DISEASES OF THE BLOOD. 161 



is communicable by cohabitation and contagion. Inflam- 

 matory swelling affects the vulva and vagina in the 

 female, the anus and rectum in the male, and phlyctense 

 are produced. Fever not generally detectable is accom- 

 panied sometimes by general inflammation of mucous mem- 

 branes and bloody evacuations per anum and vulvam, the 

 conjunctiva being so injected as to look like a clot of blood. 

 Autopsy showed infiltrations into the subcutaneous con- 

 nective tissue, and the fourth compartment of the stomach 

 and small intestine filled with bloody fluid. Treatment 

 in Numan^s hands proved very successful. Isolation and 

 disinfection are important, 



Anthracoid Affections, Charbon.— A number of 

 diseased conditions of cattle, apparently distinct from each 

 other, may be associated under this heading. They are of 

 the highest importance, for they are communicable ; we 

 know their contagium ; they are highly fatal, are to a 

 certain extent preventable, and are intimately related to 

 the health and wealth of mankind. Ordinarily enzootic 

 or even only sporadic, under favoring circumstances they 

 become epizootic and traverse whole continents, causing 

 fearful loss of animal wealth. The researches of Pasteur, 

 Toussaint, Feser, and other continental observers have 

 thrown great light on their nature, causes, and prevention. 

 Anthrax literally means a boil; the name was derived 

 from the manifestation of this disorder in man as 

 malignant carbuncle. Charbon is a term derived from 

 the black condition of the blood. This results from the 

 presence in that fluid of the Bacillus anthracis, a very 

 large bacterium, a full account of the life history of 

 which may be seen in our paper on Bacteria in the ' Veteri- 

 nary JournaP for 1879. This vegetable organism gains entry 

 into the blood, and there multiplies by rapid reproduction. 

 It is imagined that it wars with the red corpuscles for the 

 possession of oxygen. While the bacteria are few no 

 symptoms of disorder are detectible in very many cases, 

 in others only a rise of the internal temperature. Acute 

 disorder may suddenly set in and run its course in a few 

 hours, in other cases the attack may extend over days. 



11 



