120 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



coughing and difficult, quick breathing. In most cases the foreign 

 body does not penetrate to the heart, nor even to the pericardium. 



Symptoms. The symptoms are as follows: The animal is dis- 

 inclined to move actively, the step is restricted and cautious, sudden 

 motion causes grunting, the attitude is constrained, the feet are 

 drawn somewhat together, the back is arched, the face has an anxious 

 expression. If the disease is of some days' standing, there is likely to 

 be soft swelling (edema) beneath the neck, in the dewlap, and under 

 the chest, between the fore legs. Breathing is short and difficult; it 

 may clearly be painful. The pulse is rapid, 80 to 120 per minute. 

 The muscles quiver as though the animal were cold. Rumination 

 and appetite are depressed or checked. The dung is hard, and to 

 void it appears to cause pain. These symptoms usually develop grad- 

 ually, and, of course, they vary considerably in different animals, 

 depending upon the size and location of the foreign body and the 

 irritation caused by it. 



As a matter of course, treatment in such cases is useless, but 

 when it is possible to diagnose the case correctly the animal could be 

 turned over to the butcher before the flesh becomes unfit for use; 

 that is, before there is more than a little suppurtation and before 

 there is fever. Knowing that cattle are prone to swallow such ob- 

 jects, ordinary care may be exercised in keeping their surroundings 

 as free of them as possible. 



Pericarditis. Inflammation of the pericardium (heart bag) is 

 often associated with pneumonia and pleurisy, rheumatism, and other 

 constitutional diseases, or with an injury. It also occurs as an inde- 

 pendent affection, due to causes similar to those of other chest affec- 

 tions, as exposure to cold or dampness and changes of the weather. 



Symptoms. It may be ushered in with a chill, followed by fe- 

 ver, of more or less severity ; the animal stands still and dull, with 

 head hanging low, and anxiety expressed in its countenance. The 

 pulse may be large, perhaps hard ; .there is also a venous pulse. The 

 nand against the chest will feel the beating of the heart, which is 

 often irregular, sometimes violent, and in other instances weak, de- 

 pending in part upon the amount of fluid that has transuded into 

 the pericardia! sac. Legs are cold, the breathing quickened, and usu- 

 ally abdominal ; if the left side of the chest be pressed on or struck, 

 the animal evinces pain. There may be spasms of the muscles in 

 the region of the breast, neck, or hind legs. After a time, which 

 varies in length, the legs may become swollen, and swelling may also 

 appear under the chest and orisket. 



In those animals in which the heart sounds may be heard some- 

 what distinctly, the ear applied against the chest will detect a to- 

 and-fro friction sound, corresponding to the beats of the heart. This 

 sound is produced by the rubbing of the internal surface of the heart 

 bag against the external surface of the heart. During the first stages 

 of the inflammation these surfaces are dry, and the rubbing of one 

 against the other during the contraction and relaxation of the heart 

 produces this sound. The dry stage is followed by the exudation of 

 fluid into the heart sac, and the friction is not heard until the fluid 



