, triple, or 

 quadruple ; it is larger, longer, and thicker, and its external 

 surface has a livid blue or black colour. The enlargement is 

 sometimes uniform, sometimes irregular, and is formed by a 

 mass of blood distending the splenic capsule, which occasionally 

 becomes ruptured, giving exit to thick, black blood. 



When cut, black incoagulable blood escapes from the incision. 

 On pressing and wasliing the tissues, the putrid matter is 

 removed, and the fibres left are of a reddish-black colour. 



(7.) Liver. — Augmented in volume, with the appearance of 

 having been boiled. Its tissue is friable, easily cut, and from 

 the cut surfaces great quantities of black blood escape. 



(8.) Respiratory organs. — Some amount of serosity in the 

 chest, of a muddy and slightly red colour. The costal and pul- 

 monary pleurse are covered with black spots. In the subserous 

 areolar tissue there is a yellow citron infiltration, which is con- 

 tinued into the interlobular areolar tissue. Gas is developed as 

 in the subcutaneous areolar tissue, and brown and black spots 

 are seen throughout the lung tissue and on the respiratory 

 mucous membrane. 



(9.) Nervous system. — The meninges of the brain and spinal 

 cord are covered with black spots. The venous sinuses are 

 filled with a very liquid blood, and in places yellow infiltrations 

 are observed. The cerebral substance is ecchymosed, and clots 

 of blood are seen on its surface. 



The ganglia of the . great sympathetic nerve are large, red, 

 soft, and infiltrated. 



(10.) Urinary apparatus. — Like the liver, the kidneys are 

 augmented in volume. They are of a brownish colour, easily 

 broken down, and the blood with which they are filled escapes 

 when they are squeezed. 



A consideration of the lesions found post mortem, leads us to 

 one conclusion — namely, that the alterations seen in the solids 



