NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
38
The insidious character of the invasion of the malady renders it
almost certain, generally in small villages, that the majority of cattle in
the same village will have been exposed to contagion, owing to the fact
that the animals are herded together during non-working hours, feed over
the same pastures, drink at the same water, and associate freely on roads
and in the fields during working hours. When we take into considera-
tion the fact that the disease is present in an animal for a very consi-
derable time before any marked symptoms of illness are manifested,
during which period, if reliance is to be placed on Semmer's experiments,
it is capable of communicating the disease to other animals, and that
it is soiling the roads and pastures, as also the water, with its saliva and
excretions, it is not to be wondered at that large numbers of cattle are
attacked apparently in a short time. In addition to this, there is the
fact that until some few animals are affected and the disease has reached
an advanced stage, it is not recognized, and during the whole of this
time so long as they can walk they are driven to graze with the rest
of the herd. In villages, therefore, where the whole of the cattle are
grazed in one herd, the chance of doing very much by isolation of the
sick is small. But there are many cases where several herds are formed
and frequent different pastures and watering-places, and are not asso-
ciated together, and it is in these cases that benefit arises from the
adoption of this measure.
With regard to the best and most suitable methods of suppression, it
will be best to leave these for the various officers of the Civil Veteri-
nary Department to report upon, as so much depends upon local condi-
tions, customs, and prejudices. This will therefore be done.
G. I. C. P. O.—No. 18 G. C. U.
D.-23-7-94.—200.
CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT
LEDGER SERIES No. II.
MAIN HEAD .
SUB-HEAD
. STOCK DISEASE.
. CONTAGIOUS DISEASE.
SUBJECT
ANTHRAX.
1894.
CALCUTTA:
OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING INDIA.
1894.
PREFACE.
THIS article has been compiled chiefly from the last edi-
tion of Galtier's "Maladies contagieuses," but many
additions have been made. The following works have been
consulted: Micro-organisms and Disease, Sydenham Society;
Koch on Disinfection; Friedberger and Frohner, Medicine;
Fleming's Sanitary Science; "Crookshank's Manual of Bac-
teriology"; Cornil and Babes "Les Bacteries"; Frænkel's
Manual of Bacteriology; Armatage, Disease of the Ox; Peuch
and Toussaint on the Ox, etc. The subject of Loodianah
disease in the horse has not been dealt with, being at present
under investigation. The compiler would be greatly obliged
for cover glass preparations and blood in capillary tubes, also
pieces of tissue (spleen, kidney, etc.) in alcohol, from horses
attacked with Loodianah disease.
VETY. LIEUT. HENRY T. PEASE, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.,
Asst. to the Inspector-General,
Civil Veterinary Department,
MEERUT,
1894.
ANTHRAX.
Synonyms.—Charbon Bacteridien; Sang de rate; Fievre charbon-
neuse; Splenic apoplexy; Miltzbrand, etc., etc. Until comparatively
recent times the greatest confusion appears to have prevailed as to the
disease which is properly designated Anthrax. A host of diseases having
somewhat similar characters, symptoms, and post-mortem appearances
were jumbled up together and spoken of as Anthrax or anthracoid
diseases, and so great was the confusion which prevailed, that it was
next to impossible to gather from the various descriptions given by
different authors, what was, and what was not true Anthrax.
All diseases which were characterized by a dark coloration of the
blood and the various organs, and all which were accompanied by cre-
pitant tumefactions of a black colour were called Anthrax. M. Chabert
in 1790 first restricted the term Charbon (Anthrax) to three morbid con-
ditions which he designated—1, Charbonous Fever, a form characterized
by the absence of external tumours; 2, Essential Charbon, or external
charbon commencing by the formation of tumours; and 3, Charbon
symptomatique, or charbon commencing with fever and accompanied by
external tumours. This was a distinct step in the right direction
towards a precise designation of the disease, but it was not scientifically
exactly true, as later discoveries made in the latter part of the nineteenth
century have proved. At the present time we recognize definitely that
there are two charbonous diseases, viz.:—1, Charbonous Fever; and, 2,
charbon symptomatique or emphysematous Anthrax. Charbonous fever
and charbon symptomatique are caused by two entirely different poisons,
the distinguishing characters, etc., of which have been definitely worked
out, which differ entirely from each other, and which are to be studied
each under its own heading: Charbon bacteridien, as it is not essentially
characterized by black tumours, has retained the name charbonous
fever. It presents the symptoms recognized by Chabert and his succes-
sors as those of charbonous fever; it is accompanied by black coloration
and viscosity of the blood, and very often by tumefaction of the spleen,
and it may even be accompanied by the formation of tumours on the
surface of the body in certain species. It manifests itself under differ-
rent forms, according to the mode of penetration of the virus into the
B
2
body, and according to the species of animals which it attacks. Thus
it is called malignant pustule in man, splenic apoplexy (Sang de rate)
in small ruminants, and charbonous fever or simply charbon in the
other species.
