SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE FARCY. 133 



planted. The symptoms indicative of the existence of acute 

 farcy may, as in acute glanders, be regarded as general or con- 

 stitutional, and local or diagnostic. 



The general or systemic symptoms are in their nature 

 essentially febrile : elevation of temperature, sometimes to an 

 extent as great as indicated in the pyrexial condition attendant 

 upon or preceding an attack of acute glanders — as a general 

 rule, however, it is rarely so elevated — rigors with a staring 

 coat and unthrifty state of the skin, thirst, loss of appetite, and 

 general impairment of healthy functional activity. 



The local infiltrations and swellings, although not always, 

 are generally confined to the extremities. When the limbs are 

 thus affected the oedema may appear — 1. As a very diffuse 

 and general swelling, invading a very considerable extent of 

 cutaneous and underlying tissue, the local heat and pain, 

 together with lameness, being very marked. This condition of 

 superficial and extensive swelling may not be persistent from 

 its first appearance, but it may exhibit distinct accessions and 

 declines each recurrence or increase of the swelling, being more 

 distinctly marked with diffuse, irregular, and indurated patches 

 of tissue. At length, when the infiltration and general oedema 

 have permanently subsided, the specific nodules, or circumscribed 

 swellings, known as ' farcy-buds,' together with the enlarged 

 and tense condition of the vessels, veins, and lymj^hatics, recog- 

 nised as ' cords,' become more distinctly visible. 2. The infil- 

 tration and oedema, instead of partaking of the general 

 character now spoken of, are essentially local and circum- 

 scribed, the specific nodes or buds arising at once from these 

 infiltrations, between which and the nearest lymphatic glands, 

 or between each nodule, the enlarged and corded condition of 

 the lymph vessels is seen. 



The immediate appearance of these farcy-buds is generally 

 sudden — that is to say, the infiltrated, swollen, and painful 

 condition of the limb may have existed for a day or two with- 

 out showing distinctly where these nodules are to appear, when 

 rather unexpectedly they may be projected beyond the general 

 surface, and so attract attention. 



These specific tubercles, so characteristic of farcy in either 

 its acute or chronic form, are situated in the cutis, or the 

 subcutaneous connective tissue ; or they may penetrate deeper, 



