ABSTRACTS.

3. Any person wishing to sell milk should first be required to make a declaration to the Mayor of his Commune.

4. The dairies or cowsheds where the milk is prodnced should be thrown open for inspection.

5. These establishments should be inspected at least every two months, the points to be observed being the health of the animals and the hygienic conditions of the cow sheds.

6. The owners of animals yielding milk for public sale should be required immediately to report to the Sanitary Inspector any lesion of the udder which appears during the interval between two inspections.

7. Any animals which show clear signs either of abdominal or thoracic tuberculosis, or of tuberculosis of the udder, should be slaughtered.

8. No mIlk should be offered for sale from any animal showing any morbid change whatever of the udder. This milk after bOIling could be used for feedlOg animals.

9. Dairy owners should be prohibited from offering for sale milk from cows suffering from diseases likely to render it injurious. These diseases would be defined by" Orders" of the Board of Agriculture.

10. The Inspectors should be at liberty at any time to take samples of milk from the shops or from the dairies themselves.

I I. To cover the cost of inspecting the dairies and milk, the Local Authorities should be authorised to collect a tax not exceeding one franc per head for all cows submitted to inspection.

12. Any infraction of the clauses of the above law should expose the offender to a fine of five to fifteen francs. In case of repetition the offender might be imprisoned for a period not exceeding five days.

It is proposed to supplement the action of the above law by distributing posters or notices drawing attention to the danger of consuming raw milk, and particularly of feeding chIldren with unboiled milk.

* * * * * A permanent committee for the prevention of tuberculosis has passed the

following resolutions:-FlfStly.-That in public institutions of all kinds only pasteurised, boiled, or

stenhsed milk, or raw milk obtained from cows which have been tested with tuberculin and periodically subj'ected to inspection, should be consumed.

Secondly. - That a course of instruction in the inspection of milk should at once be instituted in the national veterinary schools. (Vallee and Villejean, Rev. Gen. de Mid. Vet., No. 46, 1904, page 521).

AN OUTBREAK OF ANTHRAX IN HORSES.

ANTHRAX in horses is extremely rare in France. In the army a few cases have been reported from time to time, but not since 1872 has any consider­able outbreak occurred. On that date a large number of horses were attacked at Tarascon. In 1882 sixty-six horses, constituting nearly half the equipment of a regiment, died of the disease at Montauban.

The outbreak reported by M. Bourges occurred last year in the camp of Chambaran, in Dauphin, where 510 horses had been in camp since 19th July. A month later-i.e, on the 19th August-three cases of anthrax occurred, at intervals of a few hours, after the animals had returned from morning manreuvres, which had been carried out in heavy, cold rain.

The first horse was attacked at 10 A.M., and died at 4 P.M. The second showed signs of severe illness at 1.30 P. M., when it was being removed to the

ABSTRACTS. 377

-infirmary. The third was seized at 2 P.M. It showed a slight swelling in the left parotid region. Death occurred twenty-seven hours later.

On examining these animals after death anthrax lesions were found. On the 17th of August twelve cast horses had been sold, and on the day before the appearance of the above three cases one of them showed signs of purpura .hremorrhagica; it died a week later. This case of spontaneous purpura some­what ob-cured the diagnosis, for it would have seemed hasty to declare the existence of anthrax in a camp where a case had not been seen for twenty years. The uncertainty, however, did not continue for long.

On the 21st nine new cases, eight of which were extremely acute, removed any remaining doubt as to the nature of the disease, and, although mIcro­scopical examinations were not then made, the clinical appearances and the lesions found on post-mortem examination were sufficient on which to form a diagnosis, which was afterwards confirmed by the discovery of anthrax bacilli.

Causatio1Z.-Anthrax is regarded as almost invariably of alimentary origin. At Chambaran the forage was not beyond reproach. Before the appearance of the disease several samples of hay had been condemned. Some of it was very mixed, and contained various thorny plants, which might have served to prepare the way for later infection.

The oats were obtained locally, and were of good quality. The straw used for litter was often of second quality, and it seems possible that it may have contained germs of anthrax; some of the horses certainly ate thi~ straw. If, however, one admits this method of contagion, it is difficult to explain why the cattle and horses on the farms from which it was obtained were not also infected.

