93 



lie found tliat this bacillus could be inoculated from one 

 animal to another, and tbat tbe inoculated animal became 

 affected witb anthrax, like the one from which the inocu- 

 lating material had been obtained. On these facts he based 

 his theory that the bacillus is the cause of the disease. There 

 is in science, as in politics, a good old Toryism, with a 

 mission of obstruction. It is a poor mission at best, but 

 doubtless in the evolution of truth it has its uses. The use it 

 served with respect to this new theory of anthrax was to set 

 many inquirers earnestly to work in many lands until one by 

 one objections have been silenced, and it is doubtful whether 

 to-day any pathologist of any pretentions would question the 

 correctness of Davaine's conclusions. Let us look at the facts. 

 Not only can the disease be communicated by inoculation from 

 animal to animal, but the bacillus can be cultivated almost 

 indefinitely. If a drop of anthrax blood be put into one of 

 the sterilized flasks and maintained at blood temperature the 

 bacillus will grow in profusion for several days. A drop taken 

 from this flask will set going new growths in a second one, and 

 a drop from this will start a third, and so on, down to the 

 fiftieth, or even the hundredth generation, and yet a drop from 

 the last culture will as certainly produce anthrax after inocu- 

 lation as if the original drop of blood were the infecting 

 agent. 



In experiments on the anthrax bacilli many other interest- 

 ing facts have been brought to light. The development of the 

 spores and their resisting power against destructive agent& 

 have been well studied. It has been ascertained that these 

 spores are not formed in the bodies of living animals, nor will 

 the anthrax grow in a dead animal unless atmospheric air be 

 present. The same applies to the bacillus under cultivation, 

 Pasteur found that without air the organism does not flourish. 

 Klein confirms this by experiments that show that in the 

 upper stratum of a culture liquid abundant spores are formed, 

 while the rods and filaments lower down, being more removed 

 from the air, remain sporeless. Pasteur found, further, that 

 temperature has a marked influence on the growth, and he re- 

 ports a curious fact that in chickens, with their blood at the 

 normal temperature — which as you remember is higher than in 

 sheep — anthrax will not develop, but if the temperature be re- 

 duced two or three degrees by placing the lower part of the 

 body in cold water the bacillus will flourish. If a chicken in 

 which anthrax has been thus developed be warmed the disease 

 ■will be cured. So, again, if a sheep or a cow recover from 

 anthrax the animal is proof against further attack. Another 

 curious experiment has been reported, that rats fed on animal 

 food are proof against anthrax, while those fed on vegetable- 



