46 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



which covers the dropsy we find a slight serous sweating, which 

 loosens the epidermis and dries so as to simulate the eruption of some 

 cutaneous disease. If this is excessive we may see irritated spots which 

 are suppurating. We may now find some enlargement of the lym- 

 phatic glands, which are fed from the affected part. The thermome- 

 ter indicates a slight rise in the body temperature, while the pulse 

 and respiration are somewhat accelerated. The appetite usually re- 

 mains good. In the course of a few days the temperature may have 

 reached 102, 103, or 104 F. 



Fever is established, not an essential or specific fever in any way, 

 but a simple secondary fever produced by the dead material from the 

 surface or superficial suppuration, and by the oxidization and absorp- 

 tion of the colloid mass contained in the tissues. The skin may sup- 

 purate or slough more or less over the areas of greatest tension or 

 where it is irritated by blows or pressure. The great swelling about 

 the head may by closure of the nostrils interfere seriously with 

 breathing. Internal edema may occur in the throat, lungs, or intes- 

 tines. Septicemia, or blood poisoning, may result from anasarca. 



Terminations. The simple form of the disease most frequently 

 terminates favorably on the eighth or tenth day by resolution or ab- 

 sorption of the effusion, with usually a profuse diuresis, and with or 

 without diarrhea. The appetite remains good or is at times capri- 

 cious. Death may occur from mechanical asphyxia, produced by the 

 closure of the nostrils or closure of the glottis. Metastasis to the lungs 

 is almost invariably fatal, causing death by asphyxia. Metastasis to 

 the intestines may cause death from pain, enteritis, or hemorrhage. 

 Excessive suppuration, lymphangitis, and gangrene are causes of a 

 fatal termination by exhaustion. Mortal exhaustion is again pro- 

 duced by inability to swallow in cases of excessive swelling of the 

 head. Peritonitis may arise secondary to the enteric edema, or by 

 perforation of the stomach or intestines by a gangrenous spot. Septi- 

 cemia terminates fatally with its usual train of symptoms. 



Alterations. The essential alterations of anasarca are exceed- 

 ingly simple; the capillaries are dilated, the lymphatic spaces be- 

 tween the fibers of the connective tissue are filled with serum, and the 

 coagulable portion of the blood presents a yellowish or citrine mass, 

 jellylike in consistency, which has stretched out the tissue like the 

 meshes of a sponge. Where the effusion has occurred between the 

 muscles, as in the head, these are found dissected and separated from 

 each other like those of a hog's head by the masses of fat. The sur- 

 face of the skin is desquamated and frequently denuded of the hair. 

 Frequently there are traces of suppuration and of ulceration. The mu- 

 cous membrane of the nose is found studded with small, hemorrhagic 

 spots, sometimes red, more frequently brown or black, often coalesced 

 with each other in irregular-sized patches and surrounded by a red- 

 dish zone, the product of irritation. If edema of the intestines has 

 occurred, the membrane is found four or five times its normal thick- 

 ness, reddish in color, with hemorrhages on the free surface. Edema 

 of the lungs leaves these organs distended. The secondary altera- 

 tions vary according to the complications. There are frequently the 



