ANTHRAX IN NATAL. 
209 
tified. Frequent mention is made of it in classical writings, and 
by some it is supposed to be identical with at least one of the 
plagues with which the Egyptian cattle were smitten during the 
negotiations *with Pharaoh. The history of the last two thousand 
years abounds in instances of the terrible losses sustained through 
its ravages, more particularly about the 13tli century. 
No portion of the globe appears to be exempt from it in one 
or more of its manifold forms, though warm countries, and those 
where there is much marshy land, or the soil is tenacious of mois¬ 
ture, are most subject to its ravages. Great Britain and Ireland 
were scourged by it in former times, but drainage and cultivation 
have greatly lessened it. 
All animals are liable to become affected with this disease. 
Birds and fishes, too, are said to be subject to it under certain 
conditions. 
It is in herbivorous animals, however, that it appears to have 
a predisposition to develop chiefly—the reasons for which will ap¬ 
pear hereafter—though others are equally susceptible when placed 
under suitable conditions for the reception of the poison. 
Whether the disease is manifested by the formation of a pus¬ 
tule or not, there are certain characteristics by which it is recog¬ 
nized, such as special alterations in the blood, which lias a tend¬ 
ency to exude through the vessels, a very dark color, the forma¬ 
tion of a feeble clot, a peculiar smell, and the presence in it of 
certain organisms termed “ bacteria,” the germs of the disease. 
Tumors in the spleen, or a discolored and disorganized state of 
this organ, are constant symptoms—well marked in meltsickness 
and redwater—so, also, is the sudden development of tumors lead¬ 
ing on to abscesses or gangrene, as in sponziekte (or sponsickness), 
and in certain forms I have seen in both horses and cattle in this 
country. 
Before entering into a description of the pathological condi¬ 
tions that characterize this disease, I would direct attention to the 
fact that other diseases besides this are due to germs—glanders and 
lung sickness, for instance—so that in defining or referring to dif¬ 
ferent forms of it, I would add a caution that it must not be im¬ 
agined that every disease met with in this country is a form of 
anthrax, even though it may be due to similar causes. 
