PREVKNTION 283 



and general indisposition. The site of inoculation is swollen 

 and painful and drops of bloody serum may sometimes be seen 

 exuding from it. At autopsy the subcutaneous cellular tissues 

 and underlying muscles present a condition of emphysema and 

 extreme edema. The edematous fluid is often blood stained 

 and the muscles are of a blackish or blackish brown color. 

 The lymphatic glands are markedly hyperemic. The internal 

 viscera present but little alteration visible to the naked eye. 

 In the blood stained serous fluid about the point of inoculation 

 short bacilli are present in large numbers. These often present 

 slight swellings at the middle or near the end. They are not 

 seen as threads but lie singly in the tissues. If the autopsy is 

 made immediately after death, these organisms may not be 

 detected in the internal organs, but if not made until after a 

 few hours, they will be found there also. In early autop.sies 

 only the vegetative forms of the bacilli may be found, but later 

 (in from twenty to twenty-four hours) spore-bearing rods may 

 be detected. With the ' ' corn stalk ' ' disease the inoculated 

 animals will remain well. 



§ '205. Prevention. In checking the spread of the dis- 

 ease it is very important wherever it is possible to remove the 

 well animals from the infected field and to restrict the sick ones 

 to a small one. The swellings should not be opened and the 

 discharge scattered over the field. The dead animals should 

 be burned if possible, otherwise buried deeply and covered well 

 with lime as soon as possible after death. Birds and other 

 animals should not be allowed to feed upon the carcasses and 

 the skin should not be removed. Every precaution to restrict 

 the spread of the bacteria of this disease should be taken. It 

 is very desirable to thoroughly disinfect the ground where the 

 animal lay at the time of death. The spores are very resistant 

 both to disinfectants and the natural destructive agencies such 

 as sunlight and drying. It is not wise to use land upon which 

 animals have contracted the disease for grazing purposes for 

 susceptible species. 



§ 206. Preventive inoculation. Several methods of 

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