100 D. M C EACHRAN. 
vessels; they lay in every direction and gave the capillary net¬ 
work a peculiar aspect. There were very few blood corpuscles 
among them. 
lie is therefore of the opinion that these lesions are sufficient to 
account for death occurring and that vascular emboli are the inline 
diate cause of death. The formation of the emboli, he says, can 
be seen in the living rabbit after fixing the creature and drawing a 
portion of the omentum from the abdominal cavity. The circu¬ 
lation of the blood can be observed through the membrane. In 
this way one may observe for an hour or more a beautiful 
sight which in this instance lias altogether a special interest from 
the presence of the bocteridiae and the formation of the lesions 
just described, the process of development of which the observer 
can follow with ease. ( Veterinary Journal , Yol. VI, page 421.) 
SYMPTOMS. 
The symptoms vary according to the form which the disease 
assumes. 
General anthrax, apoplectiform or lightning-like anthrax, the 
form most commonly seen in cattle and sheep, runs its course 
with frightful rapidity ; they often drop as if they had received 
a blow, go into convulsions and while the heart beats tumultu¬ 
ously the pulse is imperceptible or nearly so, the breathing is 
short, quick and difficult as if suffocating, the mucous membranes, 
especially of the vulva and anus, are red and swollen; muscular 
tremors and clonic spasms, a rapidly lowering temperature and 
in from ten to twenty minutes she is dead. In some cases so 
sudden is the death that they drop and expire as if shot. Hot 
unfrequently they are seen apparently in good health and in a 
few minutes are found dead. This form of the disease is the 
most common and often occurs in sporadic cases, or only a few 
animals on a farm, and the suddenness of the death is apt to lead 
to the supposition that they have been poisoned. It is worthy of 
note too, that the best animals usually are the first to be attacked. 
In some cases the disease does not run its course so rapidly. 
The milk secretion stops suddenly, shivering, increased superficial 
