ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

withdrawal of saliva, so that the pathological character may not have been detected until twenty-four hours later.

The appearance of virulence in the mixed saliva is a question of great importance. The work of Nocard and Roux, Guinard and Rabieaux, and Nicolas' own experiments show that it is essentially variable. If in certain cases it only precedes the symptoms by a short time, in others it may occur six days before. Perhaps by sufficiently increasing the number of experiments Pampoukis' observations may be confirmed.

It is undoubtedly to this fact that the enormous differences observed in treating herbivora against rabies must be attributed. A sheep dog every day bites a certain number of subjects, and is able to do its work even when suffering from rabies, a fact which has frequently been noted. The owner often refuses either to kill his dog or have it examined until it has bitten a human being or other dogs. By this time the saliva may have been virulent for from four to eight days, so that treatment is only undertaken very late and in subjects which have been bitten several times; hence bad results which seem serious and which in fact can neither be attributed to the method nor to the operator. The possibility of the saliva being virulent at an early date should always be borne in mind, and the treatment of inoculated animals be undertaken as soon as possible.

The question arises whether a practitioner should send a person who has been bitten or licked by an animal passing through the incubative stage to the Anti-rabic Institute. At Lyons Professor Galtier has always advised Pasteur's treatment being carried out on every person bitten within a period of eight days before the appearance of symptoms in the offending animal. Nicolas considers this rule should be adhered to.

Although this period appears long, it ought really to be considered the minimum, the want of intelligence and experience on the part of the owner often rendering it very difficu~t to fix the exact moment of the appearance of the first symptoms. (Nicolas, Jour. df MM. vet. et ZoiJl., 30th April 1906, p. 208).

FEVERED FLESH.

BAILLET, VIllain and Bascou, and Galtier, in special works on the subject, have shown that meat described as "fevered" is not always derived from animals killed whilst in a state of fever, but the description they furnish of the changes is not precise, and well marked differences between varieties of " fevered" flesh have not been defined.

Inspectors of meat give the name of "fevered flesh" to certain meat the muscular tissue of which shows a salmon-pink colour and infiltration of the interfascicular connective tissue, and which possesses a distinctive odour. The muscular tissue, which at first is of a brownish-red, assumes when cut and exposed to the air a pale salmon tint, like boiled meat. This coloration IS not of the same intensity in all parts, being more marked in the crural region. The flesh of calves is of a greyish earthy tint. The infiltration of the interfascicular and intermuscular tissue renders the meat soft and destroys its consistence. When incised the muscles exude a limpid, gooseberry-red serosity, particularly abundant in the muscles of the quarter.

The flesh possesses a peculiar" heated," slightly acid odour, compared by some with that of the breath of febrile patients. This smell is very easy to detect when the shoulder is being detached from the trunk; it disappears rapidly on contact with the air. " Fevered" veal exhales a smell of sour milk.

These changes characteristic of fevered meat are sometimes accompanied by lesions of the connective tissue, serous membranes, fat, bones, bone­marrow, and lymphatic glands.

.'>.BSTRACTS AND REPORTS. 2b3

The capillary vessels of the connective tissue are engorged with blood and form vascular networks, best marked in the abundant connective tissue around the stifle and between the internal surface of the shoulder and the trunk.

Sometimes gelatinous reddish cedema exists. The fat is sometimes firm and purplish-red in colour, its capillaries being

injected; in other cases it is milky-white, moist, and wanting in con­sistence.

On section the cancellous tissue of the bones is of a dull brownish colour, which only reddens slightly on contact with the air. The lymphatic glands are enlarged, softened, infiltrated, or h::emorrhagic. These lesions, however, are not constant, and on occasion may be altogether absent. Not uncommon­ly the muscular substance shows the characteristic changes of "fever" while the cellular tissue, fat, bones, bone-marrow, and lymphatic glands exhibit no appreciable lesion.

Finally, signs of post mortem change can be detected in fevered meat; the muscular substance is dull, the serous cavities are lead-coloured, and the exterior of the muscles themselves of a greyish tint.

These changes are commo~est in beef, veal, and horseflesh, much rarer in pork, and quite exceptional in mutton.

The microscopic changes in "fevered" meat are neither specific nor characteristic . Bacteriological examinatIOn reveals the existence of microbes in all cases. Their numbers vary but have no connection with the importance of the lesie D.

