513 



which the virus may be lodged, and. under these conditions the animals 

 are more apt to have abrasions of the lips or tongue by contact with 

 dried stubble and the dirt on the roots, which favors the introduction 

 of the germs into the system. The virus may be introduced with food 

 and enter the blood-vessel system from the stomach and intestines. If 

 contained in the dust, dried hay, or on the parched pasture of late sum- 

 mer, the virus may be inhaled and be absorbed from the lining of the 

 lungs. If contained in harness leather, it needs but an abrasion of the 

 skin, as the harness rubs it, to transfer the spore from the leather to 

 the circulation of the animal. 



The writer saw a case of anthrax occur in a groom from the use of a 

 new horse brush. The strap which passes over the back of the hand 

 inoculated an abrasion ou the knuckle of the first finger, and in twelve 

 hours a " pustule " had formed and the arm had become affected. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms of anthrax develop with extreme rapid- 

 ity ; they are frequently so sudden that it appears but a few minutes 

 for the animals to have passed from a condition of perfect health to a 

 dangerously diseased one. The horse is dejected and falls into a state 

 of profound stupor, attended by great muscular weakness. The feeble, 

 indolent animal, if forced to move, drags its legs. There are severe 

 chills, agitation of the muscles, symptoms of vertigo, and at times colicky 

 pains. The mucous membranes turn a deep ochre or bluish-red color. 

 The body temperature is rapidly elevated to 104° and 105° F. The 

 breathing is increased to thirty or forty respirations in the minute and 

 the pulse is greatly accelerated, but the arteries are soft and almost im- 

 perceptible, while the heart-beats can be felt and heard, violent and 

 tumultuous. In other words, it resembles a very severe case of in- 

 fluenza, except in regard to the heart's action. The symptoms last but 

 two, three, or four days, at most, when the case usually terminates 

 fatally. An examination of the blood shows a dark fluid Avhich is not 

 clot, and which remains black after exposure to the air. After death 

 the bodies putrify rapidly and bloat up; the tissues are filled with gases 

 and a bloody foam exudes from the mouth, nostrils, and anus, and fre- 

 quently the mucous membranes of the rectum protrude from the latter. 

 The hairs detach from the skin. Congestion of all the organs and tis- 

 sues is found, with interstitial hemorrhages. The muscles are friable 

 and are covered with ecchymotic spots. This is specially marked in 

 the licart. 



The black, uncoagulated and incoaguable blood shows an iridescent 

 scum on its surface, which is due to the fat of the animal dissolved by 

 the ammonia, produced by the decomposed tissues. The serum oozes 

 out of every tissue and contains broken-down blood, which, when ex- 

 amined microscopically, is found to have the red globules crenated and 

 the leucocytes granular. A high power of the microscope also reveals 

 the bacteria in the shape of lictle rod-like bodies of homogeneous tex- 

 ture with their brilliant spores. 

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