236 THE DISEASES AND DISOEDERS OF THE OX. 



members of his flock. It has been recorded by John Gamgee 

 that 150,000 sheep die annually from braxy in Scotland alone. 

 The mortality on the best sheep-walks is something fearful, and 

 over wide districts every flock of sheep is decimated every year. 



The term itself, " braxy," is derived from the word " brock," 

 or "brack," which signifies disease. The malady is very 

 destructive on certain high moorlands, and it rages to a great 

 extent amongst sheep which, in the beginning of winter, are fed 

 on turnips, and forced with too much highly nutritious food. 

 In speaking of braxy, we must not omit to point out that this 

 name is often applied to other diseases, such, for example, as 

 chronic diarrhoea, or dysentery, or septicaemia, which are very 

 diff'erent from anthrax. In fact, the malady seems to have 

 been at first supposed to be inflammation of the intestines, 

 which indeed are often found in cases of anthrax to be exten- 

 sively ecchymosed. Moreover, there are certain maladies of 

 sheep which at present have not been satisfactorily explained. 

 As an instance of this we may mention that lambs occasionally 

 go down with a sudden fever, which usually attacks only the 

 best and most thriving of the lambs of the flock. The head is 

 suddenly protruded, the animal staggers in his walk, or may 

 stand still, quite unable to walk, then falls down, straggles a 

 little, and then dies. A dozen may die in twelve hours. 



Indeed, this disease is a justly dreaded one, for it attacks 

 and quickly kills all kinds of animals, including birds and even 

 fishes, and no clime is exempt from its disastrous ravages. As 

 a slight exception to the universality of this dread power we may 

 state that pigs, dogs, and cats are very insusceptible to the 

 disease; but the malady has been seen by us in dogs which 

 have partaken of the flesh of animals which have died of the 

 disease. Indeed, Koch has shown that the spores of the 

 germs of anthrax can readily cause infection by finding their 

 way into the alimentary canal. This fact is of importance as 

 showing that the flesh of animals dead of anthrax is unfit for 

 human consumption, and should therefore be prohibited from 

 being sold. 



On January 26th, 1887, a cow died suddenly at Chelmsford, 

 and within a few hours several more succumbed. On the 28th 

 thirty members of the herd had died, and soon afterwards nine 

 more fell victims. The veterinary surgeon who attended the 



