242 Veterinary Medicine. 



In man three distinct forms are recognized, i. Catarrhal 

 dysentery, with frequent small stools of rosy nmciis, and blood; 

 and later pus, scj'bala, passed with tenesmus, but no sloughs and 

 little odor ; 2. Diphtheritic dysentery, with thin watery bloody 

 discharges having a pronounced cadaveric odor ; also tenesmus, 

 sloughs, and increasingly offensive smell ; 3. Amoebic dysentery 

 with frequent bloodj' mucus stools, tenesmus sloughs and foetor, 

 but with distinct remissions or intermissions. With the latter, 

 amoebae are found abundantly and more .so in the more acute cases 

 with alkaline stools. They are found in the fresli warm stools, 

 5 to 8 times the size of a red blood globuk- and oval, pyriform 

 or irregular in form, with nucleus and nucleolus. Kartulis and 

 Hlava succeeded in inducing dysentery in cats and dogs by- 

 injecting pure culture of the amoeba, and the former testifies 

 that dogs in Egypt take the disease spontaneously, and their stools 

 contain the same amoeba coli as is found in man. 



Cunningham who investigated the subject in India found 

 amoeba in the bowels of healthy men, and also abundanth' in the 

 faeces of horses and cows, which have naturall}' the requisite 

 alkaline reaction. 



The mere presence of the amoeba therefore may not be sufficient 

 to cause the disease, but with the requisite predisposition and an 

 alkaline condition of the intestinal contents, it is manifestly an 

 important factor in the disease. 



The causative microbes in other forms of dysentery have not 

 been identified, but under the requisite irritation and local debility 

 one can easily conceive of the ordinary bacterial ferments of the 

 intestine, concurring with others introduced from without, in de- 

 termining the morbid condition. With better hygiene the disease 

 is steadily diminishing in man and beast, though violent epizootics 

 (in cattle) still appear in connection with wars (siege of Belfort, 

 1870, Zundel), and carriage by sea in hot climates (Mediterranean 

 trade, Bouley). 



Symptoms. The disease sets in suddenly, yet prodromata may 

 occa.sionall3' be observed, such as dullness, langor, trembling over 

 the flanks and elbows, weakness, prominent, weeping, congested 

 eyes, and low moans when moved. Then follow hyperthermia, 

 at first slight, heat of the mouth without injection, epithelial 

 concretions or erosions and diarrhoea (sometimes there is .strain- 