Definition.—Charbon is an infectious (Mosselman and Lienaux),
virulent, and contagious disease, transmissible to animals and to man.
It is due to the entrance of a bacillus, the Bacteridie of Davaine, into
the organism and its multiplication therein. The malady evinces itself
by profound adynamic fever, with more or less stupor. It is very
rapidly evolved, and leads to serious and profound alterations of the
blood, the plasma of which becomes tinged with the coloring matter of
the red corpuscles which communicates a dirty yellow colour to the
mucous membranes. The blood becomes broken down, and black in
colour. As a result of these changes in the blood, the circulation is
impeded and congestions of various organs result, and hence arise pete-
chiæ, ecchymoses, and hæmorrhages into the various organs and tissues
of the body.
Anthrax occasions considerable losses in those countries and localities
where it has its seat; it attacks every year a large number of indi-
viduals, more particularly in certain countries and at certain seasons, but
most commonly in summer and autumn. It attacks more particularly
the ovine, caprine, and bovine species which are at pasture; sometimes
it attacks also solipeds, in which it is a very grave affection, and even
also occasionally the porcine species (Galtier, Malad. contagieuses).
It generally assumes an enzootic form in localities where it once appears,
and in low-lying marshy countries it occasioned in times past, and still
continues to cause, great numbers of deaths where preventive inocula-
tion is not practised to prevent its attacks. In these cases it has been
known to carry off 10, 15, or 20 per cent. of the flocks of sheep and
herds of cattle.
After having made its first appearance and attacked a number of
animals, after having persisted for a longer or shorter time, it re-appears
usually every year on account of the longevity of its germs and their
resistance to atmospheric influences; animals ingest these germs along
with their fodder or with the dirt adhering to it. Anthrax, then, is a
plague to agriculture in those countries where it exists to any extent.
It is an exceptionally grave affection on account of the mortality which it
causes, its transmissibility to man, the length of time which the germs
retain their virulence in external media, the length of time which an
infected place remains dangerous, and the danger attending the utiliza-
tion of the carcasses as food.
General symptoms.—The symptoms of Anthrax vary somewhat
considerably according to the species of animal which is attacked, to
3
individual peculiarities of constitution, according to the channel by
which the virus has gained access to the system, and to the amount of it
which has been introduced. These variations will be briefly noted later on
Charbon is always sudden in its appearance, manifesting itself by
grave symptoms, which run a rapid course, and very frequently have
a fatal termination; but at times we meet with cases running an
apparently abortive course, the sudden and startling symptoms subsiding
almost as suddenly as they appeared and the case terminating in
recovery. In some cases so sudden is the appearance and so grave the
character of the symptoms, and such is the rapidity with which death
takes place, that we have been led to confer on it the name of apoplectic
Anthrax, charbon foudroyant, and miltzbrand apoplexie in Europe,
and in parts of India "Goli-ki-sat." This form of the disease is gener-
ally supposed to be caused by the infection of the animal with the
"spores" of Anthrax, and Friedberger and Frohner state that it can
be induced experimentally by causing an animal to ingest them. In
these cases, from the first appearance of any disturbance to the death
of the animal, ten minutes or a quarter of an hour only may elapse, and
we often find a number of animals left apparently healthy overnight dead
in the morning. This form of the disease is most commonly met with
amongst sheep and oxen, and at the beginning of an outbreak, the first
cases almost always being the most severe. In these cases of apoplectic
Anthrax, the animal generally commences to shiver, staggers about, or
goes round in a circle, bleeds from the nose and often also from the
anus, breathes very rapidly, and finally falls to the ground, where, after
a few convulsive kicks, it dies, blood nearly always issuing from the nose
and anus after death. These symptoms sometimes also come on whilst
the animal is at work or at pasture. Other cases run a much slower
course, the symptoms being much less rapidly evolved, and the disease
lasting for from 2 to 24 hours.
Following the reception of the virus of the disease into the system
we observe the period of incubation, variable in duration, and during
which no important symptom has betrayed the serious changes which are
occurring at least when the entrance has occurred at a point which is
hidden from view, as in cases where Anthrax is spontaneously contracted
by animals ingesting the germs with their food at pasture, etc., and
at its termination general symptoms of the disease suddenly appear; for,
when the virus gains entry by the digestive organs, or by the respira-
tory tract, the local disorder which it gives rise to is not visible. In
other cases, however,—as, for instance, when the germs have been absorb-
ed by the bucco-pharyngeal mucous membrane,—our attention will most
probably be attracted to the lymphatic ganglia in the vicinity, and more
B 2
4
particularly the subglossan and subparotidean ganglia. In other cases
again, when the germs have been absorbed by the surface of a wound
situated on the exterior of the body, the local disturbance caused at the
point of entry is first visible, there being at first, as we shall see later on,
local tumefaction more or less appreciable, which may, however, be
absent in some species of animals. The local tumefaction is soon
followed by swelling of the ganglia in the vicinity of the injury through
which the lymph from the inoculated part passes, and this again is
followed by general symptoms of the disease.
