des those cases in which the disease is more prolonged. It may last
from three to seven days and terminate fatally or end in recovery. In this
type, the symptoms are practically as described in the acute form, only
less marked.
In connection with these types of intestinal anthrax, swellings may appear
in different parts of the body under the skin, or the disease may start
from such a swelling, caused by the inoculation of anthrax spores in one of
the several different ways already described. If the disease begins in the
skin, it agrees in general with the subacute form in prolonged duration,
and it may occasionally terminate in recovery if the swellings are
thoroughly incised and treated.
_Lesions._--These swellings appear as edemas and carbuncles. The former are
doughy tumors of a more or less flattish form passing gradually into the
surrounding healthy tissue. As a rule, they are situated beneath the skin
in the fatty layer, and the skin itself is at first of healthy appearance,
so that they are often overlooked, especially when covered with a good coat
of hair. When they are cut open they are found to consist of a peculiar,
jellylike mass of a yellowish color and more or less stained with blood.
The carbuncles are firm, hot, tender swellings, which later become cool and
painless and undergo mortification. The edemas and carbuncles may also
appear in the mouth, pharynx, larynx, in the tongue, and in the rectum.
The bodies of cattle which have died of anthrax soon lose their rigidity
and become bloated, because decomposition sets in very rapidly. From the
mouth, nose, and anus bloodstained fluid flows in small quantities. When
such carcasses are opened and examined it is found that nearly all organs
are sprinkled with spots of blood or extravasations of various sizes. The
spleen is enlarged from two to five times, the pulp blackish and soft and
occasionally disintegrated. The blood is of tarry consistency, not firmly
coagulated, and blackish in color. In the abdomen, the thoracic cavity, and
in the pericardium, or bag surrounding the heart, more or less
blood-stained fluid is present. In addition to these characteristic signs,
the carbuncles and swellings under the skin, already described, will aid in
determining the true nature of the disease. The most reliable method of
diagnosis is the examination of the blood and tissues for anthrax bacilli,
which requires a trained bacteriologist. The cases of fatal anthrax num
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