EDITORIAL. 
105 
ANTHRAX IN THE WEST. 
We have received from one of our correspondents, papers 
and a letter relating to the existence of anthrax diseases under 
their different forms in Nebraska and Iowa. Dr. Foote, who 
was called to that part of the country by the Wyoming Cattle 
Association to inspect cattle for pleuro-pneumonia, found, when 
he arrived there, that anthrax was destroying herds at a great rate, 
mostly occurring in the apoplectic form. Attributing it to local 
causes, preventive measures were, at the suggestion of the doctor, 
instituted at once. The municipal authorities were found ready 
to promulgate all necessary orders to prohibit the use of milk 
and the utilizing of the dead carcasses. In relation to this latter 
point, Dr. Foote will have a great opportunity to test the value 
of the suggestion made recently in Europe, by M. Pasteur and 
Bouley, in relation to the disposition of cadavers of animals dead 
by anthrax, viz., that of cremation. If the origin of so-called 
spontaneous anthrax can be found, as it was proved by the obser¬ 
vations of Pasteur, to be due to the carrying of the germs of the 
disease by earth worms, the precautions recommended will prove 
only temporarily beneficial, and other outbreaks may be looked 
for, unless the germs of contagion proper, the cadavers, are de¬ 
stroyed by fire. The time has gone by when the etiology of the 
disease could be attributed to such agents as dampness, bad feeding, 
marshy soil, etc.; and if the bacterias are the cause of it, if, as Pas¬ 
teur suggested, anthrax is the bacteroid disease of cattle, the meas¬ 
ures of isolation, separation of flock, change of feed, etc., will fail 
to secure its eradication. And again, will it be possible to do 
so at once—will not a long time be required ? It is more than 
questionable ? Anthrax has been prevailing in the west for years ; 
cattle have in some cases been buried, and probably, in others, have 
been allowed to decompose on the surface without being placed 
into graves at all, and it may be assumed that the soil is saturated 
with germs, and sudden outbreaks may be expected at any time. 
Dr. Foote, in his new location, has a splendid opportunity in his 
hands, not only to relieve the western States of the ravages of this 
fearful disease, but also to test the value of new preventives and 
