Peritonitis in Riuninants. 395 



into the peritoneum and the escape of germs from the womb in 

 case of rupture of the womb in difficult parturition, or in metritis, 

 are additional causes. Surgical wounds as in castration of the 

 male or female, and punctures and incisions of the rumen are oc- 

 casional causes, but there is bj' no means the tendency to exten- 

 sion of such peritonitis that we see in solipeds. The self-protec- 

 tive power of the tissues is incomparably greater in the ruminant. 



Nocard, Butel and others have recorded a gastro-entero-peri- 

 tonitis of septic nature, occurring in cattle and above all in sheep, 

 fed on the fermented refuse of beet sugar factories, which had 

 been kept in silos through the winter. On the third and fourth 

 days of this feeding man}' were attacked. 



Symptoms. Beside the general systemic disorder and a very 

 variable amount of hvperthermia (102° to 107°), there are the 

 special indications of abdominal inflammation, stiff movement 

 and dragging of the hind limbs, or if standing the back is arched, 

 the head drooping and the legs drawn together and slightly bent, 

 with uneasy shifting of the hind feet, and lateral movements of 

 the tail. The walls of the abdomen are usually tense, often bulg- 

 ing laterally below, though fallen in beneath the lumbar trans- 

 verse processes (pot-bellied) ; the}' are tender to pressure, and 

 may be drum like to percussion above, while flat, dull, and 

 fluctuating below. The tenderness is slightest below, where 

 liquid effusion has settled, but is quite marked in the upper and 

 resonant parts, where pressure will cause wincing and trembling. 

 In this upper part on the left side may be heard friction sounds 

 after the fourth or sixth day. This is especially observable in 

 tuberculous peritonitis over the parts covered by tubercular 

 growths. There may be at first diarrhoea which usually soon 

 gives place to constipation, and weakness and emaciation advances 

 rapidly, and death may take place from the fourth to eighth da}', 

 or may be deferred for some weeks. 



In favorable cases the acute symptoms subside, the liquid 

 effusion is absorbed, appetite and rumination are in great part 

 restored, and a partial recovery is made. It is, however, very 

 liable to merge into the chronic form, and inevitably so in tuber- 

 culous cases. 



In cases following on difficult parturition there are redness of 

 the vaginal mucosa, with muco-purulent or putrid discharges. 



