362 The Care of Animals 



of the disease, by making artificial cultures on agar or 

 gelatine, or by inoculating a small animal. 



Treatment in a medicinal way is of little or no value. 

 A vaccine has been discovered that is very effective in 

 preventing the disease. This is used extensively and 

 successfully in the localities where the disease occurs, 

 both in this country and in Europe. It can be pur- 

 chased on the market. Great care should be taken to 

 prevent the spread of the disease. All contaminated 

 materials should be burned, quarters disinfected as rec- 

 ommended for glanders, and a stringent quarantine 

 maintained about infected localities. Infected pastures 

 are to be avoided, as well as streams along which ani- 

 mals have died. Persons coming in contact with animals 

 affected with anthrax should be careful, as the disease 

 is very dangerous. The mortality among animals 

 during an outbreak is usually very high. Whenever a 

 contagious disease occurs that attacks various domestic 

 animals and causes death, anthrax should be suspected, 

 and skilled advice should be called. 



BLACKLEG 



This disease is also called "black quarter" and 

 "quarter ill," and is sometimes described under the 

 name of "symptomatic anthrax," but it has no relation 

 to true anthrax. Blackleg is a disease of young cattle, 

 attacking them from calves a few weeks old to cattle two 

 and sometimes three years old. The disorder is caused 

 by a germ that the cattle get in pasture, or in food 

 or drinking water. The disease is distributed over a 



