MORPHOLOGY OF THE ORGANISM 



583 



FIG. 203 



ing of the cortical portion and cloudy swelling of the epithelia. Small 

 hemorrhagic spots are often seen in the cortical and medullary por- 

 tions and also in the mucosa of the renal pelvis. Petechise and 

 ecchymoses are also found in the gastric mucosa, while the small 

 intestines show congestion generally without hemorrhages, but the 

 cecum and colon frequently show hemorrhages and are often of a deep 

 red or purplish-brown color. The urinary bladder often contains much 

 hemoglobin-stained urine, which may contain so much of the blood- 

 coloring matter that it is of a port-wine color. 



Microscopic examination of sections of the various organs shows 

 the presence of numerous piroplasmata in the capillaries. 



Diagnosis. -The diagnosis of the disease in typical acute cases 

 is generally comparatively easy on account of the characteristic 

 symptoms, including the bloody urine (hemoglobinuria), and it can 

 be established beyond any doubt 

 by a microscopic examination of 

 stained blood specimens. These 

 are best prepared in the follow- 

 ing manner: 



1. Clean an ear of the sick 

 animal well with water and then 

 with alcohol and dry it after the 

 cleansing. 



2. Make a small incision, with 

 a scalpel, small pair of scissors, 

 or with a large, sharp, triangular 

 pointed needle. 



3. Allow a drop of blood to 

 flow on a glass slide, previously 

 well cleaned with alcohol (so that 

 there is no greasy matter on it). 



4. With the margin of one end Smear from the kidneys of an animal dead 



Of another clean slide Spread OUt from the disease. Hematoxylin-eosin stain. 



the drop of blood in a thin, even x 100 - < Author ' s preparation.) 

 layer on the first slide. 



5. Allow the slide to become air dry as quickly as possible. Drying 

 may be hastened by waving the moist slide rapidly in the air. 



6. Fix the blood film on the slide. The best method is to immerse 

 it in absolute alcohol for twenty-five minutes or more. 



7. Stain with Loeffler's blue. If instead of Loeffler's methylene 

 blue a Romanowski stain or one of its modifications (Wright's 

 stain) is to be used, it is best either not to fix the dry blood film at 

 all or to fix it in pure methyl alcohol, which is the solvent of the stains 

 of the Romanowski type. 



Morphology of the Organism. The Piroplasma bigeminum, or 

 Babesia 1 bigemina, can, according to Smith and Kilbourne, be seen 



i In honor of Babes, who first saw them. 



Piroplasmosis of cattle (Texas fever). 



