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Transmission of Anthrax Fever by the Ingestion of Diseased Flesh
Transmission oj' Anthrax Fever.
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therefore, the podophyl1ce contribute but little towards the formation of the horn plates with which they interdigitate, and that only at their commencement, where they combine with the coronary cushion to complete the keratogenesis and lamellar configuration of the inner face of the wall of the hoof.' We need not say that we are glad to find our views on the anatomy and physiology of the horse's foot confirmed by such a painstaking and able investigator as Professor Moeller, and we hope he may continue his researches in this direction.-ED. V. 7] TRANSMISSION OF ANTHRAX FEVER BY THE INGESTION OF DISEASED FLESH. IN the Annales de Z ooteclmie et de M i d. VI/trinaire, there is an account of the tra nsmission of Anthrax to dogs, by the ingestion of the flesh of a cow which had perished from the disease. The ca rcase lay in an isolated place unburied, and as it was winter, no person or animal, save dogs and wolves, could get near it. Of seven dogs which visited the carcase to feed, five suc· cumbed on the evening of the same day, the other two being extremely ill. All presented symptoms of Anthrax Fever a t its maximum; extreme prostration, tumultuous beating of the heart, flanks excessively agitated, diarrhcea, etc. The cow had received no medicines, the only treatment to which it had been submitted being friction with oil of turpentine on the skin. In the Reclteil de M i d. Vlterillaire, M. Dus, of Mehun, gives a description of an outbreak of Anthrax among pigs, dogs, and birds, evidently due to the same cause. Four days previously to his having been called in to attend the former, a cow had died suddenly in the village, was skinned, and the carcase left unburied not far off. On the day on which he was sent for, the pigs had found their way to the dead cow, and ate as much as they desired. The pigs were a boar and four sows. The chief symptoms were dulness, the creatures lying buried beneath the litter, and loss of appetite. In one the voice was husky and weak; in another, which was dying, the prostration was so great that it could not get up, the flanks were agitated as if it had been running fast and long, the voice had nearly disappeared, and there was a slight cedematous swelling about the throa t, the skin of which had a violet tint. The autopsy revealed pathological changes similar to those found in Anthrax Fever, except that the spleen was not enlarged. It afterwards transpired that an empiric had been treating the cow when it was nearly dead, and that he had introduced his ann into the rectum, with the object of emptying it. When he withdrew it, it was covered with blood, and this was removed by washing with cold water. In two days there was great itching in the arm, caused by the presence of two small pimples, which soon became developed into an unmistakable malignant pustule-from which, in three days, he perished. Two dogs belonging to him, and which ingested the matters he vomited, were attacked a few hours subsequently; and one, which was young, died in twenty-four hours; the other recovered. The village dogs, to the number of about twenty, which had regaled themselves on the remains of the cow, were all seized with illness, and at least five of them died. Near where the carcase lay, several magpies and crows were found dead. No other cases of Anthrax Fever in cattle were witnessed in the village. This, therefore, must have been one of a purely sporadic kind.
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therefore, the podophyl1ce contribute but little towards the formation of the horn plates with which they interdigitate, and that only at their commencement, where they combine with the coronary cushion to complete the keratogenesis and lamellar configuration of the inner face of the wall of the hoof.' We need not say that we are glad to find our views on the anatomy and physiology of the horse's foot confirmed by such a painstaking and able investigator as Professor Moeller, and we hope he may continue his researches in this direction.-ED. V. 7] TRANSMISSION OF ANTHRAX FEVER BY THE INGESTION OF DISEASED FLESH. IN the Annales de Z ooteclmie et de M i d. VI/trinaire, there is an account of the tra nsmission of Anthrax to dogs, by the ingestion of the flesh of a cow which had perished from the disease. The ca rcase lay in an isolated place unburied, and as it was winter, no person or animal, save dogs and wolves, could get near it. Of seven dogs which visited the carcase to feed, five suc· cumbed on the evening of the same day, the other two being extremely ill. All presented symptoms of Anthrax Fever a t its maximum; extreme prostration, tumultuous beating of the heart, flanks excessively agitated, diarrhcea, etc. The cow had received no medicines, the only treatment to which it had been submitted being friction with oil of turpentine on the skin. In the Reclteil de M i d. Vlterillaire, M. Dus, of Mehun, gives a description of an outbreak of Anthrax among pigs, dogs, and birds, evidently due to the same cause. Four days previously to his having been called in to attend the former, a cow had died suddenly in the village, was skinned, and the carcase left unburied not far off. On the day on which he was sent for, the pigs had found their way to the dead cow, and ate as much as they desired. The pigs were a boar and four sows. The chief symptoms were dulness, the creatures lying buried beneath the litter, and loss of appetite. In one the voice was husky and weak; in another, which was dying, the prostration was so great that it could not get up, the flanks were agitated as if it had been running fast and long, the voice had nearly disappeared, and there was a slight cedematous swelling about the throa t, the skin of which had a violet tint. The autopsy revealed pathological changes similar to those found in Anthrax Fever, except that the spleen was not enlarged. It afterwards transpired that an empiric had been treating the cow when it was nearly dead, and that he had introduced his ann into the rectum, with the object of emptying it. When he withdrew it, it was covered with blood, and this was removed by washing with cold water. In two days there was great itching in the arm, caused by the presence of two small pimples, which soon became developed into an unmistakable malignant pustule-from which, in three days, he perished. Two dogs belonging to him, and which ingested the matters he vomited, were attacked a few hours subsequently; and one, which was young, died in twenty-four hours; the other recovered. The village dogs, to the number of about twenty, which had regaled themselves on the remains of the cow, were all seized with illness, and at least five of them died. Near where the carcase lay, several magpies and crows were found dead. No other cases of Anthrax Fever in cattle were witnessed in the village. This, therefore, must have been one of a purely sporadic kind.