. A text-book of bacteriology; a practical treatise for students and practitioners of medicine. Bacteriology. BACILLUS OF SYMPTOMATIC ANTHRAX 467 tible. Dogs, cats, rabbits, and birds are immune. Man also appears to be absolutely immune. Spontaneous infection occurs by the en- trance of infected soil into abrasions or wounds, usually of the lower extremities. Infection depends to some extent upon the relative de- gree of virulence of the bacillus—a variable factor in this species. Twelve to twenty-four hours after inoculation there appears at the point of entrance a soft, puffy swelling, which
. A text-book of bacteriology; a practical treatise for students and practitioners of medicine. Bacteriology. BACILLUS OF SYMPTOMATIC ANTHRAX 467 tible. Dogs, cats, rabbits, and birds are immune. Man also appears to be absolutely immune. Spontaneous infection occurs by the en- trance of infected soil into abrasions or wounds, usually of the lower extremities. Infection depends to some extent upon the relative de- gree of virulence of the bacillus—a variable factor in this species. Twelve to twenty-four hours after inoculation there appears at the point of entrance a soft, puffy swelling, which on palpation is found to emit an emphysematous crack- ling. The emphysema spreads rapidly, often reaching the abdomen and chest within a day. The course of the disease is extremely acute, the fever high, the general prostration extreme. Death may result within three or four days after inoculation. At autopsy the swollen area is found to be infiltrated with a thick exudate, blood-tinged and foamy. Subcutaneous tissue and muscles are edematous and crackle with gas. The internal organs show parenchymatous degeneration and hemorrhagic areas. The bacilli, immediately after death, are found but sparsely distributed in the blood and internal organs, but are demonstrable in enormous numbers in the edema surrounding the central focus. If carcasses are allowed to lie unburied for some time, the bacilli will attain a general distribution, and the entire body will be found bloated with gas, the organs filled with bubbles. Practically identical conditions are found after experimental inocular tion. Toxins.—^According to the investigations of Le- clainche and Vallee,^ the bacillus of symptomatic anthrax produces a soluble toxin. It is not formed to any extent in ordinary broth-, but is formed in considerable quantities in broth containing blood or albuminous ani- mal fluids. The best medium for obtaining toxin, according to the same authors, is the bouillon of Martin,^ made up of equal
Size: 821px × 3045px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyorkandlondonda
