156 THE HORSE 



along the course of the absorbent vessels, and in course of 

 time these buds burst and discharge an unhealthy- 

 looking pus. A great deal will, however, depend on 

 whether the disease is acute or chronic. Diagnosis is 

 based upon reaction to the mallein test, but it is not neces- 

 sary to enter into any further consideration of this 

 disease. 



Anthrax 



Anthrax as it appears in the horse is by no means a 

 common disease in the British Isles, but in India and 

 various other countries it is a fairly common malady. 

 One of the worst features about it is that it is extremely 

 fatal and also communicable to man, through even the 

 most trifling abrasions of the skin, provided that blood 

 from an anthrax carcass accidentally gains admission 

 to a wound, which as previously stated may be ever so 

 slight. It is a disease of considerable antiquity, but it is 

 not much more than half a century since that organisms 

 producing it were demonstrated to exist in the blood. 

 Cattle, pigs, and certain other animals may contract the 

 disease ; in fact, in cattle it is not at all an uncommon 

 trouble, in which anim.als it is spoken of as splenic 

 apoplexy. Sheep are likewise affected, whilst pigs 

 occasionally contract the disease through feeding upon 

 the offal of an anthrax carcass. As in the case of glanders, 

 immediate notification of its existence or suspected 

 existence is required by ,the Board of Agriculture, and 

 upon the opinion of that body diagnosis will rest. In 

 the horse the course of the disease is usually very rapid, 

 and the animal may die within two or three hours from 

 the onslaught of the attack. In some cases the lungs are 

 the main seat of the trouble ; in others the intestines. 

 The pain is very acute, the temperature high, 107° or 

 thereabout, pulse rapid and small, the breathing quick, 

 along with other signs of a malady which indicates death 

 from the outset. Anthrax is due to minute rod-shaped 



