JSfAGANA AND THE TaRTAK EmETIC TREATMENT. 249 



NAGANA AND THE TARTAR EMETIC 

 TREATMENT. 



By H. H. CuRSON, M.R.C.Y.S., Veterinary Research Officer in 

 Charge of Investigations into Nagana in Znluland. 



Symptoms cnid Course of the Disease. — Any of the symptoms 

 to be described may be noticed first, but there are usually several 

 indications to guide one. A beast may show a staring coat, or be 

 doing something that calls for attention at once, e.g. it may be 

 standing motionless in the bright sunshine while its companions are 

 lying down in the shade, or it may be the reverse, the remainder of 

 the herd might be grazing and the suspect remains lying down show- 

 ing no inclination to move. There may be a watery discharge from 

 the eyes, or the eyeballs may appear slightly sunken. A good 

 indication is the reaction of the eyes to light, for a nagana beast 

 seems less inclined to face the bright sunshine, and blinking* is there- 

 fore a common symptom. The muzzle may be dry. Sometimes the 

 faeces watery. In some cases all there is to guide one is that the faeces 

 are black, pointing to the eating of earth, especially ant-heap. After 

 grass has been burned, it may be noticed that the faeces are black 

 through ingestion of burnt grass particles, showing that one must 

 be guarded in forming conclusions. In other cases, there may be 

 traces of blood in the faeces, and one would suspect enteritis. There 

 may be lack of energy, especially noticeable in trek oxen, or a lessen- 

 ing or even complete cessation of milk yield in cows ; there may be 

 drooping of ears, a nasal discharge or salivation, and, in a few cases, 

 a cough has been the first indication of something amiss. Sometimes 

 all that can be noticed is a loss of condition, which, however, is not 

 always progressive, for several animals have been observed to fall 

 away, then regain condition, and after a change of weather, e.g. a 

 cold spell, again lose flesh. A common attitude of resting is, when 

 lying down, to place the lower jaw on the ground as if the neck was 

 not sufficiently powerful to support the head. Cold weather, particu- 

 larly when accompanied by rain, is a good time to pick out suspects, 

 for owing to anaemic changes, nagana sufferers seem to feel the cold 

 more than other animals. Dropsical swellings in the throat, chest, 

 or abdominal regions may occasionally be observed, and it is note- 

 worthy that these disappear as suddenly as they manifest themselves. 

 There may be a loss of appetite, but it is remarkable that rumination 

 is hardly affected, as in the case of other diseases. 



As the disease progresses, more information is to be gained by 

 examination of pulse and temperature, the latter being marked hj 

 periodic transient elevations, and the former being characterized by 

 a loss of tone. As time advances, the beast loses condition rapidly, 

 the animal is hide-bound, coat staring*, belly tucked in, and back 

 arched, while the expression on the face is one of anxiety. There 

 may appear, and again disappear, opacities on the cornea and the 

 conjunctiva of the eye, and the mucous membrane of the mouth is 

 usually pallid. In time the gait is affected, being weak and stagger- 

 ing, and, unless kept at the kraal, a beast will topple into a donga 



