io8 THE FARMER'S VETERINARIAN 



ground gentian root. Add this to the food each day 

 for a week or ten days. 



ANTHRAX, OR CHARBON. An acute, infec- 

 tious disease of plant-eating animals, which, under 

 favorable conditions, attacks flesh-eating animals as 

 well. It is caused by a microbe which enters the cir- 

 culating blood and by multiplication therein causes 

 its rapid destruction, and the death of the animal. 

 The disease is as old as human history. It exists in all 

 countries and in all latitudes. It was formerly very 

 destructive to human life, as well as to animals. 

 There is no disease which attacks more different 

 kinds of animals than anthrax, nor one which is 

 more deadly. Also, there is no disease which is 

 harder to deal with from the sanitary point of view; 

 nor harder to stamp out. The reasons for this 

 will be shown later on. 



Soil is the prime factor in preserving and prop- 

 agating the microbe, when it is naturally wet, 

 impermeable, and rich in decomposing animal and 

 vegetable matter. The microbe of anthrax may 

 enter the body by several channels. It may be 

 taken in with the food or drink. It may be 

 breathed into the lungs. It may enter through 

 abraded surfaces on the skin. It may be inoculated 

 into the body by biting insects. 



There are several forms of the disease and these 

 are determined by the modes of entrance of the 

 virus. One form, which occurs especially in sheep 

 and cattle, at the commencement of an outbreak, 

 and which is characterized by the suddenness of its 

 onset and its high degree of fatality, is known as 

 the apoplectic, or fulminant form. Without show- 

 ing any previous symptoms, an animal will sud- 

 denly be seized with loss of appetite, trembling, 

 uneasiness, irregularity of movements, difficult 



