, 1881-08-27

of their trouble has been so far counta.
nanced by the medical profession Of the
district that there q new name in medical
nomenclature is current-yiz. the wool
|sorters' diSeaSe.7
II the spring Of 1880, owing to the con.
tinued prevalence sand fatality of this
disease, and its nature being still undeter-
mined, a medical inquiry on behalf of tina
Local Government Board was ordered
and the report OF Mr.. Spear, the inspectors
who had the conduct Of the inouiry has
now been issued. Ihe wool ortoro,
disease" proves to be anthrax. or. in other
words, this Siberian plague. Ii has it4
origin i'll a low parasitic or9anis3n-dis
coverab'e under hi2h powers OF the micro.
scope, and Of vegetable nature-wbich
when introduced into the blood of a living
animal, often develops so rapidly and with
such mlnIcal effect on the life stream that
death enSueS even within a few hours.
The 0 ganISm ltselt-the bacillus aRh ucjs.
as II Is naIned-soo dies upon its removal
from living blood or other media flvonr.
able to its nutrition, but its spore or Germ
may, III ordinary circumstances. retain
vitality and power Of development for an
Indefinite time and thus it happens.
doubtless, that ileaces and hid of diseased
animals retain the poison. and that the
latter, gaming access to tie blood OF a
living animal, untold5 anew its fall activi.
ty. Fortunately, the human subject. as
has been said, does not possess great sls-
ceptibiIitY to This Infection: for anthrax is
q disease essentially Of The lower animals.
In man it has oH!y hitherto been nat with
i'll sporadic cases, and among those comIny
into intimate contact With infected matter.
Nevertheless, it has caused % lsiderable
fatality among tte W0olSocte.S and sic!
there are numerous ways BY which infect
cd material may be conveyed beyond the
factories where the wool is used. and even
to distant parts d the country [lhe bags
in which the wool has reached England
are, for example, sold often GaW asled, for
upAo?stcFins and oeler pugposcsl it may
be questioned whether many ot tae0bScuro
and often rapidly fatal eases Of bl0ou-
poisoning THAI 0ccHr from tine to time
among the general population do not owe
their OH in to this poison. Moreover. it
seems that Il distinct danger exists as the
trade il this material is at present conduc.
ted, OF Infection to Oh" oWn Hocks and
herds; among which, infection once intro.
dueed, the disease mas become disastrous.
~ prevalent. IoG it is now the custom
to sell the S1eepings Of the sorting rooms
and the dust and short hairs that fall from
the wool while the latter is being sorted to
farmers as manure and to manure manu-
tacturerS-1 practice the danger Of which
appears to have Seen sufficiently exempli-
fled during the course OF the Government
inquiry to which we have referred. When
refuse from wool the handling Of which
had been productive Of several attacks
among the sOrterS was distributed over ~
grass field, |Soyera! sheep and cattle pas
ttred on the field died Of what was shown
to be anthrax.
More than 100. 600 bales of this eastern
wool are imported annually into England
and it supplies the material, therefore, Of
an industry that has reached larle and
important proportions. Still it is neccs.
Sary, all the more necessary indeed, since
the amount introduced is SO large--that
the importation and use of Il commodity
that proves to be at times capable of SO
much mischief should be under some
regulation, SO that the danger may at least
be reduced to Il mjRjMUm. Moreover, since
the danger it seems lies in the first instance
almosteXclusiyely among the comparatively
small portion Of wool and hair that has been
shorn from dead animals, and since this
from its physical condition, is easily re.
cognlSed, and might therefore be excluded
or dealt with apart, the end DIES ired might
be largely accomplished by h adoption
of measures that could not be leg arded as
represslYe or unduIy harassing to the
trade,