412 GLANDERS, ANTHRAX, PYOCYANEUS 
and it must be renewed at the end of that time. Sobernheim^ has 
attempted to increase the immunity to ingestion anthrax by injecting 
his serum (5 to 15 cc.) and Vaccine B of Pasteur simultaneously. He 
states that this combined immunizing process brings the resistance of 
the animal to such a level that ingestion infection rarely or never 
occurs. 
Eichhorn,2 and Eichhorn, Berg and Kelser^ have prepared sera from 
hyperimmunized animals which appear to have considerable protective 
value. These sera have been tried in a few cases of human anthrax. 
The first injections caused a reduction of the swelling, and a lowering 
of temperature. Additional details are required before final judgment 
can be passed upon this serum, however. 
Bacteriological Diagnosis.— The diagnosis of anthrax in man depends 
wholly upon the identification of the anthrax bacillus. 
(a) Morphological Diacpiosis. Smears from the blood or tissues of 
animals stained by Gram's method show large, square-ended, Gram- 
positive bacilli, which occur singly, in pairs, or short chains. The 
organisms are encapsulated but require special capsule stains for their 
demonstration. In man similar examinations are made from the serous 
fluid expressed from the malignant pustule, the blood (best obtained 
from the ear), fluid from edematous areas, sputum from woolsorters' 
disease, and feces from intestinal cases. 
(b) Cultural.— The material collected aseptically is inoculated into 
ordinary media. It is well to examine the media after two to three 
days' incubation for spores if the culture is impure; if spores are 
found, heating the culture to 80° C. for fifteen minutes will destroy all 
vegetative forms leaving the anthrax spores in excess and freciuently 
in pure culture. The growth on gelatin is fairly distinctive. 
(c) Inoculate a guinea-pig or a mouse with a small amount of blood 
or fluid from a suspected lesion; if bacilli are not numerous, incubate 
the material in broth for twenty-four hours, then inject the enriched 
culture. The occurrence of typical large Gram-positive bacilli in the 
blood stream postmortem is suflRcient to establish the diagnosis in 
the light of the clinical history. The principal organisms likely to 
cause confusion are: B. subtilis and members of the mesentericus 
group, which do not produce acute death in guinea-pigs by generalized 
septicemia, and B. edematis maligni (Vibrion septique) and B. aerogenes 
capsulatus, both of which are obligate anaerobes. 
Dissemination.— The spores of anthrax bacilli are extremely resist- 
ant to desiccation, and they remain alive for years in the soil. Once 
a pasture or other enclosure is infected with the organisms it is unsafe 
to permit cattle, sheep or other domestic animals to graze there. 
The washings from such infected lands may convey infection to other 
lands. 
1 Ztschr. f. Hyg., 1899, 31, 89. 
2 U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull., 1915, No. 360. 
3 Jour. Agric. Res., 1917, 8, 37. 
