CHAPTER XIII 



THE MICROBES OF MALIGNANT ANTHRAX, OF DIPHTHERIA, 

 AND OF GLANDERS 



Bacillus anthracis. — Pollender,^ Brauell,^ Davaine,' and 

 then Bollinger * recognised in the blood of animals dead of 

 malignant anthrax the presence of stiff short and long rods, 

 which Davaine called bacteridie du charbon. They were 

 identified by Cohn ^ as bacilli in morphological respects 

 similar to bacillus subtilis, except that the bacilli anthracis 

 are non-motile. 



Koch'' showed the ubiquitous distribution of these bacilli 

 in the blood of the organs, and especially of the spleen. He 

 succeeded in cultivating the bacilli artificially, by placing a 

 bit of such a spleen in a drop of aqueous humour, and 

 watching the growth of the bacilli under the microscope. 

 In this manner he ascertained that the rods multiply by 

 division, and that they grow into long, homogeneous-looking, 

 straight or twisted filaments in which after some time, and 



1 Viertelj. f. Gericht. Med., 1855. 

 ^ Virchow's Archiv, vol. xiv. 1858. 

 ■* Comptes Rendtis, Ivii. 1863. 

 •* Med. Centralblatt, June, 1872. 

 ^ Beitr. z. Biol. d. PJlanzen^ vol. ii. 

 ^ Ibid. , vol. ii. 



