134 ANTHRAX 



anthrax," internal anthrax," "anthrax fever," and anthrax 

 without external manifestations. In these cases the infecting 

 organisms, either the spores or the vegetating bacteria them- 

 selves, are taken into the body with food or drinking water. 

 M'Fadyean has recently shown that infected food stuffs are 

 often responsible for the infection. It is stated that the 

 infection takes place in most cases in the small intestine, the 

 mucosa of which, it is stated, need not necessarily be injured. 

 It is highh' probable that the gastric juice destroys most of the 

 bacteria while the free spores are not injuriously affected by 

 it. In the infected districts, the spores exist at or upon the 

 surface of the soil and possibly on the blades of grass, from 

 which they are easily taken up by grazing animals. In lands 

 thus infected, the specific organism has been introduced at 

 some previous time either by the burying of anthrax animals 

 in these fields, by the use of infected tannery or slaughter 

 house refuse as fertilizers, by flooding from infected streams, 

 or by the bringing of the organism in the droppings of birds 

 or other small animals which have fed upon anthrax carcasses. 

 It is reported that the spores will find their way to the surface 

 even when the dead animals have been buried at a considerable 

 depth. There has been some controversy in the writings of 

 Pasteur, Koch and Bollinger concerning the method by which 

 the spores reach the surface. Pasteur supposed that they were 

 brought by earth worms from the buried carcasses. Koch 

 believed this impossible because of the low temperature of the 

 ground at the depth at which the animals are buried. Bol- 

 linger has shown experimentally the possibility of Pasteur's 

 views. Karliniski and others have found that the spores of 

 anthrax may be disseminated by slugs, insects and larvae 

 which are found on untanned infected skins. 



2. Infection through the skm. In animals, this mode of 

 infection occurs less frequently than in man. Anthrax pro- 

 duced in this way is usuall}' characterized b}- local manifesta- 

 tions known as "carbuncle disease," or "malignant pustule." 

 In this mode of infection the bacteria penetrate through 

 wounds in the skin and exposed mucous membranes into the 



