SYMPTOMS OF ANTHRAX 257 



Symptoms of the disease in cattle are not very marked. 

 A beast may appear a little out of sorts and the next 

 day be found dead, or after suffering for a day or two 

 with general malaise, fever, and rigors, and with a san- 

 guineous discharge from the nostrils and bowel, it dies 

 suddenly. Post-mortem, the chief feature that attracts 

 attention is enlargement of the spleen ; the organ may 

 be two or three times larger than normal, is highly con- 

 gested, and very soft and friable. Microscopically, the 

 bacillus is found in enormous numbers in the spleen, 

 somewhat less numerously in the blood, and still less so 

 in the liver, kidney, and other organs. 



Swine do not often suffer from this disease, unless fed 

 with the offal of an infected animal, in which case the chief 

 clinical sign is great enlargement about the throat ; this 

 is almost pathognomonic, while the chains of bacilli tend 

 to be somewhat longer than in other animals. 



Mice inoculated subcutaneously usually die in about 

 twenty-four hours, and enlargement and congestion of 

 the spleen are very noticeable. An infected guinea-pig 

 generally dies in about thirty-six hours and usually shows 

 no symptoms until the last, when it may suffer from 

 rigors, with high temperature, convulsions, and staring 

 coat. Post-mortem, the muscular tissue is found to be 

 pale and cedematous, the spleen is enlarged to two or three 

 times its normal size and is highly congested and very 

 soft, and minute haemorrhages may occur in the serous 

 membranes. Microscopically, bacilli are found throughout 

 the spleen, and are often so numerous that in a stained 

 preparation there appear to be more bacilli than tissue. 

 Large numbers are also present in the blood and lungs, 

 fewer in the liver and kidney ; in the latter organ they are 

 almost confined to the glomeruli (Plate IV. 6). Imme- 

 diately after death, however, comparatively few bacilli may 

 be met with in the blood, the heart, and great vessels. 



17 



