1 Nov., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. e 507 
In most cases death ensues in a few days; sometimes, however, the disease 
runs a fatal course in from twenty-four to forty-eight hours with very severe 
fever. The bacillus of malignant cdema has a very wide distribution in 
nature; in fact the disease can be produced almost at will by inoculating 
suseptible animals with garden earth, dust from between the planks of old 
flooring, decomposing animal and vegetable matter, and foul water. After the 
death of the animal the oedema bacilli can always be found in a flourishing 
condition, and reproducing their species in the tissues around the seat of 
inoculation. ; 
These bacilli take the stain (methylene blue or gentian violet) very readily, 
and appear as somewhat slender rods -vith distinctly rounded ends. The majority 
of the rods are short, but occasionally they tend to unite end to end, forming 
long threads which are frequently curved or twisted upon themselves. 
In the serous effusion of the affected tissues, and also in 
fluid cultures, the bacilli are distinctly motile; in fact, by 
a special staining process extremely delicate lateral flagella 
have been demonstrated. Occasionally in some specimens 
from diseased tissue the formation of endospores can be 
observed. The spores are seen as bright refractile oval-shaped 
bodies, and during their development within the parent cell 
the bacillus cause the latter to appear spindle-shaped. 
A somewhat remarkable feature of the malignant a@dema 
bacilli is that they are anwrobic—7.e., they grow and multiply 
only in the absence of oxygen ; hence the reason why they are 
not found in the general blood circulation of an affected 
animal during life, but some time after, when all the free 
oxygen has disappeared, they may be found in any of the 
internal organs, and also in any of the tissues situated 
farthest from the seat of inoculation. 
Tf a tube of nutrient agar-agar, to which glucose has 
been added to reduce the oxygen, be inoculated with the 
bacilli, the growth will be restricted entirely to the lower 
part of the culture media, and will appear as a cloudy mass 
with an abundant development of gas bubbles which possess 
a decided peculiar disagreeable odour. The continued forma- 
tion of gas causes the agar jelly to break up into irregular- 
shaped masses. In all solid media the bacilli grow as short rods 
and readily form spores, while in fluid media they frequently 
grow out mto long filaments and are invariably motile. 
The bacillus of malignant cedema has been proved to be 
pathogenic experimentally for mice, guinea-pigs, and rabbits, 
and naturally for cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, goats, chickens, 
and pigeons. It is worthy of mention that, although the 
smaller experimental animals usually succumb to the infec- 
tion, the larger animals (horses and cattle) frequently recover. 
There are no very conspicuous post-mortem appearances 
in the animals dead of malignant oedema beyond those found 
near the seat of inoculation—viz., extensive inflammatory 
edematous condition of the subcutaneous connective tissues ‘ 
and surrounding muscles, bloodstained serous effusion, and a Pgs Toning in 
quantity of gas bubbles, which give rise to the offensive odour. Glucose Anat Rat 
ny = - ne 7 2 
The heart, lungs, spleen, and kidney each have a normal- aansaabe ee i 
looking appearance. In mice that have died of malignant 
wedema, the spleen is considerably enlarged, dark in colour, and the specific 
bacilli are invariably present, In these little animals the bacilli find their way 
into the blood during the last hours of life, and they are readily detected in 
coyer-glass preparations of blood from superficial vessels of the heart aud from 
thiesplecnpulpe ss) ee aE 3 Nar 
