Inflammation of this membrane is called pleurisy. Being so 

 closely united with the lung, it can not always escape participation 

 in the disease when the latter is inflamed. Pleurisy may be due to 

 the same predisposing and exciting causes as mentioned in the be- 

 ginning of this work as general causes for diseases of the organs of 

 respiration, such as exposure to sudden changes of temperature, con- 

 finement in damp stables, etc. It may be caused by wounds that 

 penetrate the chest, for it must be remembered that such wounds 

 must necessarily pierce the pleura. A fractured rib may involve the 

 pleura. The inflammation following such wounds may be circum- 

 scribed, that is, confined to a small area surrounding the wound, or 

 it may spread from the wound and involve a large portion of the 

 pleura. The pleura may be involved secondarily when the heart or 

 its membrane is the primary seat of the disease. It may occur in 

 conjunction with bronchitis, influenza, and other diseases. Diseased 

 growths that interfere with the pleura may induce pleurisy. The 

 most frequent cause of pleurisy is an extension of inflammation 

 from adjacent diseased lung. It is a common complication of pneu- 

 monia. Pleurisy will be described here as an independent affection, 

 although it should be remembered that it is very often associated 

 with the foregoing diseases. 



The first lesion of pleurisy is overfilling of the blood vessels that 

 ramify in this membrane, and dryness of the surface. This is fol- 

 lowed by the formation of a coating of coagulated fibrin on the dis- 

 eased pleura and the transudation of serum which collects in the 

 chest. This serum may contain flakes of fibrin and it may be straw- 

 colored or red from an admixture of blood. The quantity of this 

 accumulation may amount to several gallons. 



Symptoms. When the disease exists as an independent affec- 

 tion it is ushered in by a chill, but this is usually overlooked. About 

 the first thing noticed is the disinclination of the animal to move or 

 turn round. When made to do so he grunts or groans with pain. 

 He stands stiff; the ribs are fixed, that is, the ribs move very little in 

 the act of breathing, but the abdomen works more than natural; 

 both the fore feet and elbows may be turned out; during the onset 

 of the attack the animal may be restless and act as if he had a slight 

 colic; he may even lie down, but does not remain long down, for 

 when he finds no relief he soon gets up. Every movement of the 

 chest causes pain, therefore the cough is peculiar; it is short and sup- 

 pressed, and comes as near being no cough as the animal can make 

 it in his desire to suppress it. The breathing is hurried, the mouth 

 it hot, the temperature being elevated from 102 or 103 to 105 F. 

 The usual symptoms that accompany fever are present, such as cos- 

 tiveness, scanty dark-colored urine, etc. The pulse is frequent, per- 

 haps 70 or more a minute. The legs and ears are cold. 



Percussion is of valuable service in this affection. After effu- 

 sion occurs, the sound produced by percussing over the lower part 

 of the chest is dull. By striking different parts one may come to a 

 spot of greater or less extent where the blows cause much pain to be 

 evinced. The animal may grunt or groan every time it is struck. 



