It is also of interest to note the increase in shipments since the beginning of the industry:
Anthracite Coal Shipments, 1820 to 1899.
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ISiO e& long tons isa S«) iT-i.rw lB.-i5 B0,r58 " IWO W.379 &45 ,013,013
1870 1880 1890 1899 ,513,l-i3 long tons i(;,iH-M9i a3,43r.-JJ-J 3G,C15.451) 4r.tJ65,l.'04
The shipments in 1899 went to forty different States and Territories, while 1,707,796 long tons were exported.
The annual production of anthracite in Colorado and New Mexico combined amounted to 98,404 short tons in 1900. Various estimates of the amounts of anthracite remaining in the Pennsylvania fields have been made, and all agree in the conclusion that the deposits will last at the present rate of production for more than one hundred years. For illustration, see Coal.
Bibliography. For statistics of production, consult volumes on Mineral Resources, issued annually by the United States Geological Survey; various reports of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, and the Annual Reports of the Bureau of Mines, Pennsylvania. Consult also: J. J. Stevenson, "Origin of Pennsylvania Anthracite," Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, Volume V., page 39 (Rochester, 1894); J. J. Stevenson, "The Cerrillos Coal Field," Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume XV., page 105 (New York, 1896); N. F. Drake, "Coal Fields Around Tse Chau, China," Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Volume XXX. (New York, 1898). See also Coal, and Pennsylvania.
ANTHRAC'NOSE (Gk. ἄνθραξ, anthrax, carbuncle + νόσος, nosos, disease). A group of fungous diseases of plants, in which the fruits, stems, and leaves of the host plant are attacked with serious injury. Some of the more common forms are found upon beans, blackberries, raspberries, cucumbers, egg-plants, grapes, cotton, peppers, and spinach. Species of the fungi Colletotrichum and Glœosporium cause most of these diseases. In fruit that is attacked definite round discolored spots or pits may be observed, in which the usually light colored centre is surrounded by darker zones. The principal diseases of this nature are noticed in this Encyclopaedia under Grape Anthracnose; Bean; and similar
titles.
ANTHRAPUR’URIN, See Purpurin.
AN'THRAX (Gk. ἄνθραξ, coal, carbuncle, malignant pustule; Fr. charbon). A specific, infectious disease produced by a pathogenic micro-organism. Bacillus anthracis. The disease is also known in different countries as charbon, inflammation of milt; milzbrand, carbonchio, mjeltbrand, miltbrand, and Siberian plague. In man, it is also called malignant pustule, or carbuncle. It is, further, often referred to as splenic fever and wool-sorter's disease, and, incorrectly, as malignant œdema.
Anthrax was the first disease in which the causative relation of pathogenic bacteria was demonstrated. Bacillus anthracis is found in the blood and the tissues of affected animals. The disease is most prevalent among herbivorous animals. Its relative frequency in cattle, horses, sheep, and goats varies considerably, according to the region. The camel and various members of the deer family are frequently affected. The disease is rare in swine, and only occasionally met with in the carnivora. such as the dog, cat, panther, lion, tiger, and bear. Anthrax is frequently transmitted to man, especially through abrasions of the skin of the hands.
Enzoötic outbreaks of anthrax have been known from time immemorial, and in all parts of the globe. In cattle, veterinarians distinguish three forms of anthrax: apoplectic, acute, and sub-acute. In the first type, the animal suddenly drops to the ground as in apoplexy, and dies in convulsions after a few hours. The acute form without external swellings is the one most frequently observed in cattle. The temperature is increased from 41° to 42° C. Muscular trembling, general prostration, and labored breathing are prominent symptoms. Death supervenes, with signs of asphyxia, in from ten to twenty-four hours. In the sub-acute form, which is rare, the symptoms are essentially the same as in the acute form, but less pronounced.
In both horses and cattle an external form of anthrax occurs, during which tumors or carbuncles develop under the skin. These tumors are distinguished from those of black-leg by the fact that they do not emit a crackling sound on being stroked. Before death the discharges of the body may become mucous, or even bloody. In animals which die of anthrax, blood-clots are found on nearly all the vital organs, and the spleen is enlarged to from two to five times its normal size. The symptoms of anthrax are usually characteristic, but a definite diagnosis may always be made by an examination of the blood for the presence of the anthrax bacillus.
In countries subject to the ravages of anthrax, the disease is usually restricted to well-defined areas, which seem to be permanently infected. Anthrax is most common in localities subject to inundation. Ponds of stagnant water and streams polluted with the waste from tanneries and morocco factories may serve as sources of infection. Perhaps the most common means for the spread of anthrax infection is found in the bodies of animals dead of the disease. The anthrax bacillus may gain entrance to the body of an animal in the inspired air, in food or water, or in wounds of the skin. The rapidity with which the different symptoms of anthrax develop depends largely upon the relative resisting power of the animal. The virulence of the anthrax bacillus is only slowly affected by desiccation.
The bacillus in blood drawn from affected animals and dried is destroyed by exposure to direct sunlight for a period of eight hours. Anthrax spores may retain their vitality in the soil for an almost indefinite period, especially if situated at some depth, where they are protected from the action of light and oxygen. Putrefaction destroys the vegetative form of the bacillus, but does not affect the spores. In the filamentous form the bacillus is killed by a few minutes' exposure to a temperature of 55° to 58° C. The spores are very resistant to dry heat, a temperature of 120° to 140° C. for three hours being required to kill them. In 1880, Pasteur, Chamberland, and Roux tried numerous experiments in attenuating the virus of anthrax by exposure to the air. The oxygen of the air was found to have the effect of rendering the bacillus less pathogenic, especially when cultures were spread out in a thin layer. Toussaint was the first to
