478 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



This abnormal coJor, -v^'hicll is more icuticularly due to venous iujectiou, has iu calvea 

 and heifers a greater diaj;uostic value than iu cows, as it is observed, though in a 

 less degree, iu animals which are near calving, as ■well as those which have lately- 

 calved. 



This symptom, however, is not alwaj's observed at the commencemeut of the dis- 

 ease, but may only appear at an advanced stage. Twenty-four hours after its appear- 

 ance there arc usually seeji on the red surfaces small yellow or grayish and slightly 

 salient patches, which might be mistaken for little Hakes of mucus, though they are 

 really composed of massesof altered epithelial cells. They adhere but slightly to the 

 dermal surface of the membrane, or are merely lying on it; they are quickly removed 

 by friction, or thrown oii' by the alterations going oa, leaving excoriations correspond- 

 ing to the situation they occupied. At this period, or a little later, there flows fiom 

 the vulva a variable quantity of clear or ropy mucus, which, iu drying, adheres to 

 the neighboring parts. 



While this alteration is going on in the vaginal membrane, or before or after, other 

 analogous changes are observed in the other visible membranes. That of the mouth 

 is more or less hot, and generally, or in patches of variable esteut, assumes a deep 

 red, livid, or dark-blue tint, particularly £^out the gums, though the presence of pig- 

 ment may conceal this coloration. Ordinarily the derm of this membrane and its 

 epithelium are tumfeficd at certain jjoints, and the adhesion of these two layers to 

 each other is diminished. In a very brief space there ai>pf;ars at first on the lips and 

 gums, afterwards on the palate and borders and sides of the tongue, little whitish- 

 gray or yellowish elevations the size of a pin-head, due to tlie proliferation, infiltra- 

 tion, and fatty degeneration of the epithelium in these localities. The number and 

 dimensions of these elevations increase, and sometimes they join each other; their 

 connection with the derm becomes lessened, and soon— frequently within twenty-foux 

 hours — the slightest rubbing will remove them in the form of a soft gray mass not 

 unlike bran; they are also thrown oJi" by the morbid process going on. However rcr 

 moved, the derm uj^on which they were" forined is exposed, and in this way are pro- 

 duced those excoriations whose sharply defined bright red color contrasts iltrikingly 

 with the livid membrane BiuTOunding'them, These are the " pestilential erosiona" 

 of Kausch, so named from the veterinarian who first described them. These epi- 

 thelial alterations occur, at times, at the base of the papiUis of the cheeks as early aa 

 the appearance of the first morbid symptoms, though, as a rule, it is only towards 

 the second, third, or fourth day that tliey are most marked. 



The secretion of saliva is increased and flows in large viscid streams from the morith. 

 The nasal mucous membrane is also greatly injected from the commencement of the 

 affection, and becomes infiltrated and swollen; soon after it becomes unifomdy pale,_or 

 in such a manner as to leave injected streaks or patches ; petechia} also appear in varia- 

 ble number. Towards from the second to the third day, on examining this membrane 

 closely, it will be noticed that there are the same pulpy or caseous epithelial collections 

 observed on the membrane of the mouth and the vulvb-vaginal membrane, and wliich, 

 when thrown off, leave the derm exposed. In about twenty -four hours after the more 

 evident signs of the disease have appeared a nasal discharge manifesta itself; this is 

 at first serous and transparent, but ere long becomes a thick mucus or muco-purulent 

 yellowish matter, which may be mixed with blood, and disagreeably fetid. In dry- 

 ing around the nostrils it forms thick crusts. 



The conjunctiva of the eyes are also infiltrated and deeper colored — particularly 

 ahout the free border of the nictitating membrane — than usual ; but this coloration 

 most frequently disappears in the course of the malady, and this membrane is then 

 pale. The secretions of tears is very copious, and, flowing in abundance flown the face, 

 by their acridity they may depilate and erode the skin. A thick muco-product fluid 

 collects in the inner canthus of the eye and behind the membrananic titans, and as the 

 animal becomes emaciated and the eye-ball sinks tov/Jirds the bottom of the orbit this 

 accumulates. 



The skin, which is usually lax shortly after the invasion of the malady, in the 

 majority of cases and in many epizootics, becomes the seat of a diversely characterized 

 eruption, which has been at one time described as squamous, at another papular, 

 vesicular, or pustula,r, and again aa erysix>elatou9. This cutaneous manifestation 

 more especially app'^ara in those parts where the integument is thin, though it may 

 also invade other regions or even affect the entire surface of the body. The udder 

 and particularly the base of the teats, the scrotum, the margin of the nostrils, the lips, 

 and the vulva, the perineum, and the internal aspect of the thighs, are the localities 

 for which it seems to have a sj*ecial predilection, but it may likewise be often noted 

 between the jaws, on the shoulders, neck, and withers. The extent and iutensity of 

 these esanthexnata are -very vaiiable. At times they accompany the ordinary symp- 

 toms, while at others the eruption is coincident wiihkn intense febrile reaction which 

 lasts for some days .ind increased temperature of the skin where it is about to appear, 

 with, in certain instances, a more or less abundant transpiration. 



This exanthema of cattle-plague consists of (1) a proliferation and abundant disqua- 



