ACUTE LARYNGITIS. 467 



There is swelling externally, both in the submaxillary space 

 and over the parotideal region. Nasal discharge, although 

 occurring when associated with catarrh, is not a characteristic 

 S3niiptom of laryngitis, and, when present, usually appears 

 towards the termination of the aft'ection. 



The constitutional disturbance is more marked in the early 

 part of the affection than in simple cold. Fever, more or less 

 severe, characterizes the great majority of cases of uncom- 

 plicated laryngeal inflammation. Disinclination to eat, which 

 is often present, I have regarded as owing to the physical 

 difficulty attendant upon swallowing as much as to the existing 

 fever. Any attempts at swallowing food, unless of the softest 

 character, are, during the severity of the disease, provocative 

 of violent fits of coughing, during some of which there seems a 

 fear that the animal may be suftbcated ; he will stamp with his 

 feet, toss his head violently about, and, if secured in the 

 ordinary manner, will pull vigorously backwards. 



2. (Edematous Laryngitis, a. Nature and Causation. — That 

 we are warranted in regarding this as a distinct and separate 

 form of inflammatory action seems reasonable, whether we 

 regard the usual suddenness of its attack, the speciality of its 

 symptoms, or its often fatal termination. It cannot, in the 

 horse, as a rule, be said to follow a previously diseased condi- 

 tion of the larynx ; it may rapidly succeed to what at first 

 seems an ordinary attack of sore throat ; it may start into ex- 

 istence suddenly, asserting its specific symptoms and running 

 its course wdth great rapidity, or it may be met with as the 

 result of the inhalation of hot air or acrid vapours. 



h. Anatomical Characters. — In all fatal cases of oedematous 

 laryngitis the structural changes observed are w^onderfully 

 vmiform, well marked, and specially distinctive. The infiltra- 

 tion of the submucous tissue, both of the general pharyngeal 

 cavity and specially of the different parts of the larynx where 

 connective-tissue abounds, is excessive, so much so that 

 occlusion of the opening of the glottis may have suddenly and 

 unexpectedly carried off" the animal through suffocation. Both 

 over the pharyngeal and laryngeal mucous membrane we en- 

 counter amidst the general hypenTemic condition patches or 

 spots, of greater or less extent, of specially ecch}THosed or even 

 gangrenous and sphacelated tissue. The latter condition is. 



30—2 



