hloric acid, the phenolic compound anthranol, C6H4 :
CO.C(OH) : C6H4; and with hydriodic acid at 150 deg. C. or on
distillation with zinc dust, the hydrocarbon anthracene, C14H10. When
fused with caustic potash, it gives benzoic acid. It behaves more as a
ketone than as a quinone, since with hydroxylamine it yields an oxime,
and on reduction with zinc dust and caustic soda it yields a secondary
alcohol, whilst it cannot be reduced by means of sulphurous acid.
Various sulphonic acids of anthraquinone are known, as well as
oxy-derivatives, for the preparation and properties of which see
ALIZARIN.

ANTHRAX (the Greek for "coal," or "carbuncle," so called by the ancients
because they regarded it as burning like coal; cf. the French equivalent
_charbon_; also known as _fievre charbonneuse, Milzbrand_, splenic
fever, and malignant pustule), an acute, specific, infectious, virulent
disease, caused by the _Bacillus anthracis_, in animals, chiefly cattle,
sheep and horses, and frequently occurring in workers in the wool or
hair, as well as in those handling the hides or carcases, of beasts
which have been affected.

_Animals._--As affecting wild as well as domesticated animals and man,
anthrax has been widely diffused in one or more of its forms, over the
surface of the globe. It at times decimates the reindeer herds in
Lapland and the Polar regions, and is only too well known in the tropics
and in temperate latitudes. It has been observed and described in
Russia, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Cochin-China, Egypt, West Indies,
Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, Mexico, and other parts of North and South
America, in Australia, and on different parts of the African continent,
while for other European countries the writings which have been
published with regard to its nature, its peculiar characteristics, and
the injury it inflicts are innumerable. Countries in which are extensive
marshes, or the subsoil of which is tenacious or impermeable, are
usually those most frequently and seriously visited. Thus there have
been regions notorious for its prevalence, such as the marshes of
Sologne, Dombes and Bresse in France; certain parts of Germany, Hungary
and Poland; in Spain the half-submerged valleys and the maritime coasts
of Catalonia, as well as the Romagna and other marshy districts of
Italy; while it is epizootic, and even panzootic, in the swampy regions
of Esthonia, Livonia, Courland, and especially of Siberia, where it is
known as