96 ANTHRAX 
has been stated that probably much of the so-called anthrax in dogs 
may be ptomaine poisoning. 
It is reported that in birds anthrax usually runs a very rapid and 
usually fatal course. Toward the end they stagger, tremble, or go 
into convulsions and die with bloody discharges from the mouth, 
nostrils and anus. From the first the birds are depressed, weak, and 
their feathers ruffled. There is evidence of dyspnea. Carbuncles are 
said to appear on the comb, wattles, conjunctiva, tongue and extremi- 
ties. 
Jt has been stated that the milk from cows suffering with anthrax 
contains Bact. anthracis. Moore found in the examinations made in 
one epizoétic that they were present in considerable numbers in the 
milk just before or immediately after death, but they were not found 
in the milk of animals in the earlier stages of the disease. 
The duration varies from a few hours to a week or even longer. 
The prognosis is unfavorable. Jn some herds the mortality is 100 
per cent. while in others a number of animals may recover.* The 
average mortality is placed at about 70 per cent. in animals. In the 
human species many persons recover from its local form (malignant 
pustule). 
Morbid anatomy. The nature and extent of the tissue changes 
depend upon the course of the disease. When experimentally pro- 
duced it is ordinarily a septicemia. This form often occurs in domes- 
ticated animals when they contract the disease naturally. The more 
common anatomical changes, except in the most acute cases and in the 
strictly localized lesions or carbuncles, are: 
Hemorrhages varying in amount from petechie to blood extravasa- 
tions, with more or less serous, gelatinous and hemorrhagic infiltration 
of the submucous, subserous and subcutaneous tissue. 
The capillaries are distended and frequently there are hemorrhages 
due to changes in the walls of the capillaries. The anthrax bacteria 
are often present in large numbers in the smaller blood-vessels. It is 
believed by many that the capsules absorb much of the body liquid, 
*M’Fadyean has reported this disease in 39 consecutive outbreaks in which a total 
of 54 animals died. In New York the disease existed in 1904 in 15 herds in one locality. 
There were more than 30 deaths. In one herd of 21 animals, 20 had the disease, 16 
died and 4 recovered. In another dairy 4 out of 7 died, but in the others one or two 
animals in each were affected. In 1903 anthrax occurred on 84 different farms in the 
same county. There were 170 fatal cases of which 33 were in horses, 123 in cattle, 11 
in sheep, and 3 in hogs (Burnett). These facts are interesting in showing that the 
disease does not always cause heavy losses in the infected herds. 
