422 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



any kind, and should be resorted to whenever practicable. When sta- 

 bles have become infected they should be thoroughly cleaned out, and 

 the solution of chloride of lime freely applied on floors and woodwork. 

 The feed should be carefully protected from contamination with the 

 manure or other discharges from the sick. 



Protective inoculation was first introduced by Louis Pasteur about 

 ten years ago, and has been quite extensively practiced in France and to 

 some extent in other European countries. The fluid used for inocula- 

 tion consists of bouillon in which modified anthrax bacilli have multi- 

 plied and are present in large numbers. The bacilli have been modified 

 by heat so that they have lost to[a certain degree their original virulence. 

 Two vaccines have been prepared. The first or weakest for the first 

 inoculation, and the second or stronger for a second inoculation some 

 twelve days later. 



These vaccines have been used for cattle and sheep. Their power to 

 prevent an attack of anthrax subsequently has been the subject of con- 

 troversy ever since their use began. The French claim, that the vac- 

 cines are successful in protecting cattle and sheep and that the losses 

 from anthrax in France have been much reduced by their persistent 

 application. According to other observers there are several difficulties 

 inherent in the practical application of anthrax vaccination. Among 

 these may be mentioned the variable degree of attenuation of different 

 tubes of the vaccine and the varying susceptibility of the animals to be 

 inoculated. It would be impossible at present to decide from pub- 

 lished statistics as to the relative value of these anthrax inoculations 

 in preventing losses. While some authorities regard the vaccination of 

 sheep of little use because of the losses directly due to the vaccination, 

 they admit that vaccination- of cattle is accompanied by fewer losses, 

 and that it seems to be protective and of use in localities where the dis- 

 ease regularly appears every year, and is, so to speak, bound to the soil. 



It is very important to call attention to the possibility of distributing 

 anthrax by this method of protective inoculation, since the bacilli them- 

 selves are present in the culture liquid. It is true that they have been 

 modified and weakened by the process adopted by Pasteur, but it is not 

 impossible that such modified virus may regain its original virulence 

 after it has been scattered broadcast by the inoculation of large herds. 

 No vaccination should therefore be permitted in localities free from 

 anthrax. 



ANTHRAX IN MAN (MALIGNANT PUSTULE, OH CARBUNCLE.) 



Anthrax may be transmitted to man in handling the carcasses and 

 hides of animals which have succumbed to the disease. The infection 

 usually takes place through some abrasion or^light wound of the skin 

 into which the anthrax spores or bacilli find their way. The point of 

 inoculation appears at first as a dark point or patch, compared by some 

 writers to the sting of a flea. After a few hours this is changed into a 



