480 KEPORT OP^ THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 

 PATHOLOGY OF THE DISEASE. 



Among the lesions observed after (Teath there are several, though no 

 more constant than several of the prominent symptoms, that materially 

 assist in establishing a i)roper diagnosis. The age and general condi- 

 tion, the state in which the animals were kept before they were alfected, 

 their breed, the character and intensity of the disease, all af^iicar to 

 have some influence on the seat and seriousness of the lesions. These 

 vary according to the period at which death takes place. 



Fleming says that if the animal is killed at the commencement of the 

 malady, and the symptoms have been comparatively mild, there will 

 nevertheless be found, on examination after death, such alterations in 

 the mucous membranes as congestion and ecchymoses. Tlua latter are 

 more particularly observalile on the free border of the mucus folds in 

 the fourth compartment of the stomach (true stomach) and around the 

 pylorus, although they also exist to a less degree in the small intestine, 

 and often in the vagina. When, however, an animal has died fiom the 

 disease, or been killed when it had attained a certain degree of inten- 

 sity, the changes are more marked, the body becomes quickly inflated 

 after death, and sometimes even before death occurs. The rectum is 

 elevated and its lining membrane is tumefied and of a deep red color ; 

 the tail and hinder extremities are more or less paralyzed during lii'e, 

 and are therefore usually soiled by the feces. The skm exhibits the 

 characteristic eruption, and in those places where there are neither 

 glands nor hairs, as on the teats, it is injected in irregular patches of 

 variable dimensions; the epithelium is thickened, soft or friable, and 

 the integument is often cracked. On removing the skin the vessels 

 which are cut are generally filled with a dark-colored fluid blood, and 

 the flesh is red, blue, or violet-tinted. The peritoneum in some cases 

 may be slightly injected or ecchymosed in patches. The whole of the 

 intestines are generally greatly distended with gas, and in some cases 

 the small intestine may be reddened. 



In the interior of the digestive canal are found the most marked evi- 

 dences of the disease, though they are not always constant and equally 

 intense in every portion of the mucous membrane. In the mouth, pha- 

 rynx, true stomach, small intestine, and rectum, they are most frequently 

 present. They are least conspicuous and often absent in the oesophagus, 

 the three first compartments of the stomach, and in the csecum and colon. 

 They may be so trifling as to resemble the lesions of a slight catarrh, 

 while in other instances they are unmistakable and pathognomonic. 



In the mouth and pharynx are observed the alterations in the lining 

 membrane and the epithelial changes. It is chiefly where there has 

 been much fiiction or local irritation that they are most exaggerated, 

 and deep erosions, with loss of texture of the derm of the mucous mem- 

 brane, may be noted. The oesophagus is rarely affected, though it is 

 not always exempt. In the rumen the quantity of food may be found a 

 little larger than usual. The epithelium on the mucous membrane hniug 

 it and the next compartment may be more easily detached than in a 

 liealthy state, and a microscopical examination of the cells proves them 

 to have undergone a similar change to those of the mouth. The mucous 

 membrane in these compartments is also frequently injected in a general 

 manner, though more deeply in some places than in others. It is not 

 rare to find on this membrane round, oval, or irregular-shaped eschars, 

 disposed separately or in groups, and varying in color from a dark brown 

 to a greenish hue.' The elimination of these eschars takes place gradu- 

 ally from around their well-formed borders, and cicatrization afterwards 