Once the malady is clearly declared, its symptoms consist in altera-
tion of the blood and the circulatory apparatus, as well as in the func-
tional modifications which are explained by embarrassment of the circu-
lation and by the toxic phenomena to which the germs or their products
give rise. The blood is modified in proportion as the duration of the
disease is prolonged. Nearly normal at the commencement it becomes
progressively richer in leucocytes, more viscous, its globules become
more agglutinative and blacker in colour, reddening more imperfectly
on contact with the air; it coagulates less readily, giving a soft, black,
and diffluent clot; it assumes virulent properties, is inoculable, and gra-
dually more bacilli appear in it. When the blood has undergone these
profound modifications, blood-letting, if attempted, gives a mere drib-
bling flow from the wound, and if practised, always, if anything, acceler-
ates the course of the disease. On microscopical examination of such
blood when it is thus entirely altered we observe immobile batonnets,
either straight or curved, cylindrical, and of one or two articulations or
segments, easily seen in the spaces between the agglutinated blood cor-
puscles. If the blood is examined at the commencement of the affection
before it has undergone in a marked degree the above-mentioned altera-
tions, it shows regular and non-agglutinated globules; the bacilli are
not numerous, and a microscopical examination does not always reveal
their presence. Given this double character of the blood of animals
affected with Anthrax, it is necessary when a microscopical examination
of the blood is negative, to inoculate an animal (a rabbit or a guinea-pig)
susceptible to the malady, and to observe whether the disease is con-
tracted by it or not.
Coincident with the alterations above mentioned in the blood, the
circulation becomes profoundly modified. The cardiac impulse, normal
at first, becomes often strong, tumultuous, and precipitous at a given
moment, and later feeble, and indeed nearly imperceptible at the end of
the disease. The pulse becomes small, feeble, and almost imperceptible;
we sometimes observe a venous pulse very manifest at the jugular. The
circulation is impeded on account of the abnormal viscosity of the blood,
5
and also by the obstruction of a more or less great number of capillaries
(bacterian embolism); in those regions where the skin is fine and thin
it becomes red and congested; the conjunctival mucous membrane,
which often presents petechial spots, becomes of a more or less dark red
colour; the other mucous membranes also become congested, or of a
reddish yellow, blue, purple, or black colour and studded over with ecchy-
moses, vascular ruptures, hæmorrhages, which give rise to epistaxis,
or to the emission of sauguinolent urine or fæces (hæmorrhagic charbon).
(Edematous engorgements and tumors make their appearance in the
subcutaneous tissues.
At the same time, or even before these disturbances of the circula-
tion, we observe changes in the lymphatics. We observe at first turges-
cence of the ganglia in the neighbourhood of the point where the virus
has been absorbed, and later on, in these through which the lymph is
carried by the vessels.
The commencement of the malady is generally accompanied by a
notable elevation of the temperature, which rises to 40º, 41º, or 42º C.
This fever appears due in part to the reaction of the elements of the
organism against the presence of the microbes which they attempt to
destroy. We may therefore appreciate the moment of the commencement
of Anthrax by the thermometer. This elevation of temperature does
not, as a rule, persist for very long, but the normal degree is gradually
reached again. When the disease is about to terminate fatally, the
temperature often falls below normal, descending towards the end to 36º,
35°, or even 34° C.
Coincident with elevation of the temperature we may observe dryness
and staring of the coat, and general hyperæsthesia of the dorsolumbar
region. The general sensibility is extremely exaggerated at the com-
mencement, and becomes deadened, more or less, at a later period. We
sometimes notice a certain nervous surexcitation at the commencement
the animal is restless, excited, cattle bellowing. These may even become
rabiform, and we may also have convulsions, spasms, and tetanic con-
vulsions; but to these symptoms signs of dulness, stupefaction, torpor,
apathy, and somnolence soon succeed; the strength quickly diminishes,
adynamia and ataxy are rapidly produced; the animal becomes weak,
totters in its gait, is apathetic, remains plunged in a state of torpor and
coma which lasts until death closes the scene. At other times we per-
ceive muscular twitchings of the thighs, shoulders, continuous tossing
of the head, shivering, and grinding of the teeth, the eyes revolving in
the orbits, etc. These various symptoms are the consequence of poison-
ing by microbian products, capillary obstruction, embarrassment of the
circulation, and localization of the lesions on the nervous centres.