The municipal veterinary surgeon of the district, who was in a position to form an opinion, refused to believe in the existence of anthrax in the camp, stating that the disease had been unknown in that district for many years. The sudden occurrence of anthrax in a dozen horses scattered throughout five stables, coinciding with torrential rains during the preceding days, raised a suspicion that the disease might have resulted from the drinking water be­coming polluted by infiltration from the sides of a ravine through which the principal stream supplying water for the horses ran.

This ravine received drainage from the kitchens and from a little swampy pond, the water from which was more or less filthy and smelt offensively. The infiltration of this drainage, however, was not sufficient to prove con­tamination from that source. Moreover, no bacteriological examination of the water was made.

It is known that Koch has emitted views regarding anthrax which are quite ·opposed to those of Pasteur. He states that the bacillus only hecomes para­sitiC by aCCIdent, and that it lives and multiplies as a saprophyte m water and in certain soils. This view is based on experimental and clinical facts which give it a certain plaUSibility, without, however, affording direct proof of its truth. We know, for instance, that the bacillus thrives well in decoctIOns of hay, grains, and roots, provided they are neutral or alkaline in reaction. Furthermore, it is known that anthrax is common in moist places, near ponds and small streams, and after floods.

Koch believes that the bacillus grows in stagnant water and on the surface of the ground or on plants, and forms spores during hot weather. If the 'water nses the spores are carried broadcast over the fields. He thus inter­prets the well-known influence of floods and of the proximity to streams and ponds.

Bourges regards Koch's theory as less hypothetical than is generally supposed, and adduces the following facts observed during the last Chinese expedition as strongly supporting it.

At Yang-Tsoun two batallions of artillery and a squadron of Chasseurs

ABSTRACTS.

d'Afrique were posted. All the horses received similar food, but a limited number had a separate water supply. During September 1901 anthrax. appeared in a battery having a special water supply. Nine horses or mules were attacked and six died. The disease only affected horses drinking from the special water supply, and when the supply was changed anthrax ceased.

At Chambaran, however, changing the water certainly did not check the disease in a clearly marked way. The first three cases occurred on the 19th of AUi;ust and the last on the 5th September.

From the 20th to the 25th of August the horses drank from running water and from neighbouring ponds. On the 26th they received only the regular town water. After appearing suddenly and attacking twelve horses, eleven of which died in three days, the disease suffered a very marked check, for between the 22nd and the 28th only eleven new cases occurred, eight of which died.

Although the horses of the 5th Artillery were decimated by the disease, seventeen young animals belonging to the 2nd Artillery, which were isolated, remained unaffected. The food was similar in all cases, except that the last­named animals received different straw litter. These young animals did not drink from the suspected source. It might be urged, however, that this provt"s nothing, because many horses of the 5th Regiment escaped. Never­theles-, infectIOn through the medium of the water seems to Bourges the probable cause.

The period of incubation of anthrax varies within considerable limits. The natural course is seldom as rapid as the experimental. Colin and Pasteur found that if sheep were fed with lucerne, watered with cultures cOlllaining spores, many of the sheep escaped, even after appearing visibly ill, notwithstanding the enormous number of spores ingested. A smaller number died with all the symptoms of spontaneous anthrax after a varying period, sometimes lasting as long as eight or ten days. The majority, how­ever, showed the common acute type of disease, in which the period of incubation is believed to be very short.

In the absence of exact observations regarding the incubative period in the horse, Bourges thinks that spores of anthrax taken with the dnnking water might perhaps have remained in the digestive tract for several days or even a week, awaIting some favourable combination of circumstances before making their influence felt.

I nvestigations relating to incubation periods show that for most diseases an , average period can be fixed, but that great variations occur, from which anthrax is probably not exempt.

The virulence of the disease also varies within wide limits in all animals, and Bourges believes that a considerable number of horses at Chambaran suffered from the disease without showing serious disturbance. The disease appeared suddenly after the heavy cold rain which had fallen during the mornIng manceuvres. The chill thus inflicted diminished the bodily resist­ance of the animals, and caused the disease to make rapid progress in those horses which had received the largest quantity of bacilli, or which proved most susceptible to their action.

