216 
S. WILTSHIRE. 
before and after death; but this occurs also in other cases, and is 
not a peculiarity of melt-sickness. 
Sponziekte and Gloss-antlirax .—The appearances already des¬ 
cribed are essentially the same in these two forms. There is the 
early and rapid putrefaction, exudation of blood in large patches 
—particularly in the former—congestion of the lungs, with frothy 
mucous in the bronchial tubes; stains in the mucous and serous 
membranes; heart soft, and tilled with black fluid blood; and 
lastly, tumefaction and sloughing, with more or less gangrene of 
the parts particularly affected in each form. 
CAUSES 
The causes assigned for the origin of diseases of this nature 
have been many. In early ages they were attributed to the 
anger of the gods, or the vengeance of the Deity for supposed 
offences against divine laws and ordinances; the acts of devils 
and evil spirits, witchcraft, comets and other natural phenomena, 
the laws of which were neither understood nor inquired into. 
Long ago the influence of the weather and locality were 
noted; a hot and moist state of the atmosphere, and low-lying 
lands were the conditions found most favorable for the devel¬ 
opment of the disease. As science advanced, and the microscope 
was brought in to aid the researches of observers, the influence 
of the pastures and forage affected with parasitic organisms was 
recognized. Their minuteness, however, and the difficulty of 
determining the exact agents, and their modes of introduction 
into the animal economy, left the wdiole matter in a state of 
doubt and speculation. 
Up to a very recent period it was taught that these diseases, 
or rather one of them—Sponziekte—arose from too rich a diet, 
by which means the blood was so charged with nutritive matter 
that the digestive functions became impaired, and a septic (or 
putrefactive) action set up in that fluid. It is now known, how¬ 
ever, that these changes are entirely due to the presence in the 
blood of a parasitic organism termed “ bacillus anthracis,” 
which, acting upon the organic constituents of the blood, impairs 
and destroys its vitality. These parasites are either minute “ rods 
