The evening times., 1899-09-02

/ the department oil agriculture which tel
of an outbreak in Pennsylvania of dreaded
anthrax. This is severe, fatal, and con-
| tagious disease. 1t is characterized by
chflls, great depression, and stupor, and a
| profound alteration of the blood, due to
| the destruction of the red corpuscles. 1t
is caused by the admission into the animal
body of bacteria or their spores. 1t affects
men and all animals exposed to its conta-
| gion. The herbiyora are especially suscepti-
ble-the sheep. the OK, and the horse in or
der. The guinea pig, hog, rabbit, mouce, and
other animals die quickly from its effects.
| Man, the dog, and other omnivora and
carniycra may be attacked by it in con-
stitutional form as fatal as in the herbi-
yora; but, fortunately. in some cases de-
Veicp from ii only local trouble, followed
4 by recovery. Fowls may be inoculated
and develop the disease if they are par
tally immersed in cold water to reduce
! their natural body temperature from 104
| degrees TO about 100 degrees Fahrenheit
Frogs may be inoculated successfully if
Kept IN warm water. which will elevate
| their temperature to degree appruximat-
Ing that OF a warm blcoded animal So 20
/ SO degrees, Fahrenheit
Anthrax has been scourge Of the ami
mails Of the civilized world since the first
written history. 1t existed in Asa Minor
at the time of the siege of T.o:; it was a
plague of the cattle Of Egypt during the
| time OF Moses. 1t was a severe pest
| among tie agricultural animals in the
| early Greek and Roman days, and there
are accurate accounts of ii in the writings
OF Calumella. Varro. Virgil. and others
| BY the writer's OF the Middle Ages it was
frequently confounded with the rinder-
pest, but is described with sufficient pre-
cision TO identify outbreaks of it in epi-
zoatic form in the year 996 in France
Numbers OF human beings died from eat
ing the flesh OF animals which were af-
| fected with the disease in 1917 at Naples
In 1888 the Senate of Venice interdicted
| the sale of meat, butter, or cheese from
animals affected with anthrax. Between
lfo9 and l1l2 extensive outbreaks OF an
thrax occurred in Germany, Hungary, and
Poland. In the first half of the present
century il had become an extensively
spread disease in Russia, Holland. and
England, and during the last century il is
said, has been gradually spreading in the
New World-more especially in South
America In 1864 in Russia over 10, 900
horses and nearly 1000 persons perished
from the disease.
The cause of anthrax was for a long
tlme attributed to climatic influences.
SOIL, and atmospheric temperature, and
they are still recognized as important pre-
| ulsposing factors in the development of
the disease. II is usually found in low.
damp, marshy countries during the warm
seasons Decaying vegetable matter seems
most favorable for nourishing and pre-
/ serving the virus. The direct cause of an
1 thraX is always contagion or infection of
a previously sound animal through yari-
Gus media which contain excretions or the
debris from the body of a previously in
| fected animal. The specific virus of an
thrax was first discovered by Dayaine in
l65L He recognized in the blood of the
suffering animals microscopic bodies in
the form of little rods with bright spots at
their extremities. A quarter of century
later Pasteur defined the exact nature OF
| the bacillus.
The spores. which are the germs of the
virus, retain their vitality for long pc
| Rod They resist ordinary putrefaction
They are unchanged by moisture, and are
not affected by moderate heat. If scattered
! with the debris of a dead animal on the
| surface OF the ground they may remain
around the roots of the grass in a pasture
Ii buried in the body of an animal dead
from anthrax they may be washed deep in
the ground, and in later years lin one
proven case seventeen years. be brought
TO the surface and infect other animals
/
OF the earth, having been swallowed by
earthworms in the bodies of which they
have been found. This, IL is said, accounts
Tor the outbreaks at the time OF the first
rains after dry season During the dry
season the earthworm goes deep in the
ground in search of moisture 1t finds the
spoFe which has been washed there IN past
years. swallows il, and brings ii TO the sur
| face, when the rain furnishes the moisture
/ he
er home. The virus is carried with the
wool from infected sheep and remains with
II through the process of manufacture into
clGth- The spores remain in the hides of
animals which have died of anthrax and
retain their vitality throughout months Of
soaking in the tanners pits, the working of
the harness maker, or the cobbler. or after
the oiling Of the completed leather The
dried spores in the dust from any of these
products may be carried by the atmos-
phere.
The symptoms of anthrax develop with
extreme rapidity. The horse is detected and
falls into state of profound stupor at
tended by great muscular weakness. There
are severe chill5, agitation of the muscles
symptoms OF vertigo, and at times colicky
pains The mucous membranes turn a deep
ochre or blush red color. The breathing
is increased, the pulse is greatly acce!er-
hSard so violent and tumultuous are they.
The symptoms last but two, three or four
days at most, when the case usually termi
mates fatally. After death the bodies pu
trify rapidly. The tissues are filed with
gases and bloody foam eXudes from the
mouth and nostrils. The hair falls from
the skin. high power microscope reveals
the bacteria in the shape of little rod-like
bodies of homogeneous texture with their
brilliant spores.
The treatment of anthrax was entirely
useless until few years ago. Treatment
did not avail until iodine was injected into
the circulation in as large quantities as
would be tolerated by the system. This
treatment, it Is said, gives good results in
the human being, but requires too much
personal attention to be economical in ami
mails, when the disease occurs in epidemic
form.
Pasteur discovered prophylactic inocu-
lation which granted immunity from future
attacks of the disease. This treatment coz
sists of an artificial cultivation of the
virus of anthrax in broths, jellies, or other
media. and in the treatment of it by means
Of continued exposure to the atmosphere or
to nigh temperature for a certain length of
time, which weaknens the virus to such an
extent that it is only capable of producing
an ephemeral fever in the animal in which
IL IS inoculated. and which yet has re-
tained a sufficient amount of its power to
protect the animal from incubation of
stronger virus. This virus is furnished at
small cost to the farmers in regions where
the disease prevails. In this country il is
made only in private laboratories.