Possible contamination of the soil.-At Chambaran the soil is composed of a mixture of clay and chalk. The layer of clay rests on two beds of glaCial drift pebbles which are usually found near the surface of tertiary (Pliocene) formations. The soil is impervious to moisture. Before a permanent camp was set up in 1883 the ground was covered with trees. The part occupied by the firing butts is swampy and shows scattered pools of water, notwith­standing the fact that it stands nearly 1700 feet above sta level. Although the neighbouring peasants had never heard of the existence of anthrax in this district, it may nevertheless have existed. An animal dies either suddenly or

ABSTRACTS. 379

~fter a short illness, and is buried without any post-mortem examination. Such cases are often attributed by the farmer to colic, congestion, etc., and are buried more or less deeply without any precaution, thus forming centres for anthrax infection.

One method of infection is often overlooked, namely, dust carried by the wind. Anthrax has more than once been introduced with the artificial manures now so largely used, and anthrax-infected dust carried by the violent winds which sweep over the camp during the middle of August might possibly have formed a method of contagion. Such dmt might fall into and infect the water supply. Bourges considered that, although not all of equal im­portance, these points deserved consideration.

Tile patli by Wllicll tlte 1'z"rus enters tile system. - Anthrax bacilli seem principally if not exclusively to obtain entrance into the body through the digestive tract. The excoriations, cracks, and injuries of the skin which are always common in horses employed on manc:euvres cannot be blamed in this case. A horse with a slight wound on its knee died of anthrax, but the wound showed no sign of swelling at any time during the course of the disease, for which reason Bourges did not regard it as the seat of inoculation. Another horse, fifteen years old, slaughtered on account of chronic nasal gleet and caries, showed during life some symptoms of anthrax which were confirmed by post-mortem examination. It seems just possible that this old­standing lesion in the sinus may have served as a point of entrance for the bacteria.

Four animals showed external swellings, but Bourges does not think these indicated the site of infection. He regards the swellings merely as external manifestations of infection, which was already far advanced when the swellings were observed.

Course of tlte Outbreak.-On the first, third, and fourth days ten horses died. On the fifth day one, on the sixth two, on the seventh one, on the eighth two, on the tenth one, on the eleventh one, and on the thirteenth day (which was the 31st of August) one.

The disease then seemed to have ceased, and, as the remaining horses were in very good condition, they were returned to work on the tweltth day. On the fifteenth day four horses died. This seemed to show that return to work diminished the animals' power of resistance and thus favoured the action of the anthrax bacilli. \Vhatever the reason, the animals were withdrawn from work, and lor a tm1e were only exercised in hand. This precaution, and the removal of the horses to a distance of 4000 yards from the infected stables, was carried out on the sixteenth day, and was soon afterwards followed by the complete cessation of the outbreak, only one animal dying on the sixteenth, two on the seventeenth, and one on the elghteenth day.

A careful study of the positions occupied by the animals which died failed to reveal any evidence of contagion from one horse to the other.

Symptoms.-Anthrax commences with loss of appetite and slight colic. When these symptoms are sufficiently marked to attract attention the animals are already profoundly affected. Notwithstanding this, they do not on casual examination appear to be seriously ill, and were it not for the experience previously gained one would not recognise as diseased horses which are within a few hours of death (this, of course, applies only to superficial ex­amination). The coat is not always staring, the animals move as usual, except that they are a little dull. The limbs are more or less cold, as are also some portion of the body, and certain animals may exhibit muscular trembling, i.e., rigor. In rare cases the first patients seen may move stiffly and exhibit a stanng coat, but, as a rule, they seem in health. When in this stage of the disease four of the twenty-seven horses which died showed specific swellings. In three cases these swellings rapidly spread over con-

ABSTRACTS.

siderable areas. In the first the left parotid region was swollen. In the second the swelling was in the regIOn of the girth, in the third in the sub­glossal lymphatic glands, and in the fourth behind the mass of the lower lip.

Careful examination of the patients revealed very grave symptoms. The temperature was rarely less than 40°-41° c., the conjunctiva was infiltrated, often injected; in two cases it exhibited an earthy tint, and in two others petechi~. The pulse was feeble but rapid, 80 per minute, the artery small and hard. At this time blood was withdrawn; it was of a dark-red colour. and escaped with some force from the jugular vein. Received into a tall glass, it tormed a dark-red clot capped by a small yellow clot. The respira­tion was lIttle disturbed, the rythm of the movements being normal in cases where no swelling had occurred around the trachea or bronchi. The mouth was dry; the animals attempted to eat hay and straw but refused oats; they sometimes drank with avidity. In some cases urine was abundant and limpid, but was usually scanty. In two cases it was blood-stained. The presence of blood upon the litter at once attracted attention. The diarrhcea mentioned by some writers was not present in these cases, the f~ces some­times being soft but usually retaining their normal appearance.

