732 



DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



cannot be too thoroughly on our guard against the danger of its 

 importation, 



AXTHBAX, 



CHARBON, BLOODY MURRAIN, 

 OR CHABBONOtS FEVER. 



BACTERIDIEN, 



This is a malignant and contagious disease of the blood, common 

 to cattle, but communicable to all domestic animals. It is particu- 

 larly fatal in sheep and swine. It may be communicated to man, 

 and is then known as " Malignant Pustule/' In France, where it is 

 very prevalent, it is called Ckarbon, from the word meaning "a 

 coal," because the part affected turhs dark purple, or nearly black, 

 from the decomposition of the blood. This peculiarity of the dis- 

 ease has given rise to such names as " black leg," "black quarter," 

 " black tongue," and " bloody murrain," which are common names 

 for two kindred maladies. The contagious principle of anthrax is 



due to the presence in the 



blood of rod-like, vegetable 



organisms, known as bacteria,, 



or specifically, Ckarbon bacfer- 



idia (Pasteur), or bacillus an~ 



thracis. Th,e vitality of these 



microbes is wonderful. Grain 



and hay grown on the soil 



where diseased animals were 



buried, have been known to 



communicate the disease ; 



while strong alcohol, and even 



stronger drugs, will not affect 



their virulence. 



Anthrax, it seems, occurs most frequently on low, periodically 



flooded and swamp lands where there are stagnant v pools and mias- 



mal exhalations favorable to the life of germs, or in localities where 



the water is contaminated by excreta or sewage. 



The most common and the most frequently fatal form of an- 

 thrax in cattle, in Europe, is marked by no external lesions. The 

 virulence of the disease expends itself on the internal organs, and is 

 sometimes called Anthrax or Splenic fever. So rapid is its course 

 that frequently no indications of illness are noticed. What the 

 night before seemed a healthy animal may be found dead in the 

 morning; When there is time to note the symptoms, it is found 

 that there is general trembling, the pulse is rapid, weak, and nearly 

 imperceptible, the eyes are red, the mucous membranes are infected, 



Fig. 955. — Gltss Anthrax, or Black Tongue. 



