230 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



microbe may cease such existence and assume parasitic or patho- 

 genic properties when the surroundings are eminently favorable. 

 This may be a connecting link in the etiology of sporadic outbreaks 

 of the disease where every other hypothesis as to its genesis seems 

 untenable. The disease seems to occur most frequently in swampy 

 or mucky localities or in pastures receiving the overflow from in- 

 fected fields. It is said to occur usually in the spring of the year, 

 when the melting snows and rains bring to the surface the subter- 

 ranean waters from rich soils containing nitrogenous materials in 

 which the bacteria have been existing. In a great many instances 

 there does not seem to be any plausible explanation for an outbreak 

 of the disease and one can only surmise as to its origin. 



Symptoms. Three forms of the disease are recognized, based 

 upon the distribution of the lesions the superficial, or cutaneous, 

 the pectoral, or thoracic, and the intestinal form. The latter is a 

 usual accompaniment of the other two, and may be mild or severe. 

 Naturally, the symptoms vary according to the violence of the at- 

 tack and to the particular form of disease with which the animal is 

 affected. In the superficial, or cutaneous, form the presence of a 

 swollen tongue, throat, and dewlap, or even of the lower portion 

 of the legs, gives us a clew to the trouble. An entire loss of appe- 

 tite occurs, and in milch cows there is a diminution of the milk se- 

 cretion. The temperature may be only slightly elevated, but it is 

 usually very high. Salivation is set up due to the inflammation of 

 the mouth and pharynx. Unsuccessful efforts at eating and swal- 

 lowing are made. There may be difficulty in breathing, depending 

 on the amount of involvement of the larynx, trachea, bronchi, or 

 lungs. There may be a blood-stained discharge from the nostrils, 

 and the mucous membrane of the same will often show symptoms as 

 hemorrhages. The pulmonary form shows the same symptoms as 

 croupous pneumonia with a frequent suffocative cough and op- 

 pressed breathing, or dyspnea. When the intestines are involved 

 the patient strains to defecate, and passes shreds of intestinal mucus 

 along with blood-stained feces. The urine may also be tinged with 

 blood. Finally a severe diarrhea takes place, the animal becomes 

 correspondingly weak, and death takes place in twenty-four to thirty- 

 six hours. Cases may die in as short a period as six to eight hours, 

 while in the pectoral form of the disease the animal may linger six 

 or eight days. Cases have been reported which became chronic and 

 in which death did not take place for a month or more. In some 

 of the cases running an acute course, symptoms of toxemia are 

 present; there is a lack of sensation of the skin, staggering gait, 

 trembling, eyes fixed, neck at times bent to one side, and the eyes 

 showing a wild expression. At times the animals appear as if in 

 pain and look around at the flanks. In the pectoral form they 

 may stand with the fore legs wide apart in evident effort to breathe 

 more freely. Sometimes there is a champing of the jaws and a 

 very free flow of glairy saliva dropping from the mouth. The 

 prognosis is decidedly unfavorable and 80 to 90 per cent of the cases 

 result fatally. 



