BACTERIA AND DISEASES OF ANIMALS 805 



To prevent infection from them, the carcases of animals dead 

 from anthrax should be buried deeply in lime : no attempt should 

 be made to fiay or open such carcases, and it is important to point 

 out that great care and cleanliness is necessary in handling and 

 in dealing with discharges from them, for the bacilli on gaining 

 an entrance into the blood of man through wounds produce 

 disease which is generally fatal in a few days. The handling of 

 products such as dried skins, wool and horse hair, derived from 

 animals which have died from anthrax, is a dangerous opera- 

 tion ; the spores of the bacilli are liable to be inhaled into the 

 lungs, where they germinate and ultimately give rise to the 

 form of anthrax commonly known as ' wool-sorter's disease.' 



Tuberculosis in cattle, pigs and other farm animals, as well as 

 in man is due to Bacillus tuberculosis Koch. The disease is 

 commonly produced by inhalation of the bacilli or their spores 

 from the air, and by feeding on materials contaminated with the 

 organisms. 



The milk from cows whose udders are tuberculous frequently 

 contains the bacilli, and when consumed by children leads to 

 lingering disease and death. Every effort should therefore be 

 made to pasteurize or sterilize cow's milk before feeding it to 

 infants, for the latter are especially susceptible to the attacks 

 of this bacillus. 



13. Diseases of plants caused by Bacteria. — During the last 

 few years a number of ailments of plants have been attributed 

 to the agency of bacteria, but in only a few cases has any 

 satisfactory proof been forthcoming for the belief that bacteria 

 alone are the direct cause of these diseases. 



In many cases of plant-disease where the tissues are found to 

 be undergoing decay and in which bacteria are present, the 

 trouble is primarily due to other causes, such as insect attack, the 

 attacks of parasitic fungi, or the action of frost, heat, and adverse 

 soil conditions. The production of wounds and the death of the 

 plant-tissues by these means allow of the entrance of bacteria 