Graver symptoms tollow with varying rapidity. In very acute cases the pulse becomes thready, and cannot be counted; the respirations are acceler­ated, the nostrils dilated. In one case Bourges was struck by the violence of the heart beats, which could be distinctly heard. There is now stiffness about the loins and difficulty in movement, dull continued colic sets in, the animal lies down on its side, rises again, and goes through the same process until worn out, when it falls heavily, and soon dies. The agony, which is usually short, is generally preceded by cold sweats, rapid falling of the bodily temperature, and sometimes by very loud groaning.

Four horses which showed swelling about the trachea and bronchi, or cedema of the pharyngo-laryngeal region, extendmg over the head and neck, displayed intense roaring, and a dIscharge of frothy, yellowish serosIty from the nostrils, which were widely dilated. Death from asphyxia occurred early.

Attempts to bleed from the jugular, for the purpose of obtaining blood for microscopical examination, failed. At this period of the disease blood with­drawn into a tall glass formed a uniformly dark-reddish or blackish diffluent clot.

Bourges always failed to discover bacilli before the animal's death, though a drop of blood from the spleen when stained with fuchsin showed the specific organisms in large numbers.

In ten cases the disease proved fatal in a few hours. In the other seventeen death occurred from the first to the fourth day.

The ages of the animals varied from six to sixteen years. Lesions.-The carcases were usually opened a few hours after death. They

did not appear greatly distended with gas, and the natural orifices did not discharge any liquid, except in the cases of animals which had died of asphyxia due to swelling about the region of the neck; these showed a sero-sanguinolent discharge from the nostrils.

The subcutaneous connective-tissue exhIbited h~morrhagic spots and infil­tration with yellowish serosity. In the swollen areas the interstIces of the connective-tissue were filled with a sero-gelatinous material in the centre of which appeared a h~morrhagic stain.

The abdominal cavity contained from 2 to 6 quarts of reddish serosity, the peritonenm was hyperxmic, and some of its folds were covered with prominent distended blood vessels.

The vessels of the large intestine (colon and c~cum) were greatly distended, and the attached double chain of lymphatic glands exhIbited numerous hxmorrhagic centres surrounded by the same amber-coloured gelatinous

ABSTRACTS.

serosity. The blood vessels and lymphatic glands formed bulky masses of a brownish or deep yellowish colour, depending on the predominance of the liquid filling or surrounding them. This lesion is absolutely characteristic. Bourges states that, despite his having carried out numerous post-mortem examinations on animals suffering from all kinds of diseases, he has never before seen it. The engorgement of blood vessels and the extravasation of serum or liquid or gelatinous serosity are always present.

The surface of the intestine, particularly of the large colon and crecum, exhibits hremorrhagic patches of varying size. In one of the eighteen horses which died the point of the c~cum was blackish in colour, and greatly thickened in consequence of extravasation of blood into its walls. In another case the third portion of the colon was greatly congested, blackish, and: h~morrhagic.

The stomach, small intestine, and floating colon seemed free from such lesions; only in one case did the small intestine appear markedly hyperremic.

The large intestine and crecum contained numerous oxyurides, sclerostomata, and some ascarides. The mucous membrane of these bowels exhibited reddish spots produced by the parasites, a great number of which, particularly of the sclerostomata, adhered firmly to the interior. These appearances were particularly noticeable in the first three horses which died, but also occurred, though in a less degree, in some of the other animals.

The wounds produced by certain of these worms may very possibly have favoured the absorption of bacilli, and so contributed to the death of several of the horses.

In most cases the liver was congested and friable; in some one of the lobes appeared discoloured, whitish, and as though parboiled. In acute cases, however, the liver often appeared normal.

The spleen was hypertrophied, swollen, and engorged with fluid blood. Its parenchyma was soft and brownish, and the whole organ sometimes weighed as much as eight pounds. In one case, in which the horse had shown hematuria throughout the course of the disease, the spleen appeared almost bloodless and of a salmon pink tint.

