CHAPTER XXXII. 
BACILLUS ANTHRACIS—BACILLUS ANTHRACIS SYMP- 
TOMATICI (ANTHRAX BACILLUS). 
BACILLUS ANTHRACIS. 
ANTHRAX is an acute infectious disease which is 
very prevalent among animals, particularly sheep and 
cattle. Geographically and zodlogically it is the most 
wide-spread of all infectious disorders. It is much 
more common in Europe and in Asia than in America. 
The ravages among herds of cattle in Russia and Sibe- 
ria, and among sheep in certain parts of France, Hun- 
gary, Germany, Persia, and India, are not equalled by 
any other animal plague. Local epidemics have occa- 
sionally occurred in England, where it is known as 
splenic fever. In this country the disease is rare. In 
infected districts the greatest losses are incurred during 
the hot months of summer. 
The disease also occurs in man as the result of in- 
fection, either through the skin, the intestines, or in 
rare instances through the lungs. It is found in per- 
sons whose occupations bring them into contact with 
animals or animal products, as stablemen, shepherds, 
tanners, butchers, and those who work in wool and 
hair. Two forms of the disease have been described 
—the external anthrax, or malignant pustule, and the 
internal anthrax, of which there are intestinal and 