6
Sometimes symptoms of pulmonary congestion are predominant, the
respiration is impeded and accelerated, it increases in rapidity and be-
comes more and more painful and noisy. In some cases I have noticed
it to be rattling, owing to an exudation of serosanguinolent material
into the tubes, and in these cases the fluid becoming sucked up into the
smaller bronchi occludes them, thus causing death. Occasionally, fol-
lowing a more or less violent congestion of the mucous membranes of the
anterior respiratory passages, we get some hæmorrhage from the nose,
or the flow of a yellowish red serosity may be noticed issuing from the
nostrils.
The digestive apparatus suffers notable modifications. The appetite
is diminished, then disappears; thirst is sometimes increased but not
always. In cattle rumination ceases, the rumen appears full, the left
flank being tense; the digestion is profoundly disturbed.
The tongue and the buccal membrane are in some cases congested,
tumefied, and black or violet coloured; the tongue often pendant, cold,
and covered at certain points with vesicles filled with sanguinolent sero-
sity. We may also have tumefaction of the throat, more or less easily
detected by swelling or by tenderness on handling; this hinders degluti-
tion and respiration, and is a very common form of the disease in India,
especially amongst equines (charbonous angina). In these cases the
swelling and tumefaction generally commence under the throat and about
the parotid region, and extend down the neck and to the chest. This
form is said to be due to infection by the bacilli, and it may be produced
experimentally, as may all cases of charbon with visible localization
(Friedberger and Frohner).
In other cases we observe abdominal symptoms most marked; we
have abdominal pains, sometimes very severe, at others more or less
fugitive in character. In some we meet with intestinal apoplexy and
interrhagia; the fæces in such cases become diarrhœic and sanguinolent
as a rule, and on microscopical examination the bacillus may be observed
in the blood so mixed with the fæces. Sometimes the rectal mucous
membrane is vividly congested, œdematous and everted, appearing as a
black or violet tumor at the anus.
The urine often becomes deep brown in colour and even sanguinolent,
and in this case it contains the bacilli.
In cattle the milk diminishes in amount, and often becomes red
coloured and virulent.
The mucous membrane of the vagina is congested and becomes
reddish or black in colour. In certain cases there is more or less mani-
fest congestion of the skin in those regions where it is fine, and we may
observe spots or blotches more or less deep black.
7
Œdematous swellings often occur, either localized or diffuse and
more or less extensive, penetrating into the interstices between the
muscles, and appearing ordinarily in the neighbourhood of the point of
the inoculation or of the absorption, or even at other parts of the
body.
In certain cases, subcutaneous tumefactions, more or less voluminous,
appear, either as the result of traumatism, or without apparent cause,
and these rapidly increase in extent. These tumors appear in various
regions—under the arms, throat, in front of the shoulders, prepectoral
and prescapular lymphatic glands, under the chest, belly, on the sheath,
scrotum, etc., also on the legs. They are at first hot and rather painful,
and afterwards become cool. When incised we find them to be formed
of a yellow fluid or a semigelatiniform material with a black centre of
uncoagulated or partially coagulated blood; they contain bacilli, their
appearance is due to congestion of the connective tissue, which is accom-
panied by exudation, vascular ruptures or hæmorrhages. They may be
distinguished from the similar swellings which occur in charbon symp-
tomatique by the act of their being noncrepitant. The form of charbon
in which these swellings or œdemata are noticed is that which has been
designated "charbon with visible localization;" "carbuncular fever,"
black variola, etc., and they are observed more particularly in the horse.
The duration of the malady varies from three to seven days, and the
cases of recovery are more numerous than are those in the other forms.
Forms of Anthrax.—Having given a more or less minute detail of
the general symptoms of anthrax in its various forms, I will now
give a résumé of the divisions adopted by Friedberger and Frohner.
They divide the disease firstly into A, Charbon without visible localiza-
tion; and B, Charbon with visible localization.
A is divided into (1)—The suracute form, known by the
names of charbonous apoplexy, apoplectic charbon, an-
thrax acutissimas. The symptomatology is that of cere-
bral apoplexy. The animal is suddenly attacked, stum-
bles, and falls to the ground; sanguinolent discharges issue
from the mouth and anus. The animal perishes amidst
convulsions at the end of a period varying from a few
minutes to an hour or more. Animals are very often
found dead in the stable. This form is most commonly
observed in the sheep and ox, and is most frequently
met with at the commencement of outbreaks.
(2) The acute form.—The symptoms are evolved more
slowly, their duration being from 2 to 24 hours at