SYMPTOMATIC ANTHRAX 



77 



In taking material from a malignant pustule before excision, be care* 

 ful not to manipulate it roughly, as bacteria may enter the circulation. 

 Make cover-glass preparations, staining by Gram. Make culture on 

 agar. Blood cultures are usually only positive later in the disease. 

 Inoculate a guinea-pig or a mouse subcutaneously. 



The guinea-pig dies in about forty-eight hours and shows an oedematous gelatinous 

 exudate at site of inoculation. The blood is black and swarms with anthrax bacilli. 

 It is the best example of a septicaemia. 



Anorganism with a central spore and morphologically resembling B. anthracis, 

 but motile, has been reported as occurring in the stools of pellagrins. Gelatin stabs 

 show a cup-shaped liquefaction in about five days. No change in milk. The 



FIG. 19. Bacillus anthracis in blood of rabbit. (Coplin.) 



colonies are slimy and opaque. The organism is said to be agglutinated by the 

 serum of pellagra cases. The name B. maydis has been given to it. 



There is an anaerobic spore bearer, called the bacillus of symptomatic 

 anthrax, blackleg or quarter-evil, which causes a rapidly developing 

 emphysematous swelling, with a dark color of the thighs. It is called 

 B. chauwei. It has bulging, slightly oval spores at one end, but they 

 are not distinctly terminal as with tetanus spores. It affects sheep 

 and cattle but not man. It is a soil organism like those of tetanus, 

 malignant oedema and gas gangrene. 



There is also an aerobic spore-bearing bacillus called B. anthracoides, 

 which differs morphologically from anthrax solely in its rpunded_erids 

 jn Culture. Its growth is more rapid and it liquefies gelatin' more 

 energetically. 



