ANTHRAX IN NEBRASKA. 
15 
larsre quantity of coagulated serum in the connective tissue on 
the surface. In some cases the whole abdominal viscera would be 
very much congested. I found bacilli in the blood. The spinal 
cord and its meninges appeared normal. There is a black deposit 
or discoloration of portions of the encephalic pia mater, with 
which I found,myriads of spherical bacteria. At first they ap¬ 
pear black, but, on focus, transparent; conjunctiva congested. 
The cattle were in good condition, though none were extra fat. 
They commenced dying about February 1st, and in a little over 
three weeks thirty were dead and others sick. Those that were 
not shot died in from three to nine days. 
The owner of the cattle thought that the disease was hydro¬ 
phobia, and caused from the bite of an old dog which was taken 
sick and died a short time ago. Hogs that he had bitten did not 
suffer any inconvenience afterward. 
It seems to me that this outbreak nearly, or quite, evades all 
the theories as to the origin or cause of anthrax. It commenced 
when the temperature ran from zero to thirty degrees below. The 
ground was covered with snow, and had been for several weeks. 
Beside a few sporadic cases, this is the third enzootic outbreak 
of anthrax I have attended within eighteen months. The duration 
and symptoms of the disease and of cases in each outbreak are 
considerably different from either of the others. 
Some authors have spoken of difficulty in finding the bacilli; 
also, that they are motionless. I have had no trouble in finding 
them, and many times in countless numbers, and they often move 
with great agility. I have kept specimens mounted two or three 
hours, during which .time many would die, while large numbers 
gathered around the air bubbles, thus showing that they needed 
oxygen to maintain life. 
I have taken blood from the diseased animals, kept it in a 
corked bottle and examined it daily. When first examined the 
bacteria are spherical. They increase in length from day to day, 
also segmenting. With a sixth objective, I have found a few that 
appeared to be fully two inches long. When the blood decom¬ 
poses the bacilli cannot be found. I have reproduced the disease 
with blood that had been dry for nearly four months. I have 
