SYMPTOMS, COURSE, AND COMPLICATIONS. 55 



keeps his head depressed and nose protruded ; while the sore- 

 ness of the throat is indicated by the violent fits of couwhino- 

 induced by handling the parts, or on attempting to swallow 

 food, or even water : in some instances this difficulty to swallow 

 cannot be overcome, and masticated food and water may be 

 ejected by the nose. 



The nasal membrane, at first dry, is now moistened with a 

 thin serous discharge, sometimes mingled with a little flaky 

 mucus ; the mouth feels hot and clammy, and thirst is 

 marked. The pulse becomes more frequent and feeble, number- 

 ing from seventy to eighty beats per minute, and the internal 

 temperature may reach 107° F. The respiration not much 

 altered in character, but increased in frequency, probably less 

 deep and extensive ; auscultation over the trachea at its lower 

 portion may detect the harsh or rough sounds, indicative of a 

 certain amount of inflammation of the larger bronchi. 



In these early stages the condition of the secretions is much 

 altered : the bowels torpid, fteces dry, pellety, and coated with 

 mucus ; the urine scanty — little water being eliminated, 

 although much is taken into the system — it is tinged with 

 pigmentary matter, and often loaded with urates. 



In a few days, more probably about the end of the first week 

 from the onset of the fever or appearance of the cough, the 

 discharge from the nose will increase in amount, and change 

 from the thin serous to the thicker cellular character; the 

 cough is rather moister, and not so distressing. The pulse 

 is less frequent, and of more volume ; the impulse of the 

 heart against the left side, which at the outset was so marked, 

 becomes less manifest ; the temperature declines steadily, the 

 animal regains his appetite, and a more natural condition of 

 the secretions ensues. 



Should this favourable turn continue, the general prostra- 

 tion, disinclination to move, and marked debility, which have 

 all through been so prominent symptoms, begin to disappear, 

 and convalescence may be established in fourteen days from 

 the commencement of the attack. 



Frequently, however, even in this simplest form of distemper, 

 the recovery is at this point retarded. The swelling in the 

 region of the throat, from the implication of the glandular 

 structures there, and infiltration of the connective tissue, be- 



