THE DIAGNOSIS OF ANTHRAX 117 
this three times or until the glass is too hot to be borne by the 
skin in the palm of the hand. Allow the slide to cool and 
then cover the film with a 1% aqueous solution of methylene 
blue. After a few seconds pour off the free stain and wash the 
slide thoroughly in tap water. Dry the slide by pressing it 
gently between two layers of bibulous paper, and then more 
thoroughly by holding it in the current of hot air above the 
Bunsen flame. Finally, mount in Canada balsam. 
The microscopic examinations (x 800 to 1000) will show an 
occasional leucocyte and the anthrax bacteria. There will 
appear no other visible formed elements. The nuclei of the 
corpuscles in general exhibit a greenish-blue tint, the anthrax 
rods are stained blue. The intensity of the stain depends 
upon the length of time after death before the films were made. 
Usually the segment character of all but the shortest rods will 
be apparent. If they are deeply stained this is not very dis- 
tinct. Zhe peculiarity in the reaction hes in the color of the 
amorphous material which is present between and around the 
bacteria. This material presents itself under the form of coarse 
or fine granules of a violet or reddish-purple color, which is in 
sharp contrast to the tint of the bacteria or cell nuclei, espe- 
cially with brilliant lamp or gas light. These violet granules 
differ a good deal in form and size; sometimes they are very 
minute, at other times coarsely granular. When the bacteria 
are arranged in clumps the violet material is often in greatest 
amount about them. Free-lying anthrax rods will be surrounded 
by a thick envelope of the same substance. M‘Fadyean states 
that he has never found this reaction in animals dead from other 
diseases. The peculiar coloring, he states, in some cases may 
be observed without the aid of the microscope. 
Ascoli’s thermo-precipitation method. This method is re- 
ceiving considerable attention in Europe. It is based on the 
action of the specific antibodies in the blood and tissues of 
infected animals upon an immune serum. On account of the 
difficulty in obtaining the immune serum, this method is not 
