32 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DJMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



tiou was ill the vicinity of a Joint, and in this case, as the lower mem- 

 bers of the limb were lost a comparatively even surface was left which 

 healed readily. Some animals lost only a toe, the dividing line passing 

 through the joint between the os pedis and oscoronce ; others lost both 

 the OS pedis and os eororice ; still others lost the three lower bones, and 

 the line of se])aration passed through the fetlock joint, while in the 

 most severe cases the line of constriction formed at the upper third of 

 the metatarsal bone and the fleshy parts sloughed oif, leaving the un- 

 covered bone protruding for more than half its length. Plates Y and 

 VI are drawings made from limbs which I secured in Kansas. 



It was reported by some of the veterinarians that small vesicles were 

 formed in the interdigital space and about the coronet, and this was 

 doubtless true, as such vesicles are not uncommon in gangrene ; but 

 their appearance was far from being the rule, as I did not succeed in 

 finding a single one in all the animals that I examined. In nearly all 

 of the cases, whether the foot was affected with dry gangrene or whether 

 there had been simply lameness without death of the part, the skin of 

 the interdigital space and about the coronet was perfectly preserved- 

 There was loss of neither epidermis nor hair, as there certainly would 

 have been had the disease commenced by a superficial inflammation in 

 this region and extended to deeper parts of the foot or to higher parts 

 of the limb. Indeed there were no abscesses, no burrowing of pus, no 

 ulceration about the feet, which could lead one for a moment to sup- 

 pose that the cause of the disease had commenced its action externally 

 and extended gradually to the interior of the limb. On the other hand, 

 the fact that the skin was intact in the great majority of cases, that the 

 part was cold and insensible almost from the first, and that the line of 

 separation passed entirely through the limb, removing one or more 

 phalanges as completely as it could have been done with a knife, was 

 sufficient evidence that the disease had an internal origin. 



The gangrene was not confined to the feet, however, for in Kansas, 

 Missouri, and Illinois there were individual animals which were losing 

 from 2 to 6 inches of the lower part of the tail by exactly the same 

 process. The portion below the dividing line was very dry and hard, 

 while the line itself was sharply defined, as though it had been a knife- 

 cut. With the greater part of the animals afl'ected in the feet a careful 

 examination of the end of the tail revealed a slough of greater or less 

 extent; sometimes it was simply the skin at the tip that was affected, 

 but oftener one-half inch, 1 inch or 2 inches would be found discolored, 

 lifeless, and dry. In a very few cases a part of the ear was found in 

 the same condition. 



One of the most interesting features of the enzootic, because it had 

 not been heretofore described, was the implication of the mucous mem- 

 brane of the mouth. With some animals this was limited to a more or 

 less diffuse red discoloration, without loss of substance. More fre- 

 quently there were circumscribed dark red spots or patches, from a 



