468 DISEASES OF THE LARYNX. 



certainly not so often encountered as that where a consider- 

 able extent of tissue is changed to a metalHc hue, much 

 swollen and pulpy from submucous infiltration. While occa- 

 sionally over both the surface of the pharyngeal and laryngeal 

 membrane there may be partially adherent flakes or shreds of 

 lymph, the exact spots where these adventitious products 

 are adhering we find are generally superficial erosions or 

 ulcers. 



This state of submucous infiltration with serous fluid and 

 varied cell-growths is not, when occurring, confined strictly to 

 the pharynx or larynx, but is found extending forward to the 

 base or root of the tongue, while the entire glandular struc- 

 tures in the vicinitj^ of the throat and of the anterior cervical 

 region are affected in a similar manner. 



Symptoms. — The rapidity with which the general swelling of 

 the structures of the throat, and the special infiltration of the 

 true laryngeal structures, and of the textures in the immediate 

 vicinity, take place, together with the general distress and 

 severity of the fever, are the distinguishing symptoms of this 

 form of larj^ngitis. Sometimes in a few hours, not only is the 

 external swelling considerable, but, from the amount of the 

 laryngeal infiltration, breathing becomes distressed. The 

 heart's action and pulsations are much increased, and the tem- 

 perature is elevated, while, from the embarrassment of the 

 respiration and the imperfect manner in which the blood is 

 aerated, the membrane of the nasal cavities acquires a purple 

 hue. In many there is a certain amount of stupor, or an un- 

 naturally anxious expression of face with occasionally great 

 restlessness, the animal wandering around the box, if such 

 liberty is allowed, with no desire for food, but with an evident 

 desire to be relieved from pain, or from the oppressive dyspnoea. 



Should life be prolonged for a few days — for in many in- 

 stances this form of inflammatory action proves fatal in forty- 

 eight hours — there is generally marked fa-tor of the breath, or 

 of any discharge Avhicli may flow from the nose, while the 

 diseased action may have extended along the course of the 

 great air-passages to the organs contained in the chest. 



Course and Termination. — In the greater number of cases of 

 inflamed pharyngo -laryngeal structures of the catarrhal type, 

 after a few days of considerable annoyance chiefly from diffi- 



