294 Disease aviomj Lambs. 



the waste and build up new structures ; and the introduction of 

 quickly-grown succulent herbage or roots throws a large quantity 

 of water into the blood, so as to dilute that fluid, then, since 

 the blood is in every way subservient to the requirements of the 

 organism, nature is called upon to discharge the superabundance 

 and endeavour to sustain it at a gravity compatible with its tole- 

 ration in the vessels, by evacuating some of the watery constituents 

 through the medium of the intestinal mucous membranes. The 

 uncertain staggering gait is a sign that the nervous system is 

 not being supplied with blood of proper quality, or, in the last 

 stage, of sheer debility and exhaustion. The continuance of 

 the appetite until near the approach of death is due to the demands 

 of nature seeking to restore the blood to its normal standard. 

 The excessive thirst which onlv occurs in the animals violently 

 purged is, no doubt, an effort to restore the quantity of the circu- 

 lating fluid, diminished by the copious fluid evacuations and 

 increased renal secretion, as these eliminations are themselves 

 endeavours of nature to restore the quality of the blood. 



The post-mortem aj)])earances also separately establish the fact 

 of an abnormal condition of the vital fluid. The small ([uantity 

 of Ijlood which flowed when one of the affected animals was 

 slaughtered, it is fair to suppose, bore some relation to that con- 

 tained in the body, diminished by evacuation of the more watery 

 parts ; the easv death indicated general emaciation, as the soft 

 (juicklv-formed an:rmic coagulum did the small proportion of 

 flbrine. The presence of a fair quantitv of subcutaneous and 

 intervisceral fat is proof that death does not result from absence 

 of the essential elements for the generation of animal heat. The 

 pale, emaciated, and atrophied condition not only of the muscles, 

 both voluntarv and involuntary, l)ut also of all the tissues that 

 derive their materials of formation and regeneration from the 

 albuminoid constituents of the blood, shows how inadequate has 

 been the supply of " nourishment '' derived from the food to 

 compensate for the wear and tear of the system. They further 

 show that nature endeavours to meet the exigency by supplying 

 the blood with material previously stored up in the form of 

 muscular and other proteinoid tissues, or, in other words, by 

 internal nutrition. If anv reader entertain doubts with regard 

 to this process of nutrition from within, I must refer him to the 

 translations of Mr. Ernes, published in the ' Veterinarian ' for 

 1863, pp. 573 and 636, where he will find convincing proofs of 

 the soundness of this theory, I attribute the cough to partial 

 atrophy of the involuntary muscles of respiration. The de- 

 generated state of the tissues of the alimentary mucous mem- 

 branes is attributable to the want of proper nutrition, coupled 

 with the increased amount of exertion to which they had been 