In claSSIfying meat affected as above, one may retain the term ., fevered" for such specimens as show the characteristic muscular changes (colour, presence of serosity, odour, etc.) and secondary changes in the other con­stituents of the meat, (connective tissue, lymphatic glands, bone marrow, etc.). Such meat is obtained from animals slaughtered during the course of certain specific diseases (anthracoid disorders, swine fever, erysipelas, various forms of septic::emia), and still more frequently from animals suffering from acute inflammatory diseases of the abdominal cavity, such as peritonitis, metro­peritonitis, and enteritis (diarrhcea of calves).

Meat which shows only muscular changes sufficient to constitute the " fevered " state, without lesions of the connective tissue and the lymphatic glands, may be placed in a second category.

The above appearances are due to the passage of micro-organisms from the intestine into the blood. This passage, which takes place even in health, occurs much more readIly during the agony which precedes death, and in a great many conditions where phagocytosis is diminished or arrested; it also becomes easier when micro-organisms are present in the intestine in great numbers (indigestion), and when phagocytosis is checked (various forms of colic) as a consequence of stasis of blood and interference with inner­vation.

Meat of the second kind, in which only the muscular tissue is affected, is derived from animals which, although not actually infected, have been suffering from interference with the defensive mechanism of the body, particularly of that which presides over the digestive apparatus.

The muscular changes only become fully evident some hours after slaughter, and occasionally require twenty· four hours for complete development. They appear very rapidly, however, when the temperature is high, and are then ephemeral, the meat quickly undergoing putrefaction. In case of doubt the meat should be kept for a day at a moderate temperature (8 0 to 12

0 C.). If it preserves its former appearance it can be passed.

Injection of the superficial capillaries, reddish coloration of the fat and especially of the suet, the presence of vascular arborisation in the connective tissue, lividity of the serous membranes, brownish coloration of the cut surfaces of the bones, and a greyish tinge of the cut surfaces of muscles, are well

ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

marked and easily appreciable signs. But several of these signs may be absent, and in this case softening of the flesh and serous infiltration alone attract attention.

In the hind limb a peculiar rounded form of the quarter when hung up and diffuse fluctuation are often quite evident to a practised eye. In the case of the fore quarter it is sufficient to remove the shoulder, as the secondary changes in the connective tissue can readily be detected in the sub-scapular region.

" Fevered" meat, whatever its origin, contains toxic materials-salts of potash which constitute the toxic element in normal muscle, and which increase in all cases of degeneration; alexine derived from the serum; proteid materials which form under the influence of certain changes taking place in the meat; and ptomaines. Despite the fact that recent experiments have failed to isolate from" fevered" meat any principle showing immediate toxic effects, the pathogenic action of these materials is undeniable; it is especially due to the micro·organisms they contain. Fevered meat should not be sold even after sterilisation, and should not be utilised for the preparation of potted meats, etc. (Cesari and Pannisset, Rev. Glm. de lI:fM. Vf:t., No. 79, 1st April 1906, p. 361).

EXPERIMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ETIOLOGY OF NATURAL CASES OF ANTHRAX.

ACCORDING to the author, numerous observations show that, so far as it affects domesticated animals, anthrax appears to be confined to certain districts or neighbourhoods, and that its occurrence stands in very close relationship to the nature of the soil, especially as regards moisture and temperature. 1 Our present knowled~e regarding the persistence of anthrax spores outside the animal bcdy being still more or less defective, Oppermann considered it desirable to devote some attention to the subject. In the experiments con­ducted in his laboratory he was careful to assimilate the conditions as nearly as possible to those occurring in nature. His conclusions are as follows :-

(I) Under natural conditions the organism of anthrax grows very readily on the dung of ruminants and horses, especially when these are stained with blood. On these media the bacilli themselves die more rapidly and sporula­tion occurs more freely than on the usual artificial nourishing media.

(2) When formed on natural media the spores exhibit greater resistance than when artificially cultivated.

(3) The most favours ble temperature for sporulation is about 300 C. (4) In feeding experiments the certainty of infection is in proportion to the

amonnt of spores ingested. (5) The ingestion of 196,000 spores cultivated on ox dung containing

blood proved as fatal for rabbits as a subcutaneous injection of spores. This dose could be diminished to 24,000 without materially affecting the fatal result.

(6) In rabbits the body weight has no special relation to the certainty of infection through the digestive tract. It only plays a subordinate part, larger animals becoming infected somewhat later than smaller. The interval between the ingestion of spores and the occurrence of death varied from 40 to 244 hours.

(7) In cases where the gastric juice was effectually neutralised by adminis­tration of considerable quantities of magnesia or lime water, quantities as small as 45 to 7300 spores in conjunction with 3500 to 5000 bacilli proved fatal, although only in isolated cases.

1 [Absolutely no such relationship is observable in Great Britain. J. 1\1 'F.].