CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 477 



pulse is sensibly -weaker, and often tlie artery feels hard and tbread-like under the 

 finger, expanding scarcely perceptibly with the systolic impulse. The breathing ia 

 BOinetiraes almost natural, but more frequently begins to be oppressed and irregular. 



With the sixth day the alterations of the mucous membrane of the mouth attain 

 their full development. The under lip is covered with a crust of white opaque mate- 

 rial (consisting of epithelium, mixed in most instances with the filaments and spores 

 of a hyphaceous fungus), which is either confluent and continuous or in i^atchcs. 

 This crust is usually of the consistency of cream cheese, in which case it adheres so 

 slightly to the surface on wMch it lies, that the slightest touch is sullficient to de- 

 tach it. Wherever it is so sejparated, the bright red vascular surface of the mucous 

 membrane (membrana propria of anatomists) is exposed, raw looking, but free from 

 ulceration. Similar ai)i)oarances are observed on other parts of the mouth, particu- 

 larly on the upper gum, on the dental pad, on the cheeks and hard palate, and on the 

 lower surface of the tongue near its lateral margins. 



Durino; the sixth day the leading symptoms arw those which arise from diminished 

 contractile power of the heart and voluntary muscles. The affection of the heart is 

 indicated by increased feebleness and frequency of the pulse, and Ijy the extinction of 

 the pra5Cordial impulse ; th at of the voluntary muscles by the attitude and movements 

 of the animal, which are so indicative of adynamia that many writers have been mis- 

 led by them into the belief that in rinderpest there ia a special paralytic aliection of 

 the spinal nervous system. At the same time the mechanism of the respiratory move- 

 ments is modified in a remarkable and characteristic manner, the modification being 

 dependent partly on the cause above referred to, and partly on pathological changes 

 having their seat in the air passages. The alvine discharges, which during the pre- 

 vious progress of the disease were firmer and harder than natural, now become soft, 

 and eventually liquid and dysenteric. The temperatui-o of the body, which up to the 

 fifth day has gone on increasing, rapidly sinks to below the natural level ; this loss of 

 animal heat bein^ attended with a correspondingly rapid diminution in the quantity 

 o*f urea excreted by the kidneys. 



Death usually occurs during the seventh day. It ia not preceded by convulsion or 

 any other symiitoms worthy of special notice. 



SYMPTOMS. 



One or two days •before any other change occurs in the condition of 

 the infected animal there ajjpears an increase of temperature, which is 

 most readily detected by means of a thermometer introduced into the 

 rectum. The temperatui-e is found to have risen by two to four de- 

 grees Fahrenheit, from the normal temperature of 102°. At the same 

 time symptoms of fever are observed, such as shivering, muscular 

 twitchings, dryness of the skin, a staring coat of hair, an unequal dis- 

 tribution of temperature throughout the body, and changes of temper- 

 ature, which are particularly noticeable at the base of the horns. 



A very important and characteristic symptom at an early stage of 

 the disease is a peculiar alteration of the mucous membranes. This al- 

 teration is very soon noticeable in the vagina of cows, which becomes 

 spotted or striped with red. The next day small yellowish-white or 

 gray specks are clearly seen on the red spots and stripes. These sjjecks 

 are formed by the loosening of the cuticle, which can be rubbed off or 

 detached by the finger, leaving in its place a dark-red depression. The 

 same red spots and stripes and yellowish or gray specks appear in the 

 mouth and nose of the sick animals of either sex. 



Fleming, in his work on Veterinary Sanitary Science and Folice, gives 

 the following description of the peculiar eruptions of the mucous mem- 

 brane and the skin : 



With regard to the mucous membranes and skin, there is much that is not only in- 

 teresting, but of the greatest practical importance in the way of diagnosis. The 

 development of the symptoms previously enumerated are soon accompanied by ana- 

 tomical and functional alterations of these morabranea, bub especially of that lining 

 the vagina and the digestive and respiratory tracts. The vulvo-vaginal membrane ia 

 most frequently that which exhibits these changes. It is more or less infiltrated, and 



^ '?^P^'". brick-rod, or mahogany color, which La either disposed in streaks, patches, 

 or cUIiused ; and there may bo small sanguine extravasations, variable in number. 