The kidneys were congested and surrounded by gelatinous amber-coloured serosity. The pancreas was often hyper~mic. The bladder contained reddish urine, in two cases closely resembling blood.

On opening the thoracic cavity the lungs were found collapsed and of a reddish colour, but when an animal had died from asphyxia, due to extensive swelling about the throat, the lung was largely engorged with black blood, the bronchi and trachea were filled with yellowish frothy mucus streaked with blood, and a similar fluid escaped from the nostrils.

The pleura and pericardium were more or less ecchymosed, and covered with rose- or amber-coloured exudate.

The heart was sometimes contracted, sometimes relaxed. The endocardium showed a few ecchymoses. The blood which it contained was usually very dark in colour, coagulated imperfectly, and soon broke down into a soft, blackish, semi-fluid jelly. This colour of the blood, however, is not character­istic; in some cases it appears red.

The myrocardium often appeared as though parboiled. When death had been rapid the muscle was of a deep-red colour. The base of the heart was frequently surrounded by a h~morrhagic exudate overlaid with amber-coloured gelatinous serosity.

When the swellings about the throat were incised, one found a h~morrhagic exudate surrounding the lymphatic glands, and an abundant yellowish jelly­like substance distributed over the pharynx and larynx, along the jugUlar furrow, and over the lower margin and lateral surfaces of the neck as far down as the cariniform cartilage.

ABSTRACTS.

The whole of the head sometimes appeared swollen when the <:edematous swelling had originated in the sub·glossal lymphatic glands.

In animals which had resisted for two or three days the muscular tissue was usually of a characteristic salmon tint. In acute cases, on the other hand. it appeared of a light or dark-red colour.

Blood from the spleen was often examined, and all the preparations were :found to contain numerous bacteria.

Treatment.--None of the drugs tested appeared to have any real effect, and Bourges recommends slaughtering the animals as soon as the diagnosis is made, and attempting by suitahle measures to cut short the course of the disease.

An entire change in the feeding and water supply was made. On 3rd December the horses were moved four kilometres from the camp, and were picketed in the open. On the same day an acute case of anthrax occurred. On the 4th September another horse, seen to be ill at 2 A.M., died at 8 P.M.

Finally, on the 5th September a third horse was seen to be iII, and died in a few hours. This was the last fatality. (Bourges, Recutil de MM. Vet., 1904, p. 607.)

EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, BUDAPEST, 1905.

THE Organising Committee of the Eighth International Congress of Veterinary Medicine, which will be held in Budapest in 1905, has definitely decided on the programme of the questions to be dealt with at this scientific assembly. Eight questions will be debated in the Section of Veterinary Police, six in the Section of Physiology and Hygiene, and twelve in the Section of Pathology. Eighty distinguished specialists have already promised to present reports on these subjects. The questions of Veterinary Police will be discussed at meet­ings of the whole assembly, those of Physiology and Pathology at meetings of their respective sections. In the Reports and in the discussions, following the custom established in preceding Congresses, French, German, and English, as well as the Hungarian language, will be used. The original text of the memoirs, with an extract in several languages, will be sent in advance to members of the Congress, in order that they may acquire a detailed know­ledge of the subjects to be dealt with.

To cover the expenses of the Congress, the Municipality of Budapest as well as the Ministry of Agriculture have promised sums in keeping with the importance of the Congress. Moreover, the General Assembiy of the Society of Hungarian Veterinary Surgeons has voted a considerable alloca­tion. The Society of Agriculture of Hungary have also promised their material help.

The invitations to the Foreign Governments will be issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the request of the Ministry of Agnculture. Moreover, in order to increase the general interest in the Congress, and to assure a large number of adherents, the Committee have asked several eminent specialists abroad to form local committees in their countries. M. , Barrier (Alfort), for France; Prof. Schmaltz, (Berlin) for Prussia; Prof. Ellenberger, for Saxony; Dr Lorenz, for Hesse; Prof. Perrone ito (Turin), for Italy; and M. Degive (Brussels), for Belgium, have already replied that they are willing to undertake this task.

The Congress will be held from the 3rd to the 9th September, and the invitations to it WIll be issued shortly.

All letters and inquiries concerning the Congress should be addressed to Prof. Etienne de Ritz, Secretary for the Congress, Budapest, VII Rotten­.biller-utcza 23.