ANTHRAX IN ANIMALS. 



307 



On post-mortem examination of an ox dead of anthrax, the 

 most noticeable feature one which has given the name "splenic 

 fever" to the disease is the enlargement of the spleen, which 

 may be two or three times its natural size. It is of dark-red colour, 

 and on section the pulp is very soft and friable, sometimes almost 

 diffluent. A cover-glass preparation may be made from the 

 spleen and stained with watery methylene-blue. On examina- 

 tion it will be found to contain enormous numbers of bacilli 

 mixed with red corpuscles and leucocytes, chiefly lymphocytes 

 and the large mononucleated variety (Fig. in). Pieces of the 

 organ may be 

 hardened in ab- 

 solute alcohol, 

 and sections 

 cut in paraf- 

 fin. These are 

 best stained by 

 Gram's meth^ 

 o d. Micro- 

 scopic exami- 

 nation of such 

 shows that the 

 structure of the 

 pulp is con- 

 siderably dis- 

 integrated, 

 whilst the ba- 

 cilli swarm 

 throughout the 

 organ, lying 

 irregularly 

 amongst the 



cellular elements. The liver is enlarged and congested, and may 

 be in a state of acute cloudy swelling. The bacilli are present 

 in the capillaries throughout the organ, but are not so numerous 

 as in the spleen. The kidney is in a similar condition, and here 

 the bacilli are chiefly found in the capillaries of the glomeruli, 

 which often appear as if injected with them. The lungs are 

 congested and may show catarrh, whilst bacilli are present in 

 large numbers throughout the capillaries, and may also be found 



-.*. 



FIG. in. Scraping from spleen of guinea-pig dead of anthrax, 

 showing the bacilli mixed with leucocytes, etc. (Same appearance 

 as in the ox.) 



" Corrosive film " stained with carbol-thionin-blue. X 1000. 